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Instrument Panel INOP

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HiBoostGST

10+ Year Contributor
42
1
Oct 10, 2008
North Charleston, South_Carolina
Ok so i searched for instrument panel problems and non of them really help me out and they have been dead a while.

Heres the problem: My insturment cluster doesnt do JACK. No RPM, Speedo, Odo, oil pressure, boost, temp, turn signals, hazards, dash lights, and my a/c blower motor doesnt come on now. I checked ALL fuses in my 95 GST and everyone of them is good and has power. I pulled the wiring diagram for my car and the grounds are good too as far as i know. Also pulled the connector diagrams for the car and im 95 percent sure that all of them are connected. I took the cluster out and checked pins to see if i even have power and I DO. I have NO idea whats going on with this thing. There is also an instrument panel relay by the kick panel, i checked that, and swapped it with another relay and still no fix. ANY help would be awesome! Thanks!
 
This HAS to be either a major connector or ground issue. If you don't have signals, that is a big item right there. The signal are not going to get their power from anywhere other than the signal switch. This coupled with the fact that everything else is dead really leads to some connector. Do you signals work outside the car, but not the cluster? I'm guessing that if you focus on one circuit, you will find the problem with all.
 
killerbeast: im unsure if the signals work outside the car, the headlights are out and im waiting on the new ones, ill test the connectors with my meter to verify. i KNOW for sure that the breaklights and rear lights DO work when i turn the lights on. I thought it was a ground too but i cant seem to find the one that is supposed to be located down buy the fuse box in the kick panel. isnt there supposed to be one there? i pulled the diagrams for all of the connectors located in the car and started tracing them but all of them seem to be connected.
 
Ok, I'll dig and see if I can find a manual

i do have a manual already, couldnt seem to find the ground though. i was hoping someone else may have seen it. but let me know if you find anything out. thanks again.
 
I found a manual for a 97-99, but not a 95. I'm not sure of the differences though. I did find one ground that is behind the cluster. It looks like there are 3 grounds the cluster uses. But again, the signals do not use any of them. I'll keep looking.

I was able to spend some more time and here is what I found. Ground #5 is right behind the cluster somewhere. It could be on the back side of the dash and not easily view, but the pic shows it behind the cluster. The signals, dimmer, tach, speedo, datalink all ground through it. That is what is shown for a N/T 2.0. The 2.0T and the 2.4 look to be the same but the speedo grounds through ground #3, which is under the hood. The radio looks like it uses a different ground. That is what I have so far. I would pull the cluster and check that ground. Also I would try a different cluster as it looks like the N/T 2.0 is different than the 2.4 or the 2.0T, at least in the wiring. Not completely sure on that one though.
 
Ok, I'll dig and see if I can find a manual

what section in the manual did you find it. i think i have the manual on my computer so i can look and see. thanks for doing that research. im starting to think that the ground may be the problem. i def. need to take a look at those grounds. ill see if i can find a picture of what your talking about as well.
 
It was a copy of a 97 electrical manual. There is a section that shows the car and all the connectors. They have the grounds marked as black squares. I looked under the cluster diagram to find the grounds and then went back to the pics of the car to find the location. If you can't find it, I will try to get some screen shots.

Here is the link
97-99 mitsubishi eclipse Electrical manual
 
Quit bumping your own thread and lose the f*in attitude.

ill keep that in mind. im not a child and dont need to be told what to do. i appreciate the info you are giving me and im sure you have been frustrated at some point working on you one vehicles. and once again, i have metered what i can think of and what has been suggested. as far as the radio. no breaks can be found at this time.


lets go ahead and get past the "attitude" or "frustration" and see if we can fix a problem. you would expect the same in return if YOU were the one who was frustrated. bashing is done as far as im concerned, i suggest the same

I understand you are frustrated, but thread bumping is NOT ALLOWED. Also, use proper spelling and punctuation. "im not a child and dont need to be told what to do" makes you sound like a child. Follow the rules or I will ask that your thread be locked.

I did ask two questions in my original post that you completely ignored. Does the cigarette lighter work and does the rear wiper work? In the electrical manual that Kickerbeast uploaded (page 202), it shows a list of things that is driven by a certain signal (radio, AC, turn signal lights, etc....). Hence my asking those questions in the original reply.

Good luck tracking it down. Electrical faults are probably the worst.
 
