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Speedometer, tachometre and fuel gauge quit working...ideas?

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#1
Just as I said. The needles of those three items on the dash are fixed to the bottom. It just happened out of the blue. I started the engine after getting gas and they didn't move. I drove two hours and turned the car off for six hours, thinking they might "wake up" or reset somehow, but nothing. I stopped at a dealership on the way home and one of the sales guys fiddled around, checking if a fuse had blown, but not a fuse.

Any ideas?

Bill Schmid
 


TyphoonFiST

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#3
How is the current health of the battery and its age?

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OP
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Thread Starter #4
You could try a instrument panel test.

Hold the trip button down, start the vehicle. Keep holding and it will enter a test mode. Should do a gauge sweep on one of its tests. Will also do a digital readout out of rpm, fuel level and mph.
Yes it enters test mode. Didn't know about that. Needles did not move...no gauge sweep ever. I advanced through the entire list of items and a sweep never occurred. There were a ton of codes shown, etc. Are any of them important?

The dealer guy last night thought it was a computer thing, not the main computer, that runs those needles. Yes?
 


TyphoonFiST

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#6
The battery is 2-1/5 years old and seems to be in perfect shape. The car is a 2019.
Keyword here is "seems" it should be tested as a battery on the fritz can cause electrical issues as these cars are CanBus systems* I'd check its state of charge and maybe even charge it just to eliminate that from the picture.

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OP
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Thread Starter #7
Keyword here is "seems" it should be tested as a battery on the fritz can cause electrical issues as these cars are CanBus systems* I'd check its state of charge and maybe even charge it just to eliminate that from the picture.

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Could I battery do everything perfectly and still be "on the fritz"as you said? I have an oil change coming shortly and I'll have it checked.
 


TyphoonFiST

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#8
Could I battery do everything perfectly and still be "on the fritz"as you said? I have an oil change coming shortly and I'll have it checked.
Make sure it's load tested* and filled with electrolyte.

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Last edited:
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Thread Starter #10
Just as I said. The needles of those three items on the dash are fixed to the bottom. It just happened out of the blue. I started the engine after getting gas and they didn't move. I drove two hours and turned the car off for six hours, thinking they might "wake up" or reset somehow, but nothing. I stopped at a dealership on the way home and one of the sales guys fiddled around, checking if a fuse had blown, but not a fuse.

Any ideas?

Bill Schmid
Here's a weird update. The needles are now working again.

When the dealer guy checked for a fuse problem, he only checked in the fuse box under the hood. Yesterday I learned there is also a fuse box behind the glove box, and that the fuse in F3 controls the dashboard.

So I removed it to check if it was burned out. It was not.

I also started the car and checked to see what all was dead when that fuse was removed. Interestingly, it was everyting on the dash, lights on knobs, etc. So I put it back in and started the car again to make sure lights, etc. came back on. They did, AND THE NEEDLES MOVED AS WELL.

It's fixed? I guess. I'm driving the car in an hour and hope they still work.

Very strange.
 


TyphoonFiST

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#11
Here's a weird update. The needles are now working again.

When the dealer guy checked for a fuse problem, he only checked in the fuse box under the hood. Yesterday I learned there is also a fuse box behind the glove box, and that the fuse in F3 controls the dashboard.

So I removed it to check if it was burned out. It was not.

I also started the car and checked to see what all was dead when that fuse was removed. Interestingly, it was everyting on the dash, lights on knobs, etc. So I put it back in and started the car again to make sure lights, etc. came back on. They did, AND THE NEEDLES MOVED AS WELL.

It's fixed? I guess. I'm driving the car in an hour and hope they still work.

Very strange.
Electrical Gremlins!
 


haste

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#13
I've had ECUs go on the fritz and removing all power from them, essentially "resetting" them, has fixed the issue. Hopefully it is not a recurring problem for you.
 


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