1997 grandam dash gauges.

[car devil]

Hi!,
Any body experienced the sudden loss of rpm, speedometer, coolant temperature and gas quantity gauges all at the same time?
Everything was working ok before. No recent repairs or maintenance for the past 11 months.
Also showing are the Low gas light, high coolant temp light, and low traction.

Checked the fuses OK
Disconnected and reconnected the battery. No change.
Also tried this.
Turned on the ignition. Disconnected the battery. Turned the key off
(had to use the button below the steering to release the key). Reconnected the battery. No change.

Any body has any ideas?
This is a 1997 3.1 grandam SE

[Godofwarmike]

sounds like the plugs to the back of your gauges are loose or dont have good connection.

[3100]

did you use scanner when that happened?

why? because this happened to me several times while accessing IPC (instrument panel codes) and instead of properly exiting scanner software I would just turn off the scanner and that would cause all gauges to show zero reading along with the light show. If that is the case, access again IPC information with your scanner and everything will go back to normal, then exit software properly. If that is not the case then use scanner that is capable to access IPC codes and see what codes are stored. Remember IPC codes will not show as check engine light.

so get the codes and post back. What you can try is disconnect battery negative first and then disconnect both connectors from pcm leave everything disconnected over night. In the morning just reconnect back everything.

[car devil]

No, I was not using a scanner.
I was merely speeding up to join traffic on a major road.
To reset the ECM does it matter which pole I disconnect first?
I disconnected the + the last time.
I shall disconnect the ground first tonight and leave it for a while.
My scanner does not read IPC codes.
My friend down the road has one that does.
I shall keep you posted.
Thanks guys!
By the way what is the PCM and where is it located?

Otherwise the old girl is running just fine.
I estimate my gas based on the odometer.
As for speed " I just join the crowd at chow time"
For rpm I listen to the cat purring.
Don't want to spend too much on this 12 year old.
No cash for clangers here in Montreal !!!


If GM was to look at the data on this forum and do the science,
I am sure they can come up with a Super Pontiac!

[car devil]

Here is the fix.
At least it is holding good for the past 5 days.

I accessed the Air Bag Control Module under the carpet, under the passenger seat. The area was wet with both rain water and some antifreeze. (Note: did all this with the battery disconnected).

I cleaned the connector.
Dried the area up using a cloth to mop up and a hair dryer.

Everything works fine.
I still get the SEVEN bleeps of the airbag light at ignition on.
This I believe is the standard GM self test cycle.
I always got the seven bleeps. That is why I never suspected this unit although I read somewhere
on this forum that this could be a contributor.

I tightened all connections to the heater core.
Applied silicone sealant at the two corners under the hood below the windshield wipers where I think rain water could seep in.

I guess I'll be OK for a while.
Fingers crossed.

[car devil]

Hello,

The "fix" was only for a short short period.

I am going thru the wiring to see if there is no ground problem or short circuit
or burnt insulation etc.

I am hoping the problem is not the cluster itself.

[dave_in_az]

Good Luck. Hopefully your airbag module connector is still the culprit...the UART digital data lines from the PCM are connected to the IPC, that module, the OBD II test port, and some other mocules. I think you could check the health of these lines by seeing if your scanner works. If so, then the IPC is probably bad. If your's is not the GT model, finding a used one on Ebay,for example, is possible if you are persistent, because if you read through the posts, this model's IPC (years 96-98) has a tendency to fail moore often than desired. I know... I just replaced my girlfriend's on her 97 SE. If you do that, you have to go through the Passlock relearn procedure (described somewhere in these Grand AM posts). Hope this helps.