check guages light

[buickmastermind]

okay, the check guages light comes on sparatically, usually staying on for extended periods of time, on my 91 regal. I haven't found any rhyme or reason for this. None of the guages are in the red zone, and they all seem to be working, but the temp guage never rises above 150 degrees. Any theories?

[Wylliecoyote]

The same thing happens to my 1991, I have no idea what causes it.

[rolo]

Originally Posted by Wylliecoyote

The same thing happens to my 1991, I have no idea what causes it.

I am having the same sort of problem with my 91 3.8L. The Check Gages light comes on until I reach 1900 RPM then it goes out. According to the book the Check Gages light only come on at 3 different times.
1- When starting
2 - could come on and off at Idle
3 - if there is an oil probem.

My Regal also has also developed a probelem with starting..

I think the problem is a second oil pressure switch. This switch should control the fuel pump (only allows power to the pump when there is oil pressure) and I hope has a link to the Check oil light. If the switch is leaking or faulty then It won't read oil pressure..

I am going to jam on it tonight and come back with my findings..

[tomogchi]

Lol, i just posted a thread about this...... Do you guys notice your cars like... wanting to move after the check engine oil light come on? I'm having this perdicament of a situation too...
Bill

[rolo]

Ok well it looks like I misspoke (The owners manual was a little ambiguous)
The check Gages light will also come one if there is a charging problem…

I have now fixed my problem and it was the alternator. When you look at the charging gage in the car the line above the red isn’t 12 volts (like any normal vehicle), it is actually 11 volts (so if your batt. Is above 11 volts it still looks like the car is charging when it isn't). I used my handy dandy Multi Meter and found that the car wasn't charging at idle, and when I rev’d it past 1900 rpm then the alternator must have started to put out some milli volts, because the check gages light when out. My multi Meter didn’t change past 11.5 volts, but the alternator must have been putting out enough power to turn out the light.

So mine was an easy fix… Under a 10 minutes to change. (You have to love alternators that are on the top of an engine). I know this doesn’t address my starting issue, but I haven’t had the problem since.

Cheers..

[Toddyg]

My check gauges light also appears quite often. Im glad to read that its not just my vehicle. With my vehicle the check gauges will often come on by itself while all gauges read fine, or come on in conjuntion with the orange "Low Fuel" light.....even if I have a full tank of gas far above the "F"

I was thinking about putting black electircal tape over it at one point because it annoys me while I'm doing night driving. But with the age of the vehicle and the small problems that do occur I don't want to risk it.

Everyone always tells me I should get it looked at and that its probably just a short. Least I know not to bother now.