Gsoleski

I will try to explain this problem the best I can. When I drive during the day every gauge works fine, then at night when I turn the headlights on the RPM, oil, and battery volt gauge will stop working. The oil and battery gauge needles will be down all the way but the RPM needle will be at the highest point. The right blinker arrow will also be solid. That doesn't happen when the lights are off. Here's another weird thing. When I dim the gauge lights all the way then they work just fine, but when the headlights are on and the gauges are illuminated then those 3 will stop working. Any help is appreciated

BrownBullet83Z

Maybe a problem with the printed circut board behind the cluster that runs all the gauges and lighting or a short in the inter lamps somewhere like a chaffed wire or something. Does it happen when the headlight switch is put in the the park lamps (1st click) position too? Also check right side directional bulbs/sockets and wiring. If only the right indicator is sticking on the there may be a short somewhere there too.

Ronnie Brennan

I have a similar problem. I've checked a few things but short of pulling the dash apart and looking at the cluster plug I have no idea. My dash is digital and where yours seems to work somewhat all my interior lights go out and cant see anything, even my stereo powers down. I do however have a constant light on my dash that looks like it could be a battery ground symbol. I grounded the block, the battery and the alternator plate to my frame in 3 different spots and the dash battery ground light didnt go out and still had the same problems. I'm buying a new non vent battery to put in my spare tire well(moving battery location). I dont have the time this winter(atleast for now) to pull dash apart because I have my engine apart and am working at cleaning up engine bay. Once I have an engine in the car again I might look at the dash... but that might end up being next winters project.

rusty vango

that indicates a ground problem,i would make sure the bat. to body ground wire is correct,and work back from there

rough

find a solution yet Gsoleski?

r_yeager

having the same problem but only happens in 1st 2500-3000 rpm range. Just before i shift (driving in town speed limit 35) amps drop to bottom stereo cuts out but dosent happen in park or neutral.

r_yeager

anyone? a little help.

83C_CamAroZ28

iTrader: (12)

ok i had the same problem...swapped gauge cluster a few times and still the same problem...but my horn didnt work...the connection 2 the horn was dirty...unplugged it cleaned the connection and plugged the horn back...and it works now idk if it was sumthin else i did that caused it to work but wen i did the horn connection cleaning i noticedit was working...but idk...

hope u fix it..

r_yeager

weird my horn hasnt worked since i had my car will find plug in n check it out

kerplunk318

iTrader: (3)

I had the same issue. After I got a new printed circuit, I realized the problem was the light sockets on the cluster. I cleaned the contacts and bent the leads for the bulbs and the leads that go to the printed circuit. I also made sure all the bulbs were good and it solved my problem completely.

Gsoleski

Well i thought I had this problem was fixed but now it's back. Everything was fine, then i went to push the lighter back in because it was falling out of the socket and as soon as I did that that the gauges went bad again. Also tapping the rear defrost button under the lighter can bring it back to normal sometimes. Could it be a bad ground on that side? I've never taken that panel off and won't be able to for a few days

BrownBullet83Z

I would be willing to bet that the cig lighter (could be the socket, the element or both) is no good. It's usually the element. They open up and start shorting. I have had them wreak havoc before. They cause radio issues a lot and pop fuses. They are piggybacked with some other fuses. Try to pull the element out and see what happens. If no change remove cover ( only 2 screws are real) and unplug lighter socket. That should clear it up. You could also remove the fuse but you'll loose radio (either radio or memory backup. Can't remember). Also if its got an aftermarket radio make sure gray "dimmer" wire not shorting somewhere. A lot of aftermarket radios don't use that wire now so if it is hacked in there it could be touching something and causing issues. Hope this helps. Hit me up if you got any problems and/or questions or need a schematic. Good luck!!

BrownBullet83Z

Oh yea. And obviously check the ALL other fuses too. If something is shorting I'm sure it's popped a fuse (or two!)

Bad Dog

printed circuit board

92formulalukain

i believe im having the same issue just with a 92 firebird formula all my headlights worked fine and so did my dome light now i have no power at the wires for either but power at the radio any ideas im not good with electrical?

Bad Dog

I would check the fuses first then the head light switch

fivestar

Gsoleski,
Just recently dealt with this in my 88 Iroc Convertible. Same thing with light on no guages working just the speedometer and all the other things you are dealing with... I did find that when I turned the dimmer switch all the way off that though there were no gauge lights the guages worked as did the tach. Bought a new headlight switch and since I had to remove the dash pod anyway to get to the switch I found a very small amount of bluish/turqoise corrosion where all the contacts are on the circuit board. Once I replaced the switch and cleaned the contacts (on the pod and in the dash) everything was fine and it has worked great since.
As a side note when initially researching this on the forum I read that a ground could be a problem so when I had everything apart I checked all the grounds and found them all good but since your lighter is intermittent I would bet the ground on that side could be part of your problem. Little secret... when removing the dash pod take off your steering wheel as it gives you more room, as it is you will be removing all the cover panels. Only took me about two hours start to finish to replace the dismantle everything, replace the headlight switch and put it all back together.

84camaro67

I have an issue. I tried putting a new radio in my 85 camaro and at first nothing worked then I tried it again only changing one wire and the radio would come on but wouldn't play anything radio or aux, after that my 2 inner headlights won't come on and while driving one of the wires touched some medal and now my cluster lights won't come on

rusty vango

sounds like a ground wire issue for the cluster