Ok, my 87 TII's oil pressure, water temp, and tach are not working but I believe my boost gauge is working. they worked before but not anymore, recently rebuilt the motor. I searched and already checked the plugs on the cluster, checked the "meter" fuse, the oil pressure sender capacitor is plugged in, sending unit wires are also plugged in. I don't know what to check for next. Please help as I don't like driving a freshly rebuilt engine that I don't know the oil pressure or water temp is. Also my oil pressure gauge looks funny, kinda like it died.

 

ok, I checked the various harness connections, checked the meter fuse (was just fine). adjusted the TPS and she idles alittle better. turned on the headlights and she almost stalled and started running like crap with a lot of misses. sounded like a cam'd muscle car on a bad day, high low high low miss high... kept running like that and the battery charge light came on. disconnected the positive battery wire and it kept running, so the alternator is working, also had it tested at Kragen's. I don't know what is going on. When I bought the car, in the process of cleaning her out I found another trailing coil pack. maybe the coil pack/ignitor in the car went out and the previous owner never changed it??? could explain why it's running like crap and and the tach not working?

Dave

 

good way to blow out your alternator and most of your electrical system (disconnecting the battery wire while the engine is running). The battery serves as a capacitor for a S4.

It sounds like you have wires or plugs disconected

 

Like what wires or plugs??? Can't just leave me hangin'!!

 

Ok, I now have myh tach working, YEAH!!! the front rotor coil pack was dead, so I replaced it and I have a working tach!!! 1 down, 2 to go... also the charge battery light didn't come on.

 

do the water temp and oil pressure sending units route throught the ECU? looking at the wiring diagram it looks like they do, but I can't read wiring diagrams all that well...

 

I grounded the wires for the sending units, nothing happened with the gauges. boost gauge doesn't work now either. I think the whole cluster with bad, but the gas gauge still works. anyone have any advice besides what Icemark said?

 

I'm having the same issue with my car though it is only the temp and fuel gauge.

what should happen if you ground out the wires at the sensor itself?

 

the gauges should peak out or go all the way to the top of the gauge. with the 7 powered up

 

no

 

Boost goes through the ECU, and needs the engine running to report.

But if nothing works, are you sure you checked the meter fuse??? Not just looked at it to see if it is blown, but actually metered/checked it???

And stop grounding things and disconnecting things while the power is on. That is a great way to blown things up.

For example, if you grounded the oil pressure line the meter would spike... too long and the meter blows out.

Stop, go get the FSM and and check the wires the right way. Not some getto shade tree mechanic way.

 

Hmm, think you mean the front rotor's trailing coil, right???

no charge battery light. There is an alternator failure light.

 

sounds like the connector at the instrument cluster came loose or melted somehow. pull the cluster out and check it if the fuses are all good.

 

Car was running while I was watching the gauge. I was going up our hill of a driveway, at about 4.5k I could here the turbo spooling up and looked at the gauge to just see it sitting at the lowest portion of the gauge, showed no equal vac nor boost.

I have checked the meter fuse, actually checked it and replaced it just to make sure.

As for grounding the sending unit wires, it was only for a second at most. had my brother sitting inside watching the gauges as I grounded them for no more than a SECOND! car was powered up and the gauges didn't even twitch.

I do have copies of the FSM that I HAVE been referring to during this whole process. I am a welder and an average mechanic, not an electrician so it is hard for me to completely understand the wiring diagrams, sorry for not being skilled in that field. Plus anyways, what's wrong with redneckin' it? always works in the end.

 

Yes, I meant the T1 coil.

Have yet to see the alternator failure light...

 

That's the most advice I have gotten so far, besides searching. Thanks Ben! I will do that, but overall since the factory gauges are so inaccurate I'll most likely just get a set of Autometers. I nor anyone in my family has every had any problems with Autometer gauges.

 

i have this problem. also. my gauge cluster was fine.

My car sat for about a month. I finally finished swappin trannies and now my tach, oil press, fuel, water temp are not working. Checked meter fuse, it was good.

My car sometimes idles like crap, so my T1 coil could be bad? like crazy drivers situation?
whats about the other guages any info on that?

 

When the needle is that far below the line (oil pressure), doesn't that mean the gauge is mechanically broken in the cluster?