97 Buick Lesabre Instrament Cluster

I have a 97 Lesabre custom. Recently, my speedometer, odometer and trip odometer stopped working, along with the tachometer going out sometimes. My dash is analog, not digital. Also, before the problem, i had an aftermarket radio installed in my car. The cruise control still kicks on at 25 when i use it, so im fairly certain that the signal for the speedometer is still there. My question is, is there a way to diagnose the problem myself. Also, can someone tell me how to take the cover off of the cluster so i can just change it myself (i found a used part, i just need to buy it if thats what needs done) Any help you could give me would be great.

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I have 2 '97 Lesabres and the analog instrument clusters have gone bad in both. The tach and the speedometer went bad, but not everything quit working at the same time. The gas gauges, oil pressure gauges and the odometers kept working. I found salvaged ones for each. Since your odometer and speedometer both quit working, maybe it is the vehicle speed sensor? I ruled out the VSS because my odometers never stopped working. My tach would jump and skip. My speedometer would sometimes read 20 MPH when sitting at a traffic light. When I would accelerate, it would go to zero MPH.

Have to take the plastic dash trim off to get to it. The plastic wood panel stuff pops off, but the piece underneath has screws in it. The vents have to be popped out from the bottom very carefully. There are screws to remove inside.After the plastic trim is out of the way, it is easy to unscrew and unplug the instrument cluster. The only tricky part is getting the shift lever string thing reattached to the column in the right spot so that it will read drive, reverse, etc. properly. Note where it is and mark it on the column. It is tricky to get it clamped on in the right place.

From what I recall, I think there is a way to read the signal from the vss with a digital voltmeter. You have to know the range and the voltmeter setting and you will have to be able to read the signal while driving if you can find the right wire to tap in to.

I had a similar experience when my ECM died on my Park Avenue. My guages would randomly quit and I would get random trouble codes.

Anyway, I'd say that either the connection (the middle one, I believe) on the ECM (PCM for your car) is loose, the PCM itself is faulty, or your dash cluster is faulty.

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