hey nothing wrong with that different topics add to the conversation. It is a great car such a blast to drive finally got to drive it this year now that the snow is gone and the roads are dry. cant wait for cruzs night to start up this year.
so quick update on my car. i had my dash all apart to change my fuel gauge haven't driven it after dark tell last Sunday. i noticed when i turned my lights on my fuel gauge stops working and my instrument cluster lights are not working properly. high beem light stays on same as turn signals. i have stuck my hand up in there everything seems good nothing is lose or touching that i can tell. i put new bulbs in well i had it out. Im not sure what i messed up but its quit the ordeal to pull the instrument cluster out. i guess my question is do you guys have any ideas where to start or do i just need to pull it apart and check over everything then put it back together?
First thing I would do is make a ground wire that runs from the cluster to the main metal part of the dash. I'm betting you have something as simple as a ground problem between the cluster and the dash frame. Everything worked before?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Despite loving these cars I'm honest enough to say the 69-70 dash is a disaster. The high use of plastics made it a mess. Bad grounds like you are experiencing, warping and distortion. And the serviceability is atrocious, particularly with AC. Not one of GM's shining moments engineering wise.
Sorry for the above switch of subject matter but my Catalina ragtop started blowing AC fan fuses last week. Turned out to be the master fan switch on the control head. Accessing it was a nightmare. 8 hours to diagnose-disassemble-correct and reassemble. My arms and hands look like I ran threw rose bushes in a T-shirt.
What you described is almost certainly a ground issue. As mentioned running a ground wire from the body structure right into the steel case of the cluster is the best solution (same for the clock if you have one).
just surprising with all the metal brackets attached to the cluster it would have no issues with a good ground. Maby i put them back in the wrong order. it was apart for 3 weeks
Despite loving these cars I'm honest enough to say the 69-70 dash is a disaster. The high use of plastics made it a mess. Bad grounds like you are experiencing, warping and distortion. And the serviceability is atrocious, particularly with AC. Not one of GM's shining moments engineering wise.
I agree ... working on a 69/70 Pontiac dash has been the most challenging I've ever come across ...
I've had the cluster surround out in my cars numerous times, but haven't come across this problem.
The only problem I have had is when putting the new cluster surround in was that the top trace got cut by the tab that extends out from the body. That trace is for the left turn signal indicator, and I had to run a jumper wire to the bulb.
Questions:
Did you take the entire cluster surround out (that's the entire plastic piece including speedo, clock, heater control, headlight switch, wiper switch etc, etc)?
Or did you just take out the speedo? I've seen it done, but it's nearly impossible to get back in.
Do yourself a favor and take the entire cluster surround out. That way you can see what's what, and everything will be ok.
You'll need to undo the underhood & grille harnesses on the engine side of the firewall, and unscrew the fuseblock from the firewall from down in the footwell.
Remove the steering wheel and drop the column. You may need to remove the hard plastic protector piece where the column meets the firewall, and get to the 4 screws to loosen the column from the firewall.
Disconnect:
Body harness,
Door switches,
Glove box & passenger door switch harness (if I recall, this is the harness that includes the clock wiring),
Turn signal switch (it stays with the column)
Ignition switch (it stays with the column)
Radio - and remove the radio.
Brake switch,
Emergency brake switch,
Heater cables (3 of them are easy to remove from the heater box).
Speedo cable.
Once you get everything disconnected, you can pull the entire cluster surround out. The heater cables & entire wiring harness will come with it.
Check everything on the bench, and once ok just reverse the process.
Watch out for the sharp edges of the tab that extends rearward from the dash above the column. As I said, I sliced the top trace from the printed circuit board, and had to run a jumper to the turn signal indicator.
The above list is from memory. I have a hand written list saved on my pc.