1997 Astro Van Electrical Problems

1997 Chevrolet Astro Van

Have an intermittent electical problem, when the fault occurs,
you lose all of instrument panel gages, including speedometer
and odometer and instrument panel lighting.

When the fault is present, the turn signals are inoperative.

The headlights work either in low-beam, and high beam, and the
brake lights work.

The emergency, or 4-way flashers are inoperative
while ignition switch is *on*. With ignition switch *off*,
flashers operation is returned.

The radio works, but display is inoperative, however, display will return with
the headlight switch *on*.

The overhead heading and outside air temperature display in overhead
also not function along with, but overhead map lights work ok.

Don't know if this was a coincidence, but, one occasion, the
instrumental panel gages/lights returned to normal when the parking
brake was released.

If anyone has an idea please let me know.

Thanks.......John.

These problems indicate a possible poor connection through the iignition switch. You might also check all of your grounds. One poor ground can make a pure mess of things. Ray

I agree with it probably being a faulty ground. It might be under the dash on the drivers side. The one time you released the parking brake and things came on is a good indication of a ground dangling loose, broken loose? I would have someone watch the gauges and poke and pull (gently) at the wiring under the dash.

Also there is a chance the vibrations from the parking brake could shake the fuse box under the hood. You might tap on it too.

How did this problem show up? All at once or had it been intermittant? What work was done just before it failed. These might give clues to where the problem.

Hi, I had the exact same problem with my 97 astro. Yes it is most definitely a ground problem. It is located in your fuse block under your dash. Sometimes when you wiggle the wires or the park brake, it'll work again for a while. What you have to do is: from the engine firewall side, remove the terminal block. If you have access to a drawing, you'll find the terminal is called C2/C100. You'll find that it is broken and burned. It is a job that will take you about two hours to repair. The terminal parts are inexpensive. Trust me, pull it apart; that's where the problem is. If you look on the drawing you'll see that it's the only place it could be with the symptoms that your van is having. Hope this helps.

I had the same problem with my 93 and I finally took it to a automotive electrician and it was the wiring for the cruise control. It turns out that it shares the same fuse in the fuse block as instrument panel, autotrans shift solenoids, egr valve, and many others. Unless you are a decent electrician you should leave it to the pro's because there is about 400 yards of wire in that van and it can be hard to find.

My 1994 astro did something similiar. After taking it to 3 mechanics with a ton of new parts, still no luck. I called a junkyard and got a replacement steering column for $100, installed it myself and the van runs great. Problems solved!