The wife's cars tach isn't working?

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peejay
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by peejay »

If the other gauges work, the cluster is bad. All of the gauge information comes over the same network and most/all of it comes from the engine computer.
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by Dave Koehler »

Unless the wife is worried about hitting her shift points I would quit worrying over it. One less thing for her not to pay attention to.
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by midnightbluS10 »

Best bet is buy a used cluster and keep track of your miles if they even matter, or send it off/buy a repaired cluster.

I bought one on ebay last time from a parts seller. Mileage didn't matter so I just bought the newest I could find for sale.


Or leave it alone until another stepper motor goes dead.
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bigjoe1 wrote:By the way, I had a long talk with Harold(Brookshire) last year at the PRI show. We met at the airport and he told me everything he knew about everything.It was a nice visit. JOE SHERMAN RACING
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by pdq67 »

I finally got around to touching the + and - cables together, unhooked from the battery and nothing happened to the dash pods.

I will have it looked at but more than likely it's too old to fix unless it can be done for cheap and I don't care how few miles it has on it..

Thanks everybody,

pdq67
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by rfoll »

midnightbluS10 wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:25 am I imagine they're the same shitty clusters used in the other Buicks around that time. More than likely, there's an issue inside the cluster. I replaced my mom's cluster in her '02 Buick multiple times when she had one.


You say it's not a Chevy, except it actually is. Just with Buick sheet metal. Nothing about it is Buick specific except the name, sheetmetal, and interior, I believe. All the electronics and power train stuff is pure Chevy.
The 3800 in the car is a Buick. Very impressive engine considering it's heritage.
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midnightbluS10
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by midnightbluS10 »

pdq67 wrote: Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:21 pm I finally got around to touching the + and - cables together, unhooked from the battery and nothing happened to the dash pods.

I will have it looked at but more than likely it's too old to fix unless it can be done for cheap and I don't care how few miles it has on it..

Thanks everybody,

pdq67
Not too old to fix. My mother's Buick was a 2002. You can buy one already repaired for $50-75 on ebay or have it repaired for around 100-125. I'm relating this from personal experience, having dealt with this issue specifically.


https://www.ebay.com/i/390363964333?chn ... 5454447151


https://www.mysafetybelts.com/store/Bui ... p102533991


https://www.ebay.com/i/132325908025?chn ... 5588222644
JC -

bigjoe1 wrote:By the way, I had a long talk with Harold(Brookshire) last year at the PRI show. We met at the airport and he told me everything he knew about everything.It was a nice visit. JOE SHERMAN RACING
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Re: The wife's cars tach isn't working?

Post by Schurkey »

Assuming this is a stepper-motor style instrument cluster, a scan tool will activate each of the gauges and swing the needle to full-scale. Any needles that don't move have defective steppers (or, I suppose, some other cluster problem--but the steppers are the first thing to mess with.) Even my prehistoric Snap-On Red Brick (MTG-2500) can do this.

If it's like my Trailblazer, soldering in a few stepper motors is a nice weekend project. The second time, it's an afternoon project, except I didn't need to do it a second time.

The steppers are dirt-cheap. REPLACE ALL OF THEM. Put the light bulbs in while you have it apart.
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