All Gauges are not working

1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM
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BRIANO17
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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??
Jan 31, 2007 at 4:39 PM
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CRAZYCHASE
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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).
Jan 31, 2007 at 6:17 PM
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BRIANO17
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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?
Feb 1, 2007 at 11:02 AM
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ERICKA
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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
Feb 1, 2007 at 10:30 PM
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2CARPRO JACK
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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
Feb 6, 2007 at 7:54 AM
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STRAILER
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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



Aug 19, 2017 at 1:27 PM
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STEVIE07
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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
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:43 PM (Merged)
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WRENCHTECH
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That's probably a defective cluster but you would need a professional scan tool to be able to test it.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:43 PM (Merged)
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LOWMANBOB3
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Electrical problem
1996 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

instrument gages wont work !!!!!!!!!!!help
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:43 PM (Merged)
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MMPRINCE4000
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Check fuses, look for IP or gauges fuse.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:43 PM (Merged)
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DFAIRC7297
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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.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:43 PM (Merged)
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SC1 RACING
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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.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:43 PM (Merged)
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UTAHSLINGER
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i got all idiot lights blinking on and off and none of the gauges are working
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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JDL
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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
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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2CP-ARCHIVES
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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?
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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2CP-ARCHIVES
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The common function you are looking for is the body control module.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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IRSHSTYYLE
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Electrical problem
1997 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic
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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?
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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AWOODSON
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Are all of your lights (low oil, check engine, etc.) on in the dash?
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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IRSHSTYYLE
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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.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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HORTONWL
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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.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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ESCOTT
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I HAD THAT HAPPEN TO ME AND I HAD TO GET A NEW GAUGE CLUSTER
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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BKESOUTHPAW
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I have a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am. With about 90K miles and a 4 cylinder engine. The problem is that my speedometer and tacometer are not working at all and my gas gauge and heat temp. gauge seem to be stuck half way. Please help. I'm usually pretty good at repairing small car problems but if I don't know what to fix I can't fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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CLY
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That is a strange problem. I have looked through the wiring schematics and it looks like it is a problem with the solid state unit in the cluster and they are not servicable. I believe you will need to replace the Cluster to correct your problem....


Cly
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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DICK SCHEURKOGEL
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Electrical problem
1997 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 216000 miles

Instrument cluster not working. Checked all the fuses, they all have power in and out. Which wire on the cluster connector has power to it? Are there more than one and are they 12volts or a regulated voltage? Want to know before sending cluster for repair and also wheren can we send it? Thanks again!!
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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JDL
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Sorry for the late reply. Are you talking about cluster illumination? Sometimes the dimmer switch gets turned all the way down, no lite. In the diagram, gray wire is voltage and black is ground, for illumination.

Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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SL911BROWN
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I have a 1997 pontiac, Grand Am and The dash gages are not working. I have checked all of the fuses as well as the relays and all is good. The instrument panel is lite up and all of the lights are on (even the ones that shouldn't be). I am unable to have it checked because the computer will not recongnize the car is hooked into the computer.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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LEGITIMATE007
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check the body control module, bcm, if you have done any modifications, retrack and make sure everything is right. usually when the computer doesnt recognize the scantool. that means either the harness/hookup is faulty or the computer needs to be reset/replaced
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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PANDERAMP
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2carpros.

My Grandam's instrument panel gauges do not work properly....they go counter clockwise and bottom out.

I put gas in my tank today....started the car and that is when they went wacky....I have checked the fuses....disconnected the battery for 5 minutes and still have the same results.

Got a clue on what this could be?

Thanks for your help.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)
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HMAC300
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might be a bad dash have apro check it.
Aug 19, 2017 at 2:44 PM (Merged)