gauge cluster problems

[halffast1g]

Gauge cluster will not light up and none of the fuses are blown ( all confirmed). Speedo and tach do not work, however the right turn signal works. The emergency brake light stays on and gets brighter when you pull the e-brake handle, and dimmer when the e brake is not engaged.

The stock oil pressure gauge maxes out as soon as I turn the key to the on position ( normal?) and I am running an aftermarket sending unit to aftermarket gauge.

My vehicle no longer has a radio, automatic seat belts, and dome light. Is it possible disconnecting those from the harness pissed off something? Thanks

 

[Takophiliac]

I can't help a whole lot on this, but if your stock oil pressure gauge is going straight for the moon, it means that it's grounded (this is not normal). The gauge should normally sit on the bottom unless the car is actually running.

For the rest, perhaps the gauge cluster is damaged? Did it ever work?

 

[Palmetto_TSi]

Hmmmm.... Sounds like you need to start tracing out the harness... Make sure there are no broken wires (some may not be visibly broken, but broken inside the insulation.)

 

[halffast1g]

The gauge cluster did work flawlessly before I starting removing things in the interior. I will check out the status of the stock oil pressure sending unit sensor wires

I electrical taped the wires that go to the oil filter housing from the harness and moved things around a bit. Now when I use the right signal, both signals flash faintly at once. The stock oil pressure gauge doesn't move until i try to turn on the headlights (which none of the connectors are connected). Does it seem most likely that one of the headlight wires is grounding somewhere its not supposed to?

 

[Takophiliac]

You might have some wires shorted inside the harness. That would explain a lot of the symptoms. If any of the harness got hot before you rearranged it the insulation could have become brittle.

 

[halffast1g]

Went though a whole bunch of wires in the interior and the engine bay and came up with nada. Checked along the harness for loose/broken wires and didn't find much. Taped up a few wires but nothing changed. Checked all fuses again, swapped them around, no change. Any other guesses before I just ditch the cluster altogether

I was testing some of the fuses for voltage (as I am going to do an add a fuse for my aftermarket water and oil pressure gauges) and where the "room" fuse is located is getting 12v even with the car off and all the doors/ hatch closed. When I pull the fuse and put it back in the few remaining interior lights come on for a few seconds. Can anyone else confirm this as normal?