I have a 1999 Buick LeSabre with an occasional instrument cluster panel problem. At random times at random speeds the speedometer and/or the tachometer will just suddenly quit working and drop to zero.

Here is the strange fix: If I press real hard or pull real hard on the trip reset knob (located between the odometer and tachometer) the speedometer and tachometer will start working again for another minute or even days at at time.

Any ideas on what is wrong? and how to permanently fix the speedometer and tach? Thanks.

You need to check the connections to the cluster on the back of the cluster.. The pins can be corroded lightly as well they may need to be bent back a bit to ensure a better connection.. There are several Gm H bodies and older C bodies that have these issues..

Last time I took my dash apart, when putting the cluster back in, I put it in, then pushed and it, "Clicked" in.

Like Jrs3800 mentioned, it might not be making a good connection.

They are not like the old clusters, the whole thing is run by one, connection, like what a Hard drive hooks to a Motherboard.

Chris.

Taurus1997,

I had a similar problem with our '97 LeSabre. It turned out that I took out the gauge assembly, and after considerable effort, found a bad circuit board connection that I re-soldered. Now it works fine. My problem was with ONLY the speedometer.

Regards,
Jack C.

Thanks to all who have posted responses. I will reply back with results when I fix the instrument cluster. I am waiting for it to fail again...which it hasn't in a week. When it does fail again, I am going to confirm it's not any input sensor by connecting my OBD II scanner in real-time mode to the car and confirm the speedometer and tachometer readings are accurate from the PCM itself. At this point, if the speedometer and tachometer are accurate, then I will remove and inspect the instrument cluster.

Thanks, Rick