1G 1990 Eagle Talon TSI 'Combination Meter' failure!

[EagleB]

I have a 1990 Eagle Talon TSI that I bought new and have taken very good care of it. However, about three weeks ago, the 'combination meter' (the three gauges: oil pressure, water temperature and fuel level) quit working. I have the shop manuals for this car, but have been unable to solve this 'combination meter' issue. Looking at the electrical schematics it appears that the sensor wiring for these gauges does not go through the ECM. I do have a spare ECM (MB 625128) and as soon as I have time I will replace the ECM in the car with it. I will let you know what I find out after I make the swap;.

 

[EagleB]

I have an 1990 Eagle Talon TSI that I have owned since new with no accidents!

Recently, for some unexplained reason, the 'combination meter' (the fuel level, oil pressure and the water temperature gauges) quit working. I found a low-mileage replacement turbo gauge pod to replace the original one, but that didn't fix the gauge problem.

I have the Mitsubishi factory shop manuals for this car and used the electrical manual to try to diagnose this mysterious gauge problem. There IS 12 volts getting to the dash gauge pod section that powers the three gauges that make up the 'combination meter'.

I am at a loss as to what is causing this problem so I would appreciate anyone out there that may have experienced this 'combination meter' issue to let me know what fixed their problem.

 

[19Eclipse90]

My first suggestion as an easy check would be to test fuse # 11 (10A, Gauge) in the fuse box in the driver-side footwell.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Having said that, you only mentioned three of the five gauges that get power through this fuse. Do the tachometer and boost pressure gauges work? If so, any recent work done on the vehicle? There isn't much more in common with those three gauges outside of the connectors for the combination meter itself and that fuse.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

If you have the cluster out again, check for any bad ground traces on the circuit board.

 

[EagleB]

My first suggestion as an easy check would be to test fuse # 11 (10A, Gauge) in the fuse box in the driver-side footwell.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Having said that, you only mentioned three of the five gauges that get power through this fuse. Do the tachometer and boost pressure gauges work? If so, any recent work done on the vehicle? There isn't much more in common with those three gauges outside of the connectors for the combination meter itself and that fuse.

Brian, hi!

I forgot to mention that all of the other gauges in the dash gauge pod do work. The 3-gauge 'combination meter' receives it's 12VDC power through fuses 7 and 11 and they are are all good. This problem has been so baffling that I even replaced those two fuses!

The only other thing I can think of that may be causing this problem might have to do with where the wiring harness carrying the data for those three individual gauges plug into the main under-dash fuse panel. After 32 years since this Talon was built (May, 1989), maybe there may be some corrosion built up (causing what is called 'a high resistance short circuit) in the male/female connectors at the main fuse panel.

I am not a 'newbie' at this having drag-raced various race cars for 36 years, but this problem has me with egg on my face!

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[19Eclipse90]

All gauges are powered strictly through fuse 11 ("Gauge"). So if some of them work and others don't and you tried another gauge cluster / combination meter assembly with the same results, it is either a connection problem of the harness to the combination meter or wiring downstream of each gauge at the grounds. Since they do not all share the same ground, it seems unlikely that the grounds would be the issue.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

The highlighted pin numbers are all from connector D-05, indicated by the dotted line linking them all together. Connector D-05 is the left connector behind the combination meter. Pin 14 is the one that gets power directly from fuse 11 (Gauge). You can see they are all fed from this power source.

So, you could check that pin 14 has continuity to one side of the location for fuse 11 to rule out the feed side. I would also check the pins in connector D-05 to ensure that they are fully seated and making good contact when the mate with the combination meter. But since the other gauges work, it's not likely this is the cause, just good practice to rule things out.

You can also check the continuity on the wiring on the ground side for the water temp and oil pressure gauge using connector D-05 to begin localizing the issue if everything else has checked out to this point.

• Check continuity from pin 1 to any ground for the water temperature gauge.
• The oil pressure gauge is a bit different, but you should be able to paperclip and alligator clip to the oil pressure gauge unit wiring connector at your oil filter housing and check continuity back to pin 13.
• Note that the fuel level gauge uses the same ground as the water temperature gauge so verification of that ground with the first bullet above checks two of these.

One thing I'm noticing for these three since the fuel level gauge uses the same ground as the temp gauge, also, is that they rely on an intermediate connector C-68, which is on the engine COMPARTMENT harness -- not the engine CONTROL harness - and connects to the junction block in the driver-side interior foot well; same place where the fuses are, just higher up and slightly less obvious. It's not a connector that is likely to wiggle free so I would only suspect it if there were recently some work done. In any case, you should be able to rule this out if the continuity checks for the grounding side of these gauges checks out.

Very nice looking ride, by the way!

 

[EagleB]

THANKS SO MUCH for all of your help here.

I have checked to see if there was 12 VDC on pin 14 on the right-hand connector for the gauge pod and there is so that is not the problem. I also acquired low mileage 1990 Eagle Talon TSI complete gauge pod, replaced the original one that came with the car, but to no avail. There are some wiring harness connectors that plug into the main fuse panel above where the fuses are located so by process of elimination, that may be where the problem is.

This Talon runs as good as it looks because I take meticulous carer of my vehicles. I drag raced cars for 36 years so I don't know it all, but I do know enough to be dangerous! (Ha!) This car is my 'daily driver' which is another reason why I have taken care of it. The car currently has 338,000+ miles on it and has recorded 12.80's @ 107+ mph at the strip and it is legal for NHRA's A/FS Stock Eliminator class.
I guess that you can see why I am so frustrated with the 'combo gauge' issue.

 

[19Eclipse90]

D-05 is the left side connector to the combination meter. Just wanting to be sure we're on the same page. As stated, since two of the five are working, I don't think it's the power side but there is reason to clarify as D-05 also has the ground pins for the three that aren't working.