Vertical guage cluster not working

[braunstein82]

2006 coupe, While doing radio and LED upgrade the vertical cluster (oil, water, pressure, volt) stopped working completely. Was fine with LED's but removed it to run a wire for the radio microphone. When plugged back now nothing works. No lights and no gauges. Tried putting everything back and even bought a new set of gauges, still nothing. Did a ecu and BCM reset still nothing. I can only think that it's a bad ground since that would probably be the only thing they all have in common. But looked at the wiring diagram and I honestly can figure out which is the ground in the harness or plug. Anyone experience this or can help?

[Steve M]

Did you try running the built in diagnostic? It was talked about here:

https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...ng-Big-Concern

Do the guage self-diagnostic test. Hold down the trip/reset button, turn nthe key on and release the button after after two seconds. The guages will advance incrementally to selected stops and all indicators will light except for turn signals. This is also used to reset the guages. Note that there is also an oil over-temp warning light.

[viperBase1]

I know this doesn't help, but "guage" is not a word.

You mean "Gauge Cluster".

[Fatman2006]

LMAO this is great!

I know this doesn't help, but "guage" is not a word.

You mean "Gauge Cluster".

Also, after washing my car, my cluster is acting crazy. All the warning lights on the gauges are on, but the gauges aren't showing any readings. The CEL is on, and the shift light is on. I'll try the gauge reset, but do you guys have any other suggestions if that doesn't work?

[Steve M]

Check fuses and relays.

[Fatman2006]

Ok, I checked fuses and relays, however, for the sake of being thorough can you suggest specific fuses or relays to check?

Also here's a more detailed explanation of the issues I'm having.

All gauges are dead, and not moving from the resting position, this includes the tach and speedo.

The warning lights on the vertical gauges are all on. The red shift arrow is on and the CEL is on.

My OBD2 port is getting power but not sending information

All the lights work for the gauges, and there are no other electrical problems.

The car drives and responds normally, as in, it's not in limp mode.

So far I've tried switching fuses and relays, disconnecting the battery, and I did the gauge reset. Nothing has resolved the issue.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[braunstein82]

I checked the fuses however i believe they run off the same one as the main cluster which is working.

[BillyC]

2006 coupe, While doing radio and LED upgrade the vertical cluster (oil, water, pressure, volt) stopped working completely. Was fine with LED's but removed it to run a wire for the radio microphone. When plugged back now nothing works. No lights and no gauges. Tried putting everything back and even bought a new set of gauges, still nothing. Did a ecu and BCM reset still nothing. I can only think that it's a bad ground since that would probably be the only thing they all have in common. But looked at the wiring diagram and I honestly can figure out which is the ground in the harness or plug. Anyone experience this or can help?

You should be able to find the ground (-) and any positive (+) by using a meter. Turn on ignition. Test plug pins that goes to guage OPPS! gauge cluster. Black is normally ground. Sometimes colored wired with black tracer are ground. Test all pins to a known ground. If you don't get any readings you have a fuse blown. If you find the incoming ground, match that pin with the gauge cluster plug pin and check for ground on cluster where that wire connects. More importantly, remember it's spelled GAUGE. - LOL

[ACtechOPS]

First off, apparently I can't spell. Secondly, I would focus on your radio install. The OEM radio is interfaced with the car's data bus. When you hook up to the diagnostic port, the radio is one of the systems you can interrogate. The bus pin is #14 on the radio plug. If you by any chance used an aftermarket adapter to connect your new head unit, it is possible it could be set up to apply 12V to this pin. This issue is common with MK4 Volkswagens and manufacturers like Scoche. You run the risk of serious damage to the BCM which controls 90% of the cars functions. Also, if you plug in an OBD ll reader it will burn out the communication protocol in the reader and it will not be able to connect with the PCM - throw it away. Check that 12V is NOT present at pin#2 on the DTC connector, this is a data line only. Next, unplug your new radio AND any adapter harness. See what happens and report back. This post has not been checked for correct spelling.

[BillyC]

I kin spel purty goud, butt I misst tha part wer he instald a nue radeo?
I spelckeked an this loked goud two me.

[ACtechOPS]

I suffer from dexialis. Radio was the fifth word although "2006" isn't a word...or maybe it is.

[viperBase1]

LMAO this is great!



Also, after washing my car, my cluster is acting crazy. All the warning lights on the gauges are on, but the gauges aren't showing any readings. The CEL is on, and the shift light is on. I'll try the gauge reset, but do you guys have any other suggestions if that doesn't work?

Whenever I wash the Viper, I fold up a couple of towels length-wise and lay 'em over each side of the engine compartment under the vents.
I do this just cuz I use a power washer.

I kin spel purty goud, butt I misst tha part wer he instald a nue radeo?
I spelckeked an this loked goud two me.

[Fatman2006]

I sub come to electrical gremlins, I was ultimately defeated. My car is in the good hands of Eddie now.

Turns out I fricasseed my PCM while washing my car, I didn't even know that was a thing. Good side of that, my odometer stopped working so I didn't clock any miles on my drive to drop the car off.

