Gauge Cluster Stopped Working

[87e30]

Okay, so I have searched and I know those little batteries are often the culprit in the broken gauge clusters but I'd like clarification and more information before I go replacing them.

Randomly my gas/tach/temp gauges don't work. (temp wasn't working before) and none of the service lights or abs/brake/engine/etc lights along the bottom work. All the amber lighting still works though. Also the computer no longer shows range or avg. mph or avg. mpg accurately.

I am hoping this is a straightforward fix as I've had this car 2 weeks and something always seems to go wrong with it...

[TDE30]

Okay, so I have searched and I know those little batteries are often the culprit in the broken gauge clusters but I'd like clarification and more information before I go replacing them.

Randomly my gas/tach/temp gauges don't work. (temp wasn't working before) and none of the service lights or abs/brake/engine/etc lights along the bottom work. All the amber lighting still works though. Also the computer no longer shows range or avg. mph or avg. mpg accurately.

I am hoping this is a straightforward fix as I've had this car 2 weeks and something always seems to go wrong with it...

Batteries are often the culprit of a faulty service indicator board. "Broken" gauge clusters are normally a result of broken gears (like with the odometer.)

Your problem sounds familiar, I have heard of fuel and temp gauges being very sporadic or (as in your case) not working at all. I heard once that it is sometimes related to jumping the battery.

[87e30]

Well the speedometer and odometer/trip gauges still work. So perhaps broken is the wrong word. I just want to get the gas and tach working again. Are these not related to teh SI batteries? I find it coincidental that both stop working at the EXACT same time.

[TDE30]

I didn't realize they stopped working at the same time. It could be batteries or possibly a bad solder joint. Worst case, you'll have to replace the SI board and/or the fuel sender.

[87e30]

Would you start with the batteries? Seems like the easiest place to start to me?

How would I go about doing this? Remove the cluster and are they right behind it or something?

[TDE30]

Well, I'm not certain that it is just the SI batteries alone that are causing you problems. It would be a good place to start though, and if that doesn't fix it, then I would seriously consider replacing the SI board.

I have never had to replace my board or batteries before, so I'm not sure exactly how to go about replacing either. Search around though, here and E30Tech, there is bound to a write-up on it lurking somewhere.

[evil_twin]

Check the fuses under the hood. Sounds weird, but my tach and mpg stopped working, and it was a blown 7.5a fuse.