97 GT Gauges dont work

[Fastlanev6]

I have a friend who has a 1997 GAGT 4 door, and none of her gauges work. The cluster illuminates when headlights are on, but none of the gauges will read. She took it to a shop and they said it would cost like $600 to fix, and she is assuming they checked the fuses. Any input? I dont think her dash has been taken apart so I dont know that it would be an unplugged connection...maybe bad PCM?

[MantaGreen97]

Could be the PCM but if the car runs otherwise, it is more likely that it's the IPC (the entire instrument panel cluster). I've never really seen one fail outright so I would check the wiring first (doesn't have to be an unplugged connection, it could also be a wiring problem somewhere).

Before condemning the PCM, I'd try swapping a different IPC first (they are usually not that expensive on eBay).

But the thing is if she took it to a shop, and they gave a $600 estimate to repair it, they must know what's wrong with it right? What does it say on the invoice or what did they say was wrong? Or was that some off-the-top-of-their-head BS? LOL.

[Fastlanev6]

Shes a girl so they probably didnt explain it or anything...but she did say they charged her like 70 bucks to diagnose it (this was before I met her). The car seems to run fine, so i'll look into the IPC for her. Is it possible to swap the odometer chip (or whatever) between clusters to keep the reading the same?

Edit- also, what years share this same cluster?

[MantaGreen97]

96-98 cars all have the same cluster, GT or SE doesn't matter. There are only 2 clusters for 96-98 cars that I know of. The US cluster and the Canadian/metric cluster (RPO Z49). Other than that they're the same from 96-98.

There is no odometer chip. The odometer on 96-98s is a mechanical digital display, not an electronic digital display like on the 99+ cars. The odometer change will have to be documented with an appropriate label placed on the drivers door jamb (near the tyre safety/weight certification label). You may require a special sticker for this so you might want to check into your state laws regarding changing odometers and documenting the change on a vehicle.

[Fastlanev6]

as far as you know, is the odometer swap pretty easy?

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by Fastlanev6
as far as you know, is the odometer swap pretty easy?

Yeah, it's about as easy as replacing the head unit. (Actually easier since there is no wiring a harness like there is with an aftermarket HU install.) The odo is part of the IPC and that's all one unit.

All you do is remove the main dash bezel just as you would for a HU replacement. Remove like 4 screws holding the IPC in, remove two connectors (the multi-pin connector for the data, signalling, power, illumination, etc.; and the 2-pin connector for the daylight sensor) and then swap the other IPC in. Pretty much a plug-and-play/remove-replace type of deal. Nothing too difficult at all.

[Fastlanev6]

actually I meant the odometer itself...but thats good to know too :)

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by Fastlanev6
actually I meant the odometer itself...but thats good to know too :)

Yeah the odometer itself cannot be swapped--it's all part of the IPC. Also, just as a heads up, do not attempt to turn the numbers on the odometer by hand/manually in any way. The odometer in these cars is "tamper resistant". Any attempt to manually move the odometer will result in a silver paint creating silver lines across the odometer numbers thus indicating it's been tampered with.

[Fastlanev6]

10-4....thanks a lot for your help!

[SE2000]

Most cars have voltage regulators to run the guages, it may be bad, unplugged or whatever.
check the fuses, it sound like whoever gave her that estimate was pulling it out of their head.