Installed gauge overlays now gauges don't work

[jurizar]

I installed some glowing gauge overlays in my cluster today. I plugged everything back in and went to test it. When I turned the car on the tach shot up to 1500 and stayed there. The engine wasn't at 1500rpm. It sat there and did not change. About a minute later, my check engine light(need a new o2 sensor) shut off. My seatbelt light shut off too and the tach dropped to zero. I changed my vss because my speedo stopped working this summer and it started working perfectly. And right before installing the gauge overlays all of my gauges worked (tach, speedometer,fuel and temp. I haven't wired the glowing gauges yet as I am not sure how, but I don't really want them to glow before I figure out what's wrong with my cluster. Any insight on why my gauges don't work anymore? I can provide any pictures necessary.

[reklipz]

Sounds like you blew a circuit due to a short or such; probably a fuse or similar. Could have killed the ECU somehow as well I suppose.

[daovangphotos]

Over torqued or under torqued the screws for the motor on the circuit board of the cluster.

Simply back out all 3 screws, a little bit, per motor, tilt the whole face for particular motor a bit, either clockwise or counterclockwise, and hold in place and screw the screws back in without over torquing or under torquing the screws to make good contact, put everything back in and hope it works.

If not, look into replacing the circuit board.

Also, make sure the face is not popping out and touching the backside of the needles to prevent them from making full rotations.

[jurizar]

I've forgotten to include some info. I'm not sure that it changes anything or not, but I figure the more info the better. My check engine and abs light are always on. After changing out the gauges they don't turn on anymore. My battery light still turns on after turning the key one click towards ignition and my turn signals still work. Again, not sure if this changes any answers or not but I figure it couldn't hurt to try. Oh, also my clock doesn't work anymore either...

[wildBill83]

Please tell me you disconnected the battery before doing any of this...

[jurizar]

Sure did. I didn't know if I had to or not, but with my lack of electrical know-how, I figured it was a safer bet to just go ahead and unplug it.

[Apexbender]

The screws complete the circuit. The screws for the Temp. and Fuel are shorter. I learned this the hard way... There is this very fragile leads that connect to the bottom of the "nut" that hold the gauge to the back, if you torque it too much you'll end up ripping those little leads and the circuit will not be completed, so the needle will stay down or all the way up. Putting the longer screws in the Temp. and Fuel gauges will cause the leads to rip as well. I know this because I have messed up two clusters this way. Look in behind the gauges to see if the leads that come out of the coil that makes the needle go up are ripped from the bottom of the screw "holder". Hopefully this info. is of help to you.

[dj_ender]

To elaborate what Apexbender is saying:



If you over tighten the screws, and it's VERY easy to do, you will break the leads on the coils in the gauge.