So I just had a brand new 383 with the Holly Terminator X put in my 88 GTA. Well he was doing it I had him swap my steering column to another one that I already owned in better shape also had a company refresh the tranny at the same time.
when I went to pick up the car I had no lights on the digital dash. He said oh sometimes they go bad there are companies that fix them but the truth of the matter is I knew it was from the install.
at first I thought maybe it was because of the steering column because when I click the key forward a tiny bit the dash would lightly light up and I would see a couple of the gauges on voltage move up the chart, it would also lightly light up in the accessory position but nothing in the Run position ( the only thing that does seem to work is the system check which I believe is totally separate).
I checked the power of the ignition switch 12 volts and then removed the gauge fuse and tested there for 12 volts, all good. That's when I realized with the fuse out and the and auxiliary position I was still getting a dim light and see the needle moving on the digital voltage.
how is it possible that the gauges will even work with fuse out?( I think I do remember by touching the key somewhat in the past that I could get the gauges to climb above what was actually reading on the gauges maybe this is something normal in between key positions.)
so the only way that I could think of the gauges doing that with a fuse out is if it's a ground fault and back feeding. Is there anybody who has knowledge of this system and can help pinpoint me in where my problem would like considering the typical things that were touched on the car during a holly install. I've never had a problem with the digital dash before.

And to spend all this money and get the car back with no gas gauge tachometer mileage speed has me pretty defeated. Thanks in advance hopefully in 2026 good people lurking around these boards

 

After some more troubleshooting today I realized that the fuel pump will run with the gauge fuse plugged in and the fuel pump fuse out. It will not run with the fuel pump in an the gauge fuse out. So that's most likely why my gauges is aren't working. Question is is where is most likely for this to occur.also It's a brand new racetronics hotwireing kit.

 

When you say digital dash, do you mean a Holley digital dash?? Or like a Dakota digital?? Also what Terminator x system did you have installed??

 

It sounds like whoever did the install tied both of those circuits together.

 

I'm talking about the stock GTA digital dashboard

 

You'll be looking to have a complete workaround to get those stock gauges working

If you can wing it scrap the stock stuff and go with a Holley 12.3 digital dash

 

I want to leave it a 1988 gta if I remove the dash I remove a major part of the car and era. So unfortunately that's not a option for me

 

To run the Holly it's tapped into the bottom left IGN feed on the fuse box, can anybody confirm I think I'm seeing it goes straight to a bus bar which is the same as the gauges circuit and I may be back feeding and causing all my problems

 

What color are the wires from the Holley harness go where?? The Red wire goes to battery, black to ground and the red/wht wire goes to switched power that's also powered while cranking.

 

forget about that comment I was overthinking it and misjudged the red and white for Main power feed

 

As a update it turned out to be a missed ground wire, thanks