cluster failure

[swainy]

my problem started intermittently and then I lost all of the dials no speedo, rev, fuel. I took it to the garage and they have told me that its the heater unit causing them to trip? why is the cluster on the same circuit as the heater?
I have seen that there are problems with the cluster (memory bubbles) but are unsure why the garage has said it's the heater.
they have disconnected the heater controls and the problem has seased, but they now want 600 GBP to install a new heater unit.
any suggestions? The heater is on full , I have no use of the rear wiper, A/C not working as all are on the same plug behind the centeral consol that the garage disconnected.
thanks for looking neil

[vipergg]

Originally Posted by swainy

my problem started intermittently and then I lost all of the dials no speedo, rev, fuel. I took it to the garage and they have told me that its the heater unit causing them to trip? why is the cluster on the same circuit as the heater?
I have seen that there are problems with the cluster (memory bubbles) but are unsure why the garage has said it's the heater.
they have disconnected the heater controls and the problem has seased, but they now want 600 GBP to install a new heater unit.
any suggestions? The heater is on full , I have no use of the rear wiper, A/C not working as all are on the same plug behind the centeral consol that the garage disconnected.
thanks for looking neil

I wouldn't take their word for it . Problems like you are indicating can be caused by a weak battery . A lot of times the dash problem can be fixed by just pulling the IOD fuse in the power dist. center under the hood for 20 seconds . I would have the battery load tested at your favorite auto parts store and replace if needed . Hook the heater control back up , its simply a connector on the back of the heater control . Pull the IOD fuse as described above and see if the dash comes back . I have never heard of the heating controls causing the dash to to go inop, it is usually caused by a weak battery . Even if you have to replace that control , you can probably go to the junk yard and get a used one for $100 and put it in yourself , this is really at most 20 minutes to replace that control , like 3 or 4 screws and it comes out .

[jawss]

Believe it or not, this is exactly what happened to my 98 Caravan. My rear wiper didnt work when I bought it and I replaced the heater control unit with one from the junk yard. The rear wiper worked , but then I lost my dash cluster. I was baffled, but eventually I unhooked the unit and got my gages back. I put the old control unit back in and I am currently without rear wiper function. What I did see was that there is a burnt wire in the harness that plugs in horizontally in the heater unit. I havent had time to trace it, but IM pretty sure its part of my problem.

If you do get one from a junk yard, make sure you have your old one out so you can try the new one right away. The one I got from the junkyard got my rear wiper to work, but obviously there was still a problem. Good luck!

[tysons]

have a 97 voyager part van ?

[jawss]

heheheh nope but I know where to get lots of parts if you live in NB Canada