Instrument cluster does not work

1992 CADILLAC ELDORADO
150,000 MILES
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JMWELLER
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
When starting the car, the instrument cluster will not come on. This includes the entire information center with the climate controls as well. Sometimes the cluster will get stuck in a loop of "calibrating" and sometimes it won't show anything at all. The front defroster will come on after a minute or so and it blows cold air in the winter and hot air in the summer. I've heard that holding my battery cables together (shorting it) could solve the problem but I'm a bit wary to try that. Any help is massively appreciated.
Dec 24, 2019 at 2:28 PM
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STEVE W.
  • ✓ASE Certified Mechanic
  • 15,200 POSTS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
The idea with the battery cables is that removing them and shorting them drains the various capacitors and lets the cluster reboot. However it rarely works on a dead cluster. In those it is commonly the high voltage driver for the fluorescent displays that fails. It is unfortunately a very common issue with the digital displace GM used in that time period. The solution is to look for a company that can rebuild the display. There are many of them around the US that do it. The climate controls can fail the same way.
Dec 24, 2019 at 10:27 PM
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