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All Gauges are not working

Tiny
BRIANO17
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM
I have a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am GT, about 120,000 miles on it. A while ago, the speedometer started shaking while I was driving, and then just fell to zero. It would come back, then shake, and fall to zero again over and over for about a week or so. Then one day, I started the car, and every gauge went dead and all the lights on the sides lit up. I am now matching the speed of traffic as my speedometer always reads zero, and I am filling up every 260 miles since my odometer is the only thing left working (gas gauge of course also reads zero). I only know the basics with cars, so all I did was check the fuses, check to see if any wires I could see under the hood were broken or disconnected, and also got the computer read for error codes (it found none). The shops I bring it to tell me that they charge a base fee of 100 dollars just to try and find an electrical problem, even if they cant find it and cant solve it! Any ideas?
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Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 AT 4:39 PM

28 Replies

Tiny
CRAZYCHASE
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
I just got over dealing with a similar problem. It sounds like to me that your instrument cluster is dead. When it happened to me I took my car to a pontiac dealership to get it fixed, cost about $500 to fix(of course most of it was labor costs).
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Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 AT 6:17 PM
Tiny
BRIANO17
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
I googled "96 grand am instrument cluster" and found that there are a few services that will repair your instrument cluster if you mail it to them. The one I looked at charge 179 dollars including shipping each way. I also saw that on ebay and other sites they sell instrument clusters for my car, some as low as 30 dollars. Are these are scams? Do they have any chance of working to solve the problem?
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Thursday, February 1st, 2007 AT 11:02 AM
Tiny
ERICKA
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
I had this same issue, I was driving and all of a sudden every gauge dropped to zero and every light came on.

I took it to the garage immediately and the mechanic was able to repair the car by the next day. Think it was linked to the alternator, starter or something else. I would have to find the paperwork it happened 3 yrs ago on my 1999 Grand Am.

Good Luck
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Thursday, February 1st, 2007 AT 10:30 PM
Tiny
2CARPRO JACK
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,533 POSTS
There is a place called AER in Placentia, California, they are a GM authorized reman center for electronics. If yo mail them your cluster, they will set the odometer on a reman and mail it right back to you. They do great work, never had a problem yet (over 10 yrs). Dont suggest E-Bay, you are probably buying the same problem you already have
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Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 AT 7:54 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,363 POSTS
I have found if you remove the cluster and unplug it, then plug it back in again it will start working. The problem is a bad connection at the cluster and the unplugging it cleans the connections and allows the cluster to work again.

Here is a video of a cluster getting replaced so it will give you an idea on what you are in for when doing the repair on your car.

https://youtu.be/_HEC44xENxw

Please let us know what happens so it will help others.

Cheers, Ken

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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 1:27 PM
Tiny
STEVIE07
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 150,000 MILES
Electrical problem
1996 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 150000 miles

yes I have a v6 3.1 pontica grand am it is a 1996 and the gauges stop working I can not tell how fast im going or how much gas is in my car how can I fix the problem
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
That's probably a defective cluster but you would need a professional scan tool to be able to test it.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
LOWMANBOB3
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
  • 1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM
Electrical problem
1996 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

instrument gages wont work !Help
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MMPRINCE4000
  • MECHANIC
  • 8,548 POSTS
Check fuses, look for IP or gauges fuse.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
DFAIRC7297
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM
I have a 1996 grand am with 114000 miles and we have a problem with the gauge cluster. All the lights work on it but the gauges are stuck/not working we have looked at all the fusses they are fine. What else could this be. Do we need a new gauge cluster.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
SC1 RACING
  • MECHANIC
  • 117 POSTS
My cousins did the exact same thing. He pulled it out sent to pontiac and 2 weeks latter got a bill for 834.68 to rebuild unit. If you need a cluster I have a pontiac grand am 1997 im parting out cheap.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
UTAHSLINGER
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
  • 1997 PONTIAC GRAND AM
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 194,300 MILES
I got all idiot lights blinking on and off and none of the gauges are working
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
You need to check applicable fuses and ground for the instrument cluster. Check to see if voltage or ground is intermittent.

Use a voltage tester, check the fuses in the diagram. You can also check wiring at the instrument cluster connector. At the connector D-15 terminal black wire is ground
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
2CP-ARCHIVES
  • MEMBER
  • 4,540 POSTS
  • 1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 105,000 MILES
1999 Pontiac Grand Am mileage: 105,000. The other day I started the car and noticed the dash instruments do not work: speedometer, tachometer, gas gauage, temperature gauge, nor does the power windows, or the heater fan. I checked all of the fuses, and they are okay. I cannot find anything that has all of those functions in common, do you have any suggestions as to what it could be?
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
2CP-ARCHIVES
  • MEMBER
  • 4,540 POSTS
The common function you are looking for is the body control module.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
IRSHSTYYLE
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
  • 1997 PONTIAC GRAND AM
Electrical problem
1997 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic

Need a little help here, 1997 Grand Am, a few days ago the temp, RPM, Speedometer and Fuel gauges started to bounce around. Now they are completely inop I have checked the fuses inside the car and all are good. The light behind the cluster still work as does the seatbelt and turn signals. Is the dash cluster going bad or could it be something else?
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
AWOODSON
  • MEMBER
  • 19 POSTS
Are all of your lights (low oil, check engine, etc.) On in the dash?
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
IRSHSTYYLE
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
When you first start the vehicle, all of the dash lights come on like normal. After that none of them seem to work, i.E. Low fuel, seatbelt light.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
HORTONWL
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • PONTIAC GRAND AM
I have a 1997 Pontiac Grand AM SE with 140,000 miles 2.4 Quad 4. The passlock system was not allowing the car to start,
I reset the system and got the car running, I took and cut the yellow wire for the anti theft because I was told that would fix the problem
Since the car stopped running again later that day and now less than a week later, the instrument panel just went dead
The TAC, temp, speedometer, and fuel. Do not work Are the two problems related? The lights for ABS, ETS,
Low coolant comes on and the fuses are good. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If you could please include any Schematic
That I may need. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)
Tiny
ESCOTT
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
I HAD THAT HAPPEN TO ME AND I HAD TO GET A NEW GAUGE CLUSTER
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Saturday, August 19th, 2017 AT 2:44 PM (Merged)

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