Auto Repair Advice by Professional Automotive Experts.
Repair Topics / Dashboard
Car Dashboard Questions and
Answers This
category contains featured questions as
examples. They relate to most vehicles.
Question:
2003 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport 3.8L V6_mileage:
43,000. Our van would not start after the kids
ran the battery down listening to the radio. The
van was jump started. The jumper cables were
attached to the dead battery first then to the
booster battery of a car that was running. After
the van was started the speedometer and
tachometer did not work. They still do not work
after multiple starts. I looked at the fuse box
and none of the fuses are labeled for those two
items. It seems that everything else
electrically is working. Did a relay/fuse burn
out because of the jump start? If so, which one
do I replace. Is there something possibly more
serious? If you have any ideas please let me
know. Thank you.
Answer:
When your Caravan was jump-started, a voltage
spike may have damaged the speedometer cluster
or possibly burned out a fuse or two. If
it is a fuse, you will need to check them all to
determine which ones to replace. Also
check the vehicle speed sensor to be sure that
it is sending a signal to the speedometer.
Question: 2002 Mercedes Benz
c320 mileage: 60,000. The lights on my dashboard
and radio went out. There are several fuses
marked for the instrument panel but none that
say lights. I have replaced three fuses to no
avail. I tried reading the wire diagram to
determine which fuse I should replace but no
luck there either.
Answer: The problem could be
a faulty headlight switch or the dimmer switch
for the dash lights.
Question: 1999 Chevrolet
Caviler mileage: 90,000. I would like to know
the wiring diagram for the digital dash, I have
tried so many repair manuals but they wont give
me enough information, any help would be greatly
appreciated.
Answer: As a general rule,
wiring diagrams are not available for the
digital dash which is a self-contained unit.
When a digital dash is faulty, the whole thing
needs to be replaced.
Question: 2001 Nissan Altima
mileage: 75,000. B and K great site. I've read
the other digital dash answers you've provided
to for other owners, however mine is a bit
different. All gauges, the speedometer, fuel,
everything works fine, however when it's cold
out it takes the display a good 50 minutes to
come on. I've been told that it must be a
problem in the power supply to the display.
Anyway, I'm pretty handy as far as repair but
don't know what component on the power supply
board could be bad. Any ideas? Also, are the
schematics for this digital dash avail anywhere
or are they kept in a vault somewhere in Japan.
Brian
Answer: The actual digital
dash circuit board does not have a wiring
diagram. On a normal wiring schematic it only
shows the wires going up to the display. We do
not know where the power supply is on the
circuit board. We replace the entire circuit
board when the digital dash fails. If per
chance, a crack in the circuit board is causing
your problem and you can locate it, you might be
able to have it repaired.
Question: 1999 Town &
Country Chrysler mileage: 94,000. Hi, I need
help badly. The instrument cluster went blank
and it is a digital one. Took the computer board
out and got a new one. Reinstalled it but no
luck.
Answer: With a volt meter,
check for 12-volt power supply and ground
connections.
Question:
2002 Isuzu Rodeo mileage: 62,000. My dash
board lights are blown out, must I remove the old dash? Should I look for a fuse
or a bulb; can you help me see my dash at night?
Answer: The chances of all the
dash light bulbs failing at once are extremely
remote. More than likely a fuse has blown
or the headlight switch/dimmer switch has
failed.
Question:
1999 Mazda MX3 mileage: 85,000. The lights
that illuminate my dashboard (speedometer, etc.)
have gone out. The headlights are working
as well as the turn signals and hazards.
There does not appear to be a fuse associated
with the dash lights. Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks.Answer:
Check all the fuses in the fuse box and check,
with the headlights on, for 12-volts in and out
of the dimmer for the dash lights.
Question:
1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme mileage: 70,000.
My Cutlass has a digital instrument cluster
(speedometer, odometer, fuel indicator, etc.).
The problem is that it only works when it wants
to. It will come on and go black,
intermittently. When it is on, it tends to
flicker. Is this some type of loose
connection or does the entire unit have to be
replaced?
Answer: Yes, the entire unit
should be replaced.
Addendum: This is actually
an answer to those asking about intermittent
failures in digital dashboards. If you are
contemplating replacing the instrument cluster
AND are doing it yourself AND are competent at
soldering, try this: I've fixed a few of
these simply by re-soldering the circuit boards,
they seem prone to failure when the vehicle's
vibration causes soldered connections to fail.
In particular, there's a DC-to-DC converter
sub-module attached to the main board, which
seems unusually susceptible to failure AND
drives most of the illumination of the displays.
Look for a small board attached to the main
board and re-solder all of its connections.
It may just work again, and you've saved
yourself some cash, or it may not and you didn't
have anything to lose in the first place.
Question:
1999 GMC jimmy 6 mileage: 94,000. My
digital dashboard is out. For the last
year, it would go off and on every few months.
Now it is off it seems for good how do I check
for loose connection or replacement?
Answer: From what you
describe, your dash gauge cluster has failed and
must be replaced.
Question:
1999 Ford Taurus, miles: 86,000 The display on
the dash (all the information like the speed,
how high the engine is revving, etc) is a
digital and the lights are so dim that it is
incredibly hard to read any information from the
dash, especially the speed, at night. How
do you brighten the lights on the dash?
Answer:
Replace the dash lights behind the liquid
crystal display.

Repair Topics / Dashboard
Look up your dashboard question in our
Car Repair forum section.
Got a Car Repair Question?
We will answer it for FREE!
Related Subjects
GET AN ONLINE
CAR REPAIR MANUAL.
Get instant access to your vehicles drive belt routing, wiring
diagrams, trouble code information, updates and factory bulletins.
|