Tachometer, Temperature, and Fuel gauges do not work. Needles all read at "0" position. Found the IG-1 fuse in the engine fuse box was blown. Replaced it, but did not revive the gauges. I have read that all three of these gauges have a common ground.

I'm new to 'getting dirty' with my Prelude, so not sure what to look for or where at this point. Might the ground location be visible from under the dash? Or could the problem be inside the instrument cluster, and I have to take it off to inspect?

I do have a Service Manual, but still cannot find the "common ground" illustrated anywhere.

 

you would not find "common ground" in your manual. what this means is that all 3 gauges are grounded at one place. Find the elecrical wiring diagram in your manual for those gauges and trace the ground wire, then do the same when you are looking at your actual wires in the car, trace wires to grounding location, inspect/clean/sand metal for proper ground point.

 

if the ground doesnt fix try something along these lines, im not good with older ludes

My brother in law has a 89 prelude si that had a bad tranny cable ( idk the exact name for this ) That caused it to quit reading.

I dont think it has a VSS but if it does, test the connection, if connection is good, plug reads proper voltage if it does replace vss

 

I've had no luck figuring this out. The Speedometer has and still does work fine - not VSS problem. All other cluster related switches and lights work fine. Wiring Diagrams Page 2 in the Service Manual has these 3 leading to inside Fuse #13 10amp -- checked it, not blown, replaced it, no difference. Further, the wiring diagram shows continuing to IG1 (under the hood) -- YES, it was blown - replaced it, still tach/temp/fueld gauges dead.

In front of the inside fuses holder, there are a couple wires spliced together - one definitely recall being Black/Yellow, the other I think was Red/White. I didn't have time yet to try to disconnect and reconnect or see what they actually go to. By the way, I am not a wiring specialist, so don't really know what I'm looking at.

 

Off topic, so I apologize. Is your Service Manual specific to USDM Preludes?

 

I guess USDM, on Introduction page: Second Edition 4/88 1130 Pages / Specifications Apply to U.S.A.

PM if you would like me to look something up.

 

Decided not to remove the instrument cluster thinking something else has to be the problem with the Tach/Temp/Fuel gauges not working. In Service Manual I found potential dash area grounds to check for indicators. Well, I found something very interesting:


In this photo, we see the dash fuse box. The top crimped splice is BLK/YEL with BLK/YEL, and just below that is a taped splice BLK/RED with BLK/RED. See what I think is a black ground wire leading to upper right on that bolt? The bolt is rusted, so much that the nut can't be (w/o force) tightened. Oh, the black wire IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANYTHING ELSE!


Alrighty. A close-up picture. The top crimped splice BLK/YEL - see the wire coming out at an angle at top? It's only about 1/4 inch long. AND, the lower taped splice BLK/RED, it appears to ALSO have a 1/4 inch long wire coming out of it!


My, what are these strange wires in the trunk?


Looky here! What is this? An alarm? My '88 doesn't have this do-hickey!

Did someone half-a$$ remove an alarm installation from this car? Mind you, I have never seen an alarm installed. Now, I know diddly about wiring. Can anyone advise what's going on here? I should probably take it to someone who knows the wiring harness and alarms, right? Advice is welcomed, please.

 

I know this is an old thread, but it came up when I was searching for tips on how to fix my Tach, Speedo, & Fuel Gauge issues.

I am sure you have already done so but I would FIRST re-splice those YEL/BLK & RED/WHT wires to make sure they have connection.

Secondly, I would run a separate ground to the ground plane of your instrument panel to a good solid chassis ground under the dash or behind the Instrument Cluster. This may give those instruments the missing/faulty ground they need.

Third, Just an FYI... On the Manual transmission 89's, they have a speedometer cable that drives the Odometer and Tripmeter mechanically, and it also mechanically drives the pulse generator, which provides the electronic signal that is then fed to the Signal Amplifier, which boosts the signal and then is fed directly into the electronic Speedometer. If i'm not mistaken the Tach is ALL ELECTRONIC and receives an inductive kick from the Distibutor to make the needle display the RPMs. I can let you know that I am having an issue with my Tach where it displays "0" RPM at idle and raises up when I press the gas. I installed a new distributor because I am having a starting issue, thinking that was the cause, but it wasn't... NOR did it fix my Tach issue.

Again, I know this is an old thread, but I hope it helps you or anyone else having these issues.