dat_dude99

hello i have a 2000 astro and the other day it died and when i went to
give it a jump i accidently hooked the cables on my van and the other
backwards smoke started to come from the cables. and after i hooled
them up correctly i noticed that 3 of 5 gauges didn't work. my
speedo ,fuel and temp don't work. my battery and oil pressure work. i
was thinking it was a burnt wire or fusible link but i don't know where
to beginlooking . any help would be greatly appriciated.
mike

Blue Bowtie

Any luck yet? This isn't going to be good...

Was the ignition turned on when the cables were connected in reverse polarity? That would be even worse.

Suspect problems with the body control module, PCM, alternator (not as likely), instrument cluster, possibly transmission solenoids (flyback diodes), and any other accessory that may have been turned on or powered up with the ignition.

AFAIK, there are no fusible links on your 2000. There are MAXI fuses in the UEC (underhood electrical center) instead of fusible links.

dat_dude99

no luck yet at all. Yes , unfortunately the ignition was turned on. The weird thing is that the car runs i just don't have my 3 gauges and my ses and other indicator lights don't work. my ses light turns on as you start the car and stats off but none of my other indicator lights come on. The maxi fuses those huge fuses under the hood, correct? everything else seems to work except the radio but that hasn't worked in about a year and thats another story.

Blue Bowtie

It is remotely possible that you can disconnect the battery, turn on the ignition and all the accessories, and leave it in that state overnight. If the BCM is "confused" it may force it to read the ROM to a clean and fresh RAM, and it may just solve a couple of your issues.

Fortunately fo you, the fact that it runs is a big plus in that the PCM is likely not damaged. The MIL is acting normally, which is a good sign. The instrument cluster itself may have suffered damage from the reverse polarity power. They are actually easy to remove and replace. Junk yards are loaded with them.