Wacky Gauges (Help)

[Kane94SSEi]

All started 3 days ago. I was driving to get something to eat when my fuel,water,boost,oil pressure,dic, and compass all went dead. However all i had to do was restart my car and everything worked again. The gauges sometimes sweep while driving as if you have just turned the key. So in other words for three days now if your driving for atleast 15+ minutes the gauges will sweep as if your about to start the car and work for another 5 minutes then just stop working. But like i said once you restart your car everything is normal again atleast for 10+ minutes. Car is a 94 SSEi 125,435 miles. Help and thoughts please and thank you.

[TDS-94SSEi]

I went thru this same issue with our '94. Tach and speedometer continue to work, correct?

I researched places that will repair gauge clusters, and found that these exact symptoms were listed on the website, so I started to think that this was a common problem. But in my case, around the same time I was having these dash issues, I was fighting with a bad connection at the battery positive cable. I finally bet that problem, and have not had any gauge issues since. Now that COULD be a coincidence, of course. Because I've found little that is predictable about this car, LOL.

I had been searching salvage yards for a matching cluster that I could swap in for testing purposes. never found an exact match, though. Have read about owners that was removed the cluster, dis-assembled and re-soldered connections, and reinstalled, solving the problems. But there's a chance that it isn't that involved. These cars are very tempermental if there are any voltage oddities, I've found.

After figthting this problem for a couple months, I've now been driving the car for 3 months, with no further loss of gauge function. FWIW, the cost to have teh cluster rebuilt was in the $250 range. I'm kind of glad now that I didn't just jump into that, though. . . .

[TDS-94SSEi]

Bah, now I'm back to preparing to get the dash cluster repaired, mine gave up again last night, after a nice run of working. I have a couple places local to me that say they can rebuild the cluster, so I'll be looking into that, and wouldbe happy to post back results if/when I can get around to having this repair done.

[tpulliam79]

Have you checked your ground busses by under the molding and carpet near the front of your doors? Also how do the battery cables look?

[TDS-94SSEi]

Have you checked your ground busses by under the molding and carpet near the front of your doors? Also how do the battery cables look?

Yes, ground busses were super-clean and dry. Battery cables are clean, too, although I WAS having issue with them coming loose, but solved that by adding a washer between the 2 cables.

I really thought that I had beat this after fixing the battery cables, but now I think since the problem has returned after a couple months, that I think it calls for a refurbishing of the cluster. The couple of websites I found for places that will open it up, replace the stepper motors on the gauges, and re-solder averything, list these same EXACT symptoms as a cluster failure. And there have been a few board members that have posted similar issues, so it's not uncommon. I had hoped it was just a voltage issue, as I've found this car to be very picky as far as electronics go. If I had more time, I'd try to figure out how to take the cluster apart, and re-solder it myself, but I looked at the cluster that I got from a salvage yard, and couldn't figure out how to get 'deep' enough into it to get to all the connections.