dash cluster troubles

[mludeman]

Have spent all day on trying to track down where my short or ground problem is. When I turn on the switch both signal indicators will glow and my gauges will not work properly. The only way to get my gauges to work is to pull up on the emergency brake lever so the light will light completing a circuit. When I use the signals the gauges freak on me and when I drive at night and flip the lights to high beam the spedo needle freaks. Any Ideas?

[spiffyguido]

Yikes. Definitely a short.

Unfortunately the only way to troubleshoot such things is to start taking things apart and checking the electrical connections. I'd suspect some of the wires behind the gauge cluster. You can start your check there. From your description, it sounds like the wire that is meant to light the gauge cluster is shorting and energizing other components. I'd start there.

[mludeman]

Did that on Tuesday, and found that the ground wire in the bottom left connector is the culprit. Took the connector out of the system and started eliminating wires and the black wire was the only one that was causing the problem. Just where to go from there is the question. I hate electrical especially when in the main wiring harness.

[spiffyguido]

Nobody likes electrical problems.

If the source of the issue isn't immediately apparent, you've little choice but to start chasing wires further and checking for faults. You can use the wiring diagram in the service manual to help you determine what's what.

I know that's not very helpful, but it's hard to know what to suggest in these cases. Electrical problems of this nature are almost always caused by either a wire being worn through or a sketchy electrical "addition" (i.e. stereo system) done elsewhere in the car.

[mludeman]

Thanks for the advice I appreciate it. Think I'll tear into it again tomorrow and trace away blaaaaah. I'll keep updating

[mludeman]

Update: Tore into my car again, starting with pulling fuses which made not change. Unplugged multiswitch for lights and wiper washer no change here either. Also pulled signal flasher hazard box with no change. Car is disassembled from front bumper to exposure of most of the wires to the rear. What I have found is that I'm getting voltage of 10 plus volts through the right hand front signal socket and about 1 volt less on the left with no lights or switches on. As with all electrical the higher the volts the closer you are to the problem ( an assumption on my part), hopefully. Color code on the wire is grn/ylw stripe. I did reverse the polarity with the multimeter to make sure which wire had the positive charge. I'm heading back to the shop for another day of searching. Anyone with any ideas?

[spiffyguido]

Check the wire voltage (with car running) as you operate the switches that were causing you trouble. You might quickly determine which one isn't experiencing a voltage drop as it should. That'll be on the circuit where your problem is to be found. Careful not to spark yourself.

[mludeman]

Persistence pays off, problem solved. It wasn't a switch or a relay but a grounding problem. When the car was assembled at the factory two ground wires coming off of the main wiring harness under the dash were pinched between the main frame and the radio tin work. Over time the wires were pinched in half and the ground was lost therefore causing power to find any way possible to get to ground. In my case it was through the signal lights and dash cluster indicator lights. For further reference the two ground wires are located just under the power plugin that goes to the climate control just above the radio.

[spiffyguido]

Really great to hear you got this fixed. Problems like this can take a LONG time to work out.