Odometer Light?

[Hush]

So I took a long roadtrip today, 400+ miles, and 300 miles into it, I stop to get gas. When I turn my Cav back on the Odometer doesn't light up. What the heck?

Anyone else had this happen? Is it just the light? A fuse? If it's a fuse which one would it be? What's this talk about a control cluster?

[J-Ri]

Is it a mechanical gauge with the backlight or the digital display? Mechanical would probably be a bulb, digital would probably be the cluster.

[Hush]

It's the digital display...what is a cluster on a car? I'm so confused. Couldn't just be a fuse could it?

[J-Ri]

It's the gauge assembly, all the gauges/lights and the odometer are part of the same piece, called the instrument cluster. If one goes, typically you have to replace the whole thing. You could always try opening it up and seeing if there's anything noticeably wrong with it (PCB trace broken, wire pulled out, etc.). You could also check for a "U" code (UART data line code) , I wouldn't rule out a data line problem without checking for codes first. There may even be a code for an internal cluster problem. But that's unlikely since it sounds like all the gauges work. And probably not a fuse (but it never hurts to check), I believe the entire cluster gets power from just one fuse.

[Hush]

I guess that would make sense...jeez. I just installed that new stereo and such...I know I didn't do anything to instrument cluster when I did that so this might just be coincidental. Oh well. I'm not really worried about the odometer that much. I'll just miss keeping a log of my mpg.

[Hush]

Okay...it randomly just turned on again today after I finished installing my amplifier for my subs...? Would this be prime indication that it's a wire somewhere that's messed?

[J-Ri]

It's hard to say... as you put it, it "randomly" turned on. Could be a wire, could possibly be a ground issue, especially if you did anything with any ground. Could be an intermittent failure in the cluster. If you had installed any aftermarket grounds, I'd suggest running them directly to the negative battery cable (will require a new terminal and some solder/heat shrink tubing), at the very least run them to the ground at the battery tray. "Floating" grounds (a ground that has small voltages present) can mess with computer systems, especially if you ground a high current amp to the floor of the trunk. In some cases it may be easier to ground the PCM and/or sensors to the battery and use the chassis ground for only amps/lights/etc.. Just check a wiring diagram first, if the sensor grounds at the PCM, then don't mess with it; if the sensor grounds to the engine or chassis, then run it to the battery.

Not a guaranteed fix, but it's the right way to do it, so I would personally start there. Especially since it started working after you touched the electrical system and (presumably) disconnected a battery cable before beginning.

[Hush]

Yeah, well in my thread I started about amp issues, my amp for my subs wasn't turning on at all for some reason after all the wires were connected perfectly. After going over it so much in frustration I found that the ground wire was attached to a painted part of the chassis and so I shaved off the paint and tried again. It seemed to work. It was also at this point that the odometer came back up...something tells me it's either that or a loose wire near the pedals or something. (Since I messed around under there for hiding the tapped fuse wire and again for wiring the amp's power line through the firewall, which I had to drill through)

[troyk]

i had this happen to me to after installing a deck i just hit the top of the dash and it turned back on must have somthing to do with a loose connection somwhere