Instrument cluster and power steering are failing

Rabid Sloth Racing

Active Member
Hey all,

I'm having an electrical issue I can't track down. when I turn on the key, my gauge cluster lights up and the speedo, tach, and fuel gauges move up to zero. But when I try to turn on the car I have to wait 20-30 seconds for the starter to fire. Once it's started everything cuts off and on randomly. the power steering cuts in and out and the gauges occasionally read for a part of a second, once in a while. I've cleaned and lightly greased my ground, which meters as good. I've pulled and reset the instrument cluster connector multiple times with a very light coating of contact grease. Any idea what can be going wrong?
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Welcome to my world. The BCM, power steering and instrument cluster are all suppose to be inside a dry cabin, and the electrical connectors are not designed to stop water and dust from getting into the connectors. The OBDII port is also intermittent, as the CAN bus signals are suppose to go from the ECM to the BCM, then to the power steering, finally the OBDII port.

So living on a half mile gravel driveway and occasional rain has gotten into my electrical connectors, and I have blasted them with compressed air, which helped for a while, but then it eventually goes back to intermittent. I am going to harvest another wiring harness from my 2nd donor car, and also replace the BCM, power steering and instrument cluster, now that I have a body on mad Max. (my goblin)

I have also ran a wire to the starter, to hot wire it when needed.
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
That could be a tough one to track down. But, as if you didn't already know, it sounds like a poor connections. While adding grease to connections will help to prevent moisture and corrosion in the future, it really doesn't do much for poor connections to begin with. I would go through all of the grounds and power wire brush them until they are clean and shiny. Clean all paint and powder coating from all ground surfaces; do not rely on the bolt or screw to make the connection. Then I would start cleaning the pins of all of the other connectors and reseating them a couple of times. Sometimes the action of removing and reseating a connector a couple of times is enough to scrape the pins clean to make them work again (if for just a little while). There is contact cleaner that will help, but be careful with it, some of them are hard on plastic.

Also, If you made any wire connections, did you solder them or just use crimp connections? I personally hate crimp connections (yes, if done correctly they will work), but I have never had a good soldered connector ever cause an issue, even with corrosion.
 

Rabid Sloth Racing

Active Member
Sweet. I went through and cleaned every connector from the cluster and steering to the BCU... Now it won't start at all. For hot wiring, I connect to the little bolt on the starter?
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Yes, the little bolt on the starter had a purple wire on my donor. So I added a wire that I can touch to 12V and it will crank the engine, and as long as the key is on, the engine still starts.
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Depends where the switch is in the circuit. Usually the switch is after the fuse, but try it with a jumper wire, and see if it works.
Or follow it on a wiring diagram. Your signature doesn't mention your donor car, so I am not sure if following my wiring diagram is of any use to your car.
 

OptimizePrime

Goblin Guru
Hmm your issue could be related to mine! Misery loves company!

 
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