Repair Topics / Dashboard

• How the car electrical system works
• When I crank the car all electrical stops
• Both headlights go out?
• How to check fuses
• Why is my car making a rattling noise?
• Car door, hood or trunk lid won't close

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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.

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.

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Repair Topics / Dashboard