[sidwin]

wow that sucks. on my car i had a similar problem. it ended up being i had a bad LED i was using that caused my gauges to freak out whenever i turned on the lights. i have one bad led now for the coolant temp sensor and to be honest, i am not going to take the dash and everything a part for gauge light.

[braunstein82]

Going to try some of those recommendations this week. Having trouble reading the wiring diagram. So not sure which pin/wire is the ground, there isn't a black wire. I can do some basic stuff with my multimeter but not sure how to test if a wire is in fact a ground wire, don't want to risk causing a bigger problem. Advice with that would be appreciated. Or if someone knows which wire it is.

[Redx]

Going to try some of those recommendations this week. Having trouble reading the wiring diagram. So not sure which pin/wire is the ground, there isn't a black wire. I can do some basic stuff with my multimeter but not sure how to test if a wire is in fact a ground wire, don't want to risk causing a bigger problem. Advice with that would be appreciated. Or if someone knows which wire it is.

Post a picture of the schematic.

[ACtechOPS]

Jesus Redx, at least say please!

cluster wiring 1-1.jpg
cluster wiring 2-1.jpg
lighting-1.jpg
cluster-1.jpg

[BillyC]

Going to try some of those recommendations this week. Having trouble reading the wiring diagram. So not sure which pin/wire is the ground, there isn't a black wire. I can do some basic stuff with my multimeter but not sure how to test if a wire is in fact a ground wire, don't want to risk causing a bigger problem. Advice with that would be appreciated. Or if someone knows which wire it is.

On connector C2 pin #3 there should be a black wire. If there is not a black wire, it has pulled out, thus no ground wire. To check ground, using ohms on meter, you should get a reading from any black wire to a known ground, or between black wires.

[ACtechOPS]

That ground is only for internal lighting and he has no gauges at all. There is no common ground for the actual operation of the gauges. Everything is routed through the main instrument cluster which sends each gauge a signal (command) and each gauge provides a feedback (return). Common 12 volt driver signal at pin #14(C2) for all gauge operation and illumination power at pin #1 (C2){provided lights are turned on}.

[BillyC]

That ground is only for internal lighting and he has no gauges at all. There is no common ground for the actual operation of the gauges. Everything is routed through the main instrument cluster which sends each gauge a signal (command) and each gauge provides a feedback (return). Common 12 volt driver signal at pin #14(C2) for all gauge operation and illumination power at pin #1 (C2){provided lights are turned on}.

#14 is "coolant Temp. Warning" ??
#20 is common - ??

[ACtechOPS]

#14 is a driver signal for the coolant temp warning light, so it will be positive. You are correct, turns out there are actually two grounds for the gauges. #20 is for oil temp and pressure, #6 is for water temp and voltage. There is way too much not working here for it to be a one wire issue. More like something unplugged/not plugged in properly or worse case, something blown (and I don't mean a fuse). Fuse C4 in the PDC is a 15A that supplies power to the gauge cluster, but it also provides power to a host of other things, one being the start button. That one you would notice.

[BillyC]

Going to try some of those recommendations this week. Having trouble reading the wiring diagram. So not sure which pin/wire is the ground, there isn't a black wire. I can do some basic stuff with my multimeter but not sure how to test if a wire is in fact a ground wire, don't want to risk causing a bigger problem. Advice with that would be appreciated. Or if someone knows which wire it is.

The car does start and run? Right?

[braunstein82]

Car starts and runs fine. Main cluster works fine as well. Just the vertical cluster not working. Here is the diagram I was using.

Screenshot_20180211-235718~2.jpg

[BillyC]

You say everything was okay until you ran a "wire for the radio microphone"? What is that? Have you tried removing it? I can't read the diagram you posted very well. C2, pin 17 is the gauge cluster driver and is common to all gauges. But that doesn't explain the no led lights? The lights are driven by pins #1 & #3. The only thing I can suggest is to double check both connectors to see if one of the pins inside of the connector has been pushed back and not making connection. Grasping for straws.

[braunstein82]

Problem solved. After I initially installed the radio and LED bulbs everything worked. When I ran the wire for the mic for the radio Bluetooth I disassembled the dash and pulled out the vertical gauges again to run the wire for it and relocate the rest for the rear camera, dash cam, aux plug and equalizer mic. Wanted everything clean and together. Of course that's when this issue happened. While trying to fix this issue I haven't gone as far as reversing everything, because it work before. So I decided to put everything back like it was stock. Did the radio then the vertical gauges and went to the main cluster. On the main cluster there are 2 plugs, I unplugged one and as I pulled it out, the other plug come out with it. Meaning it wasn't clipped in and probably backed out when I was running the mic wires. Once seen that, I plugged it in along with the vertical gauges tried it out and they worked. So happy it wasn't anything bad. This is a lesson learned to double check my connections. I really appreciate everyone's help. Now let the trash talking begin, I deserve it. Lol.

FYI typing all this on my phone so there might be some more misspelling and bad grammar.