I have looked all throught the site and tried everything i have read about in here and still no fixes. I figured i would through this out and see if anyone would have and suggestions.

I have an 89 GTA and everything works, lights, buzzer, ect.. Ecept the gauges. The fuse blows as soon as i turn the ignition on. The gauges just sit dead but dash lights all work, head and tail lights, light doors, everything but the gauges them selves. I know its a direct short but i cant figure out where, i have been chasing wires or weeks with my fluke.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Bad printed circuit on the back of the cluster ??

About 2 of 5 used clusters I get these days have a bad printed circuit.

The only wiring you need to follow is the circuits leading away from what-ever fuse keeps blowing out.

 

I have been doing that, still at a loss. I have everything working but the gauged themselves. I know the sensors are working cause the fans come on and off with temp. I'm tracing the power feed to the one particular fuse and have not found anything yet.

 

Fan sensor does not = a gauge sending unit & Power going to the fuse will always be 12 volts, even if the fuse is blows when you turn the key.

The problem is that when the key is turned it's allowing 12 volts to flow to/thru the fuse and it's blowing because somewhere "down-stream"; ground is touching power. You should use wiring diagram of the circuits that particular fuse sends power to. Tnen you can see what else the fuse is feeding and see if those things work OK or not.

Another way to see if it's the cluster is to simply remove it, install a good fuse and turn the key. If the fuse blows than it's probably not the culster... If it doesn't blow than the cluster is probably the cause.

 

I been reading throught the old book I have and it shows the main feed (pink/black stripe) goes through the ignition system then drops at each gauge. So I will be running that down next. I pulled the cluster and it pops just the same so the cluster is ok. Thank you for all your help, much appreciated.

 

These are from the 86 shop manual,... I DON'T know if the 89 is different. The ground distribution is from a TPI. ( not the V6 or Carb )






Wow; does that like fuse feed a LOT of stuff ! First thing I would try and verify is if ANY of the other electrical items on that circuit have failed.

Here are the grounds I could find that feed the cluster......








Good luck !

 

Thanx for the drawings. I will print them off today and check them also. I will have to run down whats in series with the cluster since i know its not the problem. And start the long process all over again.

 

Does it have an aftermarket alarm system. Ones with remote start could be removed and the ignition touching ground...

 

I dont have an alarm system on the car, but i am not the only one who has owned this car so that is a good idea. I will check for that also.

 

I been going over these drawings and some really good one from AutoZone and the Chilton manual, holysh&t, I can't find anything. I am curious, do think I could isolate the cluster power itself and tie it to a different power source?

 

Simplify your life.
Use the cluster from your other car.
If fuse lives, junk the bad cluster.

 

I tried that, the one pice of equipment that i cannot find on the car is the Vehicle speed sensor buffer. That is the last one on my list to check.

 

I don't know f-body gauge clusters from memory.
Off the top of my head, I thought the VSS buffer was over in the passenger side dash area but reserve the right to be dead wrong.

That said, how does that keep you from taking an 89 TA gauge cluster from car X and putting it in car y, different (digital / analog) types notwithstanding?

 

No, both standard gauges. I tried swaping them out and it did not help. I think I found the buffer, black ac delco box under the pass sid dash below the pouch. Problem is resovled though.

 

I found the problem. The pink wire with the black stripe feeds a ton of crap. Finally after opening loom and tracing wires i found the issue. Under the coil packs is a soleniod the has a vaccum plug in it that controls vaccum to the climate control center above the radio. The power to it is the pink/black wire. I noticed that it look a bit rough possibly from age. When i pulled on the loom of vaccum lines it was chared. It must have broke down of age or something and internally grouned to the other wire which goes to ground. Unplugged it for now and everything works great, just need to replace that soleniod so my hvac controls work.

 

VERY COOL !

I was really surprised to see how many items that liittle gauge fuse feeds. Glad you were able to trace it down !