I understand you are frustrated, but thread bumping is NOT ALLOWED. Also, use proper spelling and punctuation. "im not a child and dont need to be told what to do" makes you sound like a child. Follow the rules or I will ask that your thread be locked.

I did ask two questions in my original post that you completely ignored. Does the cigarette lighter work and does the rear wiper work? In the electrical manual that Kickerbeast uploaded (page 202), it shows a list of things that is driven by a certain signal (radio, AC, turn signal lights, etc....). Hence my asking those questions in the original reply.

Good luck tracking it down. Electrical faults are probably the worst.

yes the cig lighter works. Im unsure if the rear wiper does at this time because I have the switch unplugged and the vents taken out right now while because i was trying to make sure everything was plugged in.

It was a copy of a 97 electrical manual. There is a section that shows the car and all the connectors. They have the grounds marked as black squares. I looked under the cluster diagram to find the grounds and then went back to the pics of the car to find the location. If you can't find it, I will try to get some screen shots.

Here is the link
97-99 mitsubishi eclipse Electrical manual

thanks again killerbeast. I have some time to check it out tonight and ill let you know if I find anything out with it.

last night i pulled the dash out again and double checked the grounds killerbeast found. they are all good. replaced the dash and made sure that all connectors were plugged in and they are.

i also checked the cig lighter again and its good
rewired the radio and it works
rear wiper switch works and wiper works

i also checked some of the other connectors behind the radio, from what i see on the diagram, those control the instrument panel cluster. power is where it should be and it feeds power to the cluster which still does not work.

got my headlights in last night as well and they work, however the turn signals dont blink when switched on.

still not fixed...thanks so far for the help. any more ideas?
 
Last edited:
Ya' know... I do understand that this is in regards to a 2g, but I'm having about the same issue with my 1g.

Difference is... 1 : There is NO radio in the car. 2 : I just did a 1.8-2.0 swap... and the 1.8 cluster is still in the car.

When i was going through the checklist, I made sure to order a 2.0 cluster... but was told that even the 1.8 cluster should still work but not read correctly... however headlights, blinkers, AC blower, nor any of the gauge displays work EXCEPT the temp.

o.o I'll post an update on THAT when I get my new cluster in... just for anyone who MAY have the same question that I had.

In regards to this current issue.. I would have to agree on checking the fuses for thermal wear, test lighting power lines, and making sure that you can't locate a break in any of the wiring. If all else fails, draw the gauge up on a piece of cardboard and mark out the RPMS to 15K and the Speed0 to 220 and call your car a beast 24/7. Hell, even add a horned angry face to make yourself smile once in a while.
 
At this point I would try to get another cluster from a car that is the same as yours just to make sure that your cluster isn't fubared. I know you tried one other cluster, but since it was from a N/T I would try to get a Turbo cluster. I would hate to chase wires and not be the problem. If nothing else, you may be able to "borrow" a cluster from a junkyard to ensure that it works.
 
So i located the problem i was having. As for the blower motor not working, this was caused by a fuse being in the wrong location. Double check all fuses AGAIN and make sure they are in the corresponding places.

The reason my instrument cluster was Inop was due to a large 30 pin connector not being plugged into the fuse box under the kick panel. So if you have taken your dash out, you may need to take it out again (it took me 3 times to figure this out) and make sure none of the connectors are hiding.

Thanks a lot for everyone's help. My eclipse is ready to get back on the road after over a year of being down.:thumb:
 
So i located the problem i was having. As for the blower motor not working, this was caused by a fuse being in the wrong location. Double check all fuses AGAIN and make sure they are in the corresponding places.

The reason my instrument cluster was Inop was due to a large 30 pin connector not being plugged into the fuse box under the kick panel. So if you have taken your dash out, you may need to take it out again (it took me 3 times to figure this out) and make sure none of the connectors are hiding.

Thanks a lot for everyone's help. My eclipse is ready to get back on the road after over a year of being down.:thumb:

to bring this back from the dead i am having the same problem and when i tap my foot on the kick panel and fuse box they cluster will come back to life... also to add to that i have the power for my gauges and wideband hooked to the cig lighter power and that turns off sometimes too but they do it at seperate times sometime both work or nethier or one or the other and taping my foot on the fuse box/kick panel can make them turn on or off as described.

could it be this 30 pin connector mentioned?
 
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