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Dead dash


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There is most likely a common power source for the gauges. Always verify all the fuses are good when having this kind of trouble. Using a test light probe to verify power is getting to both sides of the fuse is the best way to do that. Place the probe tip on each of the two slits on top of the fuse and each side should light up.

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I just got the car and I don't know if they had it out or not. No fuses were blown, but I don't know about power coming in, I'll check. Also, the radio is dead and the A/C gets no power. Fan blower, interior lights, tach and wipers work. I'm guessing it's something on the engine side of the firewall, but that's only a guess. 

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My info for a 88 model shows fuse 12 supplies power to the gauges and your model is most likely uses the same fuse. The fuse also supplies power to the door warning lights so they work the fuse is most likely okay and power is getting through. Even though a fuse is good it is good to make sure power is getting to it also if that is in question. If that is okay then you need to look for a connection problem between that fuse and the dash panel itself. My info shows that a red/yellow wire comes from fuse 12 and connects to a black/white wire and that goes to the dash panel to power the gauges.

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I checked the canon plug by the coil which seems to carry all the engine sensors and it appears to be getting 12 V through the key. The fuses all get 12 V and the ground is good. The radio is getting 12V and the ground is good. There is a gold box under the steering column that has a red flashing light on it. If it is flashing an OBD code it would be code 12. 

 

I will look specifically at the fuse 12. Thanks!

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I get an ECS light on the dash. At least that works!

 

Is there a ground common to the cruise control, radio, and dash gauges*? Or maybe there was a major electrical zap sometime in it's past that fried everything. 

 

*Fuel gauge appears to work as it reads full when it's full, but haven't driven it enough to know if it fails to the "Full" indication. 

Edited by Luvn737s
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You may want to go to the trouble of removing your cluster, and making sure that everything is in fact plugged in, yourself. As there is no telling whether the PO had pulled it or not, it could be something is loose or fully unplugged. There are two rectangular plugs on top of the cluster, and two round ones that are behind it.

 

Here is an excellent writeup on how to do this procedure:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/131336-led-retrofitting-on-instrument-cluster-dashboard-removal-procedures/

 

But, Jezek's bandwidth for the photos gets exceeded each month rather rapidly so right now, the pics aren't there  :lol:

Plug the address above into a proxy site like hidemyass.com and the pictures will show.

Edited by SmashedGlass
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