Dead Instruments Anonymous

This may or may not help anyone, but I recently repaired a TOTALLY dead instrument cluster in a '93. Dealer told him he needed a whole new cluster assy. at the tune of 400.00! I removed the cluster and did a little testing of the board and discovered a bad diode. It was a standard (to electronics enthusiasts) 1N5402 3 Amp rectifier diode. I replaced it with one from my junk box, reinstalled the cluster and she works like a charm. Total cost was about 7 cents for a diode, and about 1 hour of my time. I believe this would apply to all 91-95 years with the electo-mechanical gauges. If you have this problem, check those diodes!

(My friend will never laugh at my "geeky" electronics hobby stuff again)

Geoff