89 buick regal no digital dash.

[1988s10]

well i'm a newbie to the forum. but not the the w-body. this is my second one and i've been a mechanic for 5 years and have fixed many of these cars.

 

well a little background on the car. i bought the 1989 regal limited with a 3.1L for a whole $150 from a buddy. it needs injectors and a tune-up(not a bad job for me to get done). well the digital dash doesn't work nore does the odometer. and well i'm well know by the cops in about 3 towns around me due to my lead foot. so after i get it running right again i'd like to fix the dash to avoid getting a ticket.

 

so here's the questions.

 

is there a cheaper way to get it working other then sending it to a dash shop and paying $180?

can i use a grand sport anolog cluster in place of my digtal?

how hard is it wire a aftermarket speedo into one of these cars(if all else fails)?

 

well if anyone has some info on this it would be great! thank you.

[Crazy K]

you could convert to analog... I am unsure of what disables this particular digital cluster.

 

 

same thing for the UB3 digital in CSs something can fail in them but I'm not sure what.

[Q-Ball]

Buy a used one to see if yours is completly dead from an auto wreckers?

[1988s10]

well i found a 89 regal GS cluster on ebay for $50. yeah it's digital. would this be a plug and play? or do i need to re-wire everything? i'd like to get this fixed for as cheap as i can. all this car has to do is get me from work and back and take me on trips safely.

 

well does anyone know the interchange for digital clusters?

[1988s10]

Buy a used one to see if yours is completly dead from an auto wreckers?

 

ummmm i'm sure this one is dead. my buddy told me he's driven this car for like 5,000 or more miles without the speedo or odometer working.

[mihela816]

I'd take it apart and check the boards for cold solder joints, that seems to be a common problem on GM clusters.

[1988s10]

I'd take it apart and check the boards for cold solder joints, that seems to be a common problem on GM clusters.

 

well that would be the cheapest way to fix it. my uncle tried that on my 88 cutlass supreme. and well he found one or two bad joints. but it still didn't fix it.

 

would a 1994 olds cutlass supreme cluster fit in my 89 regal? lady at church has a 94 cutlass parts car(i'm going to try and get my hands on it at somepoint in time).

 

well tonight i'm going to push the buick into my garage and start fixing the running problem. maybe i'll pull the cluster and check it for bad solder joints.

[rockfangd]

solderability issues are so common to GMs i wouldnt be the least bit surprised

[1988s10]

well a guy at church who is great with electronics is going to check the cluster out for me and fix any bad solder joints. i hope he can fix it.

[Regal_GS_1989]

I'm guessing that it is the Base cluster, as those are the ones that always seem to die. I would just find another one from the wrecker and slap that in. Or, you could always find the upgraded cluster and swap that in.