Battery Meter And Rpm Gauge Does Not Work.

[alctrztz]

I have been having a problem with my battery meter for about a year. One day while driving in bumper to bumper traffic on I-95, my battery meter maxed out onto 19. Several hours later, the meter went back to 14. However, this problem repeated several times, and when this occurs, the rpm gauge will either mark at a higher rev, or it does not work at all.

 

When I replaced my battery, the problem went away for two weeks. Then it happened again. My alternator died about three weeks after replacing the battery. I am on my third alternator within one year.

Now the battery meter just dances back and forth through out the entire range as well as the rpm gauge.

 

Would I need to replace the cluster or do I have a gremlin in one of my wires?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank You

 

 

Laz

[bill190]

To see what the actual voltage really is, use a voltmeter (multimeter). If the voltage is the same as the meter on your instrument cluster, then the voltage reading is correct.

 

Might want to try reading a couple of different places. Like the battery and maybe from a fuse to ground. Both spots should be the same pretty much.

 

If your vehicle has a separate voltage regulator, I would replace that.

 

I would check all the "big wires" under the hood. This includes ground (- negative) wires going from the battery to the body and the big ground wire going to the engine.

 

You can do a "wiggle" test. Have someone watch the voltmeter or the gauge in the instrument panel if that checks out to be ok. Then another person "wiggle" all the big wires under the hood (engine running). See if wiggling any particular wire causes the problem.

 

These days vehicles use a lot of amperage. And a regular electrical connection is not good enough for a high amperage connection. A bolt may be "snug", but this may not be good enough. The connections for the main power cables need to be clean and tight.

 

You can find a bad connection by placing a voltmeter lead on the part a connector is connected to and the other lead on the connector (engine running). If little or no voltage across the connection, it is good.

 

Warning: By "tight", I mean looking in the factory service manual and finding the torque value for each connection and using a torque wrench for the correct torque. If you don't do this and are a "King Kong" muscle man, you might snap the bolt off. So CORRECT tightness!

[alctrztz]

tried the wire test, and to no avail, same errors.. Tested the battery wires, good readings, the meter in the dash is reading max out to the right. Still dumbfounded. A local tech guy mentioned to me that it may be the cluster. Recommends that it should be replaced, and it should take care of the problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see what the actual voltage really is, use a voltmeter (multimeter). If the voltage is the same as the meter on your instrument cluster, then the voltage reading is correct.

 

Might want to try reading a couple of different places. Like the battery and maybe from a fuse to ground. Both spots should be the same pretty much.

 

If your vehicle has a separate voltage regulator, I would replace that.

 

I would check all the "big wires" under the hood. This includes ground (- negative) wires going from the battery to the body and the big ground wire going to the engine.

 

You can do a "wiggle" test. Have someone watch the voltmeter or the gauge in the instrument panel if that checks out to be ok. Then another person "wiggle" all the big wires under the hood (engine running). See if wiggling any particular wire causes the problem.

 

These days vehicles use a lot of amperage. And a regular electrical connection is not good enough for a high amperage connection. A bolt may be "snug", but this may not be good enough. The connections for the main power cables need to be clean and tight.

 

You can find a bad connection by placing a voltmeter lead on the part a connector is connected to and the other lead on the connector (engine running). If little or no voltage across the connection, it is good.

 

Warning: By "tight", I mean looking in the factory service manual and finding the torque value for each connection and using a torque wrench for the correct torque. If you don't do this and are a "King Kong" muscle man, you might snap the bolt off. So CORRECT tightness!

[bill190]

Did you also measure the voltage at a fuse inside the vehicle? This would be one test lead on a fuse connection and the other test lead on body ground somewhere. Do this with the engine running and when the meter on the dash is pegged.