heres the problem. its intermittent, sometimes when you hit the turn signals, (either way) the tach, temp, and fuel gauges all go dead, the headlight and wiper switches all still work, but the problem wont go away until you pound your hand underneath the dash just to the left of the column. i have looked around underneath for any loose wires and/or bad grounds, but i dont see any grounds to begin with. the problem was easily solved, just dont use the turn signals, only now it happens OCCASIONALLY without even using the signals. and now it has popped my alternator, my guess is that when the problem happens, some wire somewhere is grounding out and causing the alternator to run wide open to compensate for the electrical load. i have removed the cluster and all the circuits on the back look clean, the connectors under the dash look clean as well, and the turn signal switch also looks clean, just thought i would post to get some fresh ideas and see if this has happened to anyone else. btw the car is a 1979 model with no cruise and manual everything (steering, windows, mirrors, sunroof). i was going to pull the cluster all the way out and see if there is anything inside the cluster itself that could cause this, i already bought a used turn signal/wiper switch off of ebay and will be replacing that soon, but as of right now the car is out of commission because i will not replace the alternator until this problem is solved, for fear of popping another one.

 

I had some simalar problems lately with the radio quiting when you turn on the high beams. Then one day it just quit alltogether. I finally tracked it down to a coroded fuse block. Took the fuse block complety out and cleaned all terminals and put back together. No more trouble. Good luck

 

thanks i will check that out.

 

nope, fuse block is spotless as are all the wires, nice try though, hadnt thought of that place yet.

 

Sounds similar to a problem I had. Mine turned out to be a fuse block issue also. But, mine appeared ok. The windsheild on my '82 leaks alittle, and the water runs down to the fuse block. Visually it looked fine. I pulled out all the fuses and cleaned everything up and haven't had a problem since.

 

well im taking the car to an electrical shop, i will let you all know how it turns out. thanks for the help anyway. i just cant risk blowing alternator after alternator.