I have a 92 si with 230k.

It is all stock except for intake and has a dx tranny.

The cluster is acting weird.

For a while now, when I tun the headlights on, sometimes the cluster will not light up right away. Usually, I flip it on and off a few times and it'll be OK.

Few days ago, my vss died so I lost speedo and got cell (code 17). Once during the time the vss was bad, i noticed that both my turn signal indicators on the cluster were dimly lit. This went away after i used the turn signal. I just replaced the sensor today. Everything is good with that now.

When I used my turn signal this evening, both turn signal indicators on the cluster flashed along with a few other lights. The temp, fuel, odo, and tach went nuts too. The turn signal relay fires, and the dash lights flash with the relay and the dials freak out with the relay. Same results with hazard lights.

After 10 minutes, everything went back to normal.

What the heck is up???? I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the bad vss.

Please help!

 

Faulty cluster....?

If you or a friend have a spare or a buddy has one you can try from his car...see what happens.

 

Could it be the turn signal stick (the thing on the left of the steering wheel)? I have a spare one of those.

Swapping the cluster probably is not a reliable test since the problem is intermittent...

 

Worth a shot though...I had a bad cluster...gauges work then not work and I tried buddys cluster and it worked fine...never actually replaced it though.

I've never heard of the problem lie in the turn actual turn stick.

 

OK, I will try to track one down. In the meantime, is there a dedicated ground for the cluster? Maybe its a bad ground? Or maybe the... electrical connection ribbon on the back is misaligned? Maybe got wet? Possible?

 

Yeah...if it doesn't lie in the cluster, I would think it would be an electrical issue.

 

Any idea how to track down where the wires may have worn off the insulation?

I used to work with large aerators in ponds and we ran lots of wires underground. There is a tester that can detect leakages to ground. They can detect breaks in lines that is shorting to ground. Its to pinpoint bad spots in wiring so you just replace sections instead of the whole run of cable.

Anything like that??

 

Anyone else with ideas other than swapping clusters?

 

So.... everything has been fine till today! Today, I noticed while pulling out of a parking lot that my car was overheating! The needle was all the way hot, then I noticed it was moving, up and down it was moving. And while driving, the tach is doing the same. The speedo quit for a few seconds.... why would the cluster freak out like that?? The car is definitely not overheating.

Any ideas on what to try??

I don't have another cluster to try or I would.

 

No cel

 

Check your wires.. i had the same issue my cluster was going crazy and all my light were dimming also my stereo lights.. i replaced my vss and cluster but nothing then i changed fuse # 15 cuz it was blown but when i would turn on my headlights it would blow again.. ended up being my o2 censor wires melted with the downpipe of my headers and was causing a short.. replaced that and.. everything worked!! Hope this helps

 

Ugh! It could take a while... and might never find the short!