Gauges inoperative

[moderator@t8rsalad.com]

I've been driving my car for a while now ('89 Lincoln Conti) and recently my gauges simply stopped working. My speedo shows 0 in forward AND reverse, my fuel gauge reads full if I stop quickly and empty if I accelerate, and my odometer doesn't work. However, my display still shows when the doors are open, washer fluid is low, lights are out, etc. And it also correctly shows the engine temp, oil pressure, and voltage. My display is all digital, and I'm great with electronics and cars alike, but I'm completely stumped on this one. Any suggestions?

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

sounds like bad connections on the back of the display... or several combined problems...

Gas gauge.. sending unit??? or bad connection to instrument panel
speedo/odo.. sending unit (in trans), or bad connection to I/P

there is 4? connectors on back of the I/P... one larger one that handles the lights and supplied power to some parts of the panel. 2 or 3 (I am looking at a panel from a 90 right now that has 3, my 91 has 2) others that attach to the various PC boards in the panel.. these are where all the signals for the panel coming from the sensors/sending units go to. I would suspect bad solders on the connectors.. my 91 had that problem... I would loose oil press gauge, get 'check dcl' errors, temp gauge errors...

To sorta test the VSS (for speedo/odo) check the cruise... same sendor, different system using the signal.

 

[moderator@t8rsalad.com]

Re:

I tested the cruise on the freeway the other day. It doesn't appear to be working at all. I set it and my car just slowly loses momentum.

It's freezing outside, but I'm tired of looking at '0 MPH', so I think I'm gonna go take apart my dash...

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

with cruise not working, first thing to look at is the VSS in the trans. it feeds both the dash and the cruise.