NO TACH

[TIM LENZ]

I BOUGHT A 90 CUTLASS SUPREME INTERNATIONAL. THE DIGITAL DASH IS ONLY WORKING ON THE LEFT HALF (SPEEDO, GAS & VOLTS). THE RIGHT SIDE IS DARK NO TACH, OIL PRESSURE, TEMP, OR ODOMETER. I CHECKED THE FUSE BOX INSIDE THE GLOVE BOX ALL GOOD. IS THERE ANOTHER BOX OR HAS ANYONE ELSE DEALT W/ THIS PROBLEM? ALL HELP APRECIATED

 

THANKS

[1990lumina]

First of all, please no caps!!!

 

Secondly, sounds like there is a problem with the wiirng on the cluster itself...could be a bad solder joint or something... If you know of a cluster that does work, try pulling it is a see what happens.

 

I think there is also two power wires to the cluster...maybe one of them is no good?? I'd personally take the cluster out and see what I could see....check for bad solder joints (early GMs are bad for cold solder joints that crack over time) and look for broken/shorted wiring

[TIM LENZ]

Sorry bout the caps!

[Prospeeder]

bulbs? check those, if not wiring issue sounds right

[ToroToro]

There aren't any bulbs in a vacuum fluorescent dash.

 

Definitely something wrong with your cluster. I think 1990lumina summed it up fairly well.

[Psych0matt]

There aren't any bulbs in a vacuum fluorescent dash.

 

Definitely something wrong with your cluster. I think 1990lumina summed it up fairly well.

 

Yes there are! (well, on the dummy lights )

[gp90se]

1st gen w-body dashes suck, the sodering comes undone and the gauges fail because of it. you can either figure out where the soder points came undone and redo them, or throw another gauge cluster in

 

prospeeder, how the hell would bulbs make the gauges be off?

[skiiirt]

LOUD NOISES

[digitaloutsider]

I DONT' KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT.

[gp90se]

SOMEONE SHOULD DO A WRITE UP ON HOW 2 WIRE IN AN AFTERMARKET TACH, I WILL BE DOING THE SWAP SOON, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A WRITE UP

[Prospeeder]

prospeeder, how the hell would bulbs make the gauges be off?

 

he said the whole half didnt light up, not off

[1990lumina]

For the aftermarket tach don't you need a to tap into the something or other "chatter" and then a converter from digital to analog??

[gp90se]

Its 1 of the 2 white wires off the ICM that runs 2 the tach

[SigEpCutlass]

I BOUGHT A 90 CUTLASS SUPREME INTERNATIONAL. THE DIGITAL DASH IS ONLY WORKING ON THE LEFT HALF (SPEEDO, GAS & VOLTS). THE RIGHT SIDE IS DARK NO TACH, OIL PRESSURE, TEMP, OR ODOMETER. I CHECKED THE FUSE BOX INSIDE THE GLOVE BOX ALL GOOD. IS THERE ANOTHER BOX OR HAS ANYONE ELSE DEALT W/ THIS PROBLEM? ALL HELP APRECIATED

 

THANKS

 

[GnatGoSplat]

1st gen w-body dashes suck, the sodering comes undone and the gauges fail because of it. you can either figure out where the soder points came undone and redo them, or throw another gauge cluster in

 

prospeeder, how the hell would bulbs make the gauges be off?

 

Actually, the 88-91 Cutlass digital gauges cluster (UB3) is one of the most reliable. I very rarely hear of a bad one. This is probably because they were manufactured by Nippon Denso and NOT AC Delco.

 

Of course, solder problems aren't unusual in a car which has been exposed to temperature extremes for over a decade, so that would be one place to start.

 

It could also be one of the VFD panels has gone bad. The digital gauges cluster is made of 2 VFD panels, one on the left side and one on the right. It sounds like an entire panel has gone out.

 

On the bulb thing, I think GP's with the hybrid digilog cluster actually had a bulb backlighting the digital part. LCD's are almost always backlit with bulbs. I had a Mercury Sable with a digilog cluster too, and it was also backlit with bulbs. The Cutlass clusters use a VFD so no bulbs.

[Dirty Rockstar]

Does any of the dash light up at all? Numbers, gauge markers, etc? Because the UB3 you have is a 2 paned VFD.. So it would make sense to me that half is in fact not powering due to wire damage, or damage to the cluster itself.. Here's what I would do: THe wires back there that control the power are the pink and black ones.. Follow those and see if there are any breaks in them.. If there isnt, pull the cluster (I would actually get a second one first and see if it powers up)

 

If the second one turns on, then take your old one apart and see if there is any damage to the VFD on the tach side.. If there is any damage to it, that would e why it isnt ligting up.. Hope this can help ya!

 

EDIT: Shaun, the fearless leader, has beaten me to it! lol.. Im not deleting this because it took a lot of effort on my part so early in the morning..

[TIM LENZ]

Thanks for the info. I have nothing on the right side of the display so i guess i'll be pulling the dash looking for pwr!