So my cluster is bad.......

manifoldsrme · August 30, 2010, 09:08:13 PM

Gas light on all the time, no speedometer and no odometer and hud always read 0. The brake lights quit working and though I have adjusted the switch in the past, I couldn't get them working myself this time. Bought a new VSS and took it to the dealership for some work as I am not going to have any time soon to work on cars myself and need brake lights to drive it. The brake switch was bad, they put in a new one, and the VSS made a difference. Now the speedometer goes to 5 mph, and so does the hud. But thats it. No odometer still.

They told me the cluster is shot, but said, "We have a certified rebuilder that can service it and fix any issues for $495. Do you want us to pull it and have it serviced?" Um, NO. Damn. Anyone heard this before? I wonder if it is just some regional or local place, or if there actually is some GM certified rebuilder. That cluster on Ebay for $199 is looking pretty good now. Too bad someone bought it! :icon_mad:

TGP Nick · August 30, 2010, 09:54:06 PM

I think I have a spare TGP cluster around here somewhere... the tach and needle speedo weren't 100% accurate, but the rest of the gauges were spot on. Speedo was off about 8 mph around 60 mph, HUD was accurate with this cluster installed.. though the cluster shouldn't make a difference for how the hud reads.

mfewtrail · August 31, 2010, 02:14:57 AM

Search the board, someone here had a cluster rebuilt in the past. I think it was less than half of what that dealership quoted you...

RobertISaar · August 31, 2010, 12:30:15 PM

yah, you have issues elsewhere, the HUD uses the same circuit the I/C does for reading MPH, which is the 4K PPM Output line from the ECM....

got any way of reading the datastream, that way you can see if the ECM is at least reading the correct MPH?

manifoldsrme · August 31, 2010, 01:00:12 PM

Actually, I am going to just buy a GPS with a mph readout etc. I have dumped STUPID MONEY into this car and it still looks like a huge POS and does not run even close to the way I would like it to either. Its basically a huge POS that I can never get my money back out of at this point. So I am going to get it painted and have the seats redone, there will be another $4-5 grand pushing the total close to $9000. Then it will at least look sweet and all the little problems the car has can just stay. I would need another $5,000 to make everything perfect and I really DO NOT CARE at this point, the car has won, nothing on it works right or is reliable and apparently thats just the way these POS cars are.

I just want to use it for my commute, and take it to the local shows. And while it is at the shows, nobody will know that the gauges are shlt, the windows do not go down properly, it hesitates like a 13 year old virgin upon acceleration etc. They will just see a newly painted car with new interior and think it looks great. They will never know it is actually the biggest car purchase mistake I have ever made and I have owned well over 40 cars. I am in this car way deep at this point, and honestly, it gets the commute done, so I just want to finish it and forget about it. I honestly do not think I will ever "work the bugs out of it". There are far too many and everytime I fix something 3 more things crap out. At this point I just want to throw the last few grand I have to at it to make it look presentable, then drive it until it literally falls apart. Which shouldn't be too long........................ :icon_frown:

If I sound frustrated it is because I have never owned a car that had so many things wrong with it at once. Nor have I owned a car that could have so many things go wrong or quit working and those things keep going bad over and over again. It is ridiculous at this point. Haven't even had the car a full year and already replacing things for the second time.

killinprixs · August 31, 2010, 03:58:04 PM

thats a proud tgp owner right there :laugh:

manifoldsrme · August 31, 2010, 05:27:50 PM

Quote from: killinprixs on August 31, 2010, 03:58:04 PM
thats a proud tgp owner right there :laugh:

LOL! Yep. I love the looks of the car and I am finishing the "resto" of the car. If I just drive it nicely it runs great. Handles well. It's just my commuter beater, but it's still gotta look good. I have 4 other cars, 3 of them basically toys as well, and a fair weather car. So I don't need the headaches of getting meticulous with the grand Prix. I just Plan to drive it into the ground for the next few years.

Prospeeder · September 01, 2010, 08:22:36 PM

You sure the Vehicle speed sensor isnt bad? And the fuel light is super common and easily fixed by resoldering several joints on the back, sombody should have a picture. The HUD i thought read independently of the Cluster

manifoldsrme · September 01, 2010, 08:53:21 PM

Just had a brand new speed sensor installed when I had the brake switch done. If it has other issues besides just the cluster then it will from here on out. Paint and seat recovering is next. Then it is drive it as is. If it runs long enough for me to concentrate on some of my other toys for awhile then maybe someday I will get back to it. I just want to drive it. I have worked on it a ton to get it reliable enough for the commute. It needs very little for prep before paint. Thats one thing it has going for it. Arrow straight body and no rust as it was a TX car.

Prospeeder · September 02, 2010, 09:49:08 PM

well lets not forget theres wireing for the speed sensor, poor connection pinched or rubbed through wires. Any Codes from the computer, theres VSS codes see what might come up

manifoldsrme · September 03, 2010, 06:26:04 AM

Noticed this morning that the speedo appears to be completely dead again and the HUD is reading 0. :icon_evil: Awesome. Need to hit Ebay for a GPS........

White93z34 · September 04, 2010, 05:19:07 PM

I know i'm kinda late to the party, but earlier this year I swapped in a non turbo cluster and have not looked back (well maybe a little) I'll take a volt meeter in place of the useless "boost" gauge, and my speedo and tacho are withen +/- 2-3mph of the hud. It plugs right in you just have to use a soldering iron and move the little dongle on the top of the cluster over to the other cluster.

GutlessSupreme · September 05, 2010, 12:31:30 PM

Your cluster is probably plenty fucked up like the rest of ours, but if your HUD is reading zero too, then there's definitely a problem further upstream. As I think i saw mentioned, you need to check the wires going from the VSS to the ECM and the wire going to the cluster/HUD as well for continuity. I guess there's also the possibility of a bad ECM, but of course check the wires first.

If the wires are broken from the VSS to the ECM, the car would probably run awful, if at all.

RobertISaar · September 05, 2010, 12:41:01 PM

which is why a quick scan could determine if that is the case.... no MPH reading in the datastream is good indication that the problem lies before the ECM.

manifoldsrme · September 05, 2010, 12:45:17 PM

The car runs good. If I just drive it normally and ease into the gas, it will rip along just fine. But if I am already rolling and hammer it, or just hammer it from a stop, it hesitates and fucks around and I have to get out of it and then back in it and it runs fine again and pulls pretty damn hard. Sounds like driveability issues that others all have here.