Everyonce in a while the volt meter will just plain *** not work, i was wondering if what you guys thought would be the most common problem and the first things i should check, i know i could just go in and start ripping things apart and get myself in trouble but i wanted to know if you guys have had similar problems.. Thanks Again

 

check the battery's first. then check the fuse (if you havee one). what kind of volt meter is it? is it digital or analog? make sure it's not the leads that are bad too, they are more likely the culprit.

 

hhmm.. maybe i should have clarified it, it is the stock Voltometer in the guage cluster, sorry. Sometimes it reads good, sometimes it just sits at the bottom.... thanks

 

Darn. I had the same thing twice in the last two weeks. Driving at nite I noticed the needle resting down at zero. Look at the output with a meter at the battery and had 13.5 volts. Next day the meter worked normal. Ain't broke, don't fix it. Right? Did it again MONDAY. Showed less concern, forgot about it. Noticed today its just fine. Suspect a intermittant at the plug at the back of the gauges, loose screw on the pcb maybe.I'm not going to do anything since I found that the altenator is puttin out 13.5 while the neddle is resting at zero. If it lays down for a day or so I might take some action. In other words, shake the harness behing the gauges while the car is running and see it the needle responds.Also make REAL sure the altenator is indeed putting out when the needle is resting.

 

Its common to have the screws on the back of the cluster corrode at one end or another.

I have fixed a couple where the fuel gauge or tach were intermittent simply by un-screwing the screws, putting a little conductive grease on each end of the screws and then re-installing the screws.

I also wouldn't rule out a cold solder joint as its common on 15 year old japanese cars to have.