vman1100 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Hey Gang - I just got my instrument cluster back from LexTech - they replaced all 4 instrument needles. The Problem I had before I sent the unit is still with me. When I start the engine, sometimes the needles will light up and sometimes they won't. Sometimes when they are on, while I am sitting in the garage with the engine idling the needles will go out when I move the shift lever. Sometimes they will work steady for a while and they they will just quit. It seems real odd and the backlights stay on... I have cleaned and replaced the ground connections, and both battery connections, checked the alternator, had LexTech replace the needles and still the problem persists. So far Lextech has not found the problem... Any ideas ? Vince... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLS Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 This is a real sticky problem. Something on that board is cutting the needles on and off. Each needle has an independent power source, BUT they are all powered from the same power source further up the line. Once the prospect of the needles that were originally bad have been replaced, it's possible to start troubleshooting the board now. Something like that will definately need an O'scope to read the boards outputs and monitor it's behavior patterns. From my experience the cost of having techs troubleshoot the board that is on again and off again far outweights buying a used cluster and swapping the new needles over. (but don't forget the resistors on the new needles sitting on the old motherboard or they'll get too much juice on the new cluster). I have seen this happen once before, but I am unsure that someone ever found the fix. It's pretty rare. EDIT: I meant to say try to borrow a dimmer switch from a salvage car and see if that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vman1100 Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 This is a real sticky problem. Something on that board is cutting the needles on and off. Each needle has an independent power source, BUT they are all powered from the same power source further up the line. Once the prospect of the needles that were originally bad have been replaced, it's possible to start troubleshooting the board now. Something like that will definately need an O'scope to read the boards outputs and monitor it's behavior patterns. From my experience the cost of having techs troubleshoot the board that is on again and off again far outweights buying a used cluster and swapping the new needles over. (but don't forget the resistors on the new needles sitting on the old motherboard or they'll get too much juice on the new cluster). I have seen this happen once before, but I am unsure that someone ever found the fix. It's pretty rare. EDIT: I meant to say try to borrow a dimmer switch from a salvage car and see if that works. ← :cries: "Roger that" LLS - I appreciate your time and guidance. I love the car, but this is driving me nuts. If a used cluster is too expensive, then I will just have to live with it. We shall see what we shall see. . . Regards Vince. . . :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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