Oops, messed up my daughter's instrument cluster...

[Homercidal]

I had gotten her one of those really cheap Chinese car radios so she can listen to music from her phone. The radio in her '99 Regal was pretty much dead.

The Chinese radio (no brand name that I know of) worked most of the time, but sometimes would just not turn on. Unhooking power would reset it.

So last night I decide to wire a toggle switch so she can flip off and on and reset more easily than pulling the dash trim and the radio out. I got a switch wired on the knee bolster and went to put the bolster back in place and found that switch pushing up against the steel panel behind the bolster.

Not only was that inconvenient due to the fact that I now had to cut a hole in the steel support, but the wires going to the radio must have contacted ground. Now the radio doesn't turn on (still gets 12V to the memory and main power) and the gauges or messed up on the cluster!

The fuel gauge reads with the needle pointing straight down (straight up is half full...) and the idiot lights don't light up when the key is turned on. She called this morning and said the speedometer doesn't work either.

Wish I had taken the time to disconnect the battery before doing this work! Any ideas on what I might have blown on the cluster?? I'm ready to yank it out tonight if I can and give it a look over. I'm guessing some diodes are blown. Maybe a complete battery disconnect would reset it?

 

[Norselord]

The cheapest solution that i can think of:

Buy another '99 Buick Regal with a working instrument cluster.

 

[Homercidal]

The cheapest solution that i can think of:

Buy another '99 Buick Regal with a working instrument cluster.

LOL! That's so true. I paid $1500 a couple of years ago and after a few minor repairs it runs and drives well for a first car. Had to buy a new MAF sensor and I replaced pretty much all of the brake components, oh and a battery.

It's got the 3800 motor so it runs well.

I had to replace some caps or resistors on the climate control circuit to get the read-out to show. Another one of those known issues.

She's got a job now, so she can decide if she wants a different/better radio, but I'm searching for possible fixes for the cluster before I go out and try to get one off ebay or the junkyard. I'd love an excuse to paw around in the LKQ lot, though, TBH. I just wonder if any 1999 Regals are still around enough to be there.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I'm sure you have but possibly blew one of the fuses that powers the dash display?

 

[Homercidal]

I'm sure you have but possibly blew one of the fuses that powers the dash display?

Before we packed it in that night, I checked all the fuses in the dash to see if I blew the radio (The radio doesn't power on, but I didn't know the IC was hosed at that time.)

I'm doubting it's a fuse, mainly because if I had blown a fuse it would have been on the circuit feeding the radio, and both power leads to the radio are intact.

A guy at work who has dealt with GM cars for many years pointed me to soemthing called a "Body Control Unit" or something like that. He thought the current from the short may have fried that. He said that provides power to the dome lights, IC, etc. in the car.

I have to look that up and check hers I think. If it's dead I may have low odds of finding one with similar options. Not too many 1999 Regals in the scrapyard these days.

 

[passedpawn]

A short ckt somewhere can't cause increased current elsewhere in the car. That doesn't make sense. Doesn't the 12V for the radio come straight from the fuse panel / battery?

Instruments cluster not lighting up sure sounds like a fuse. I'd look carefully at the fuse map and check any of them that look related to the radio, or the other stuff that isn't working. But if it's just the trouble indicators and speedometer, then maybe it is the "computer".

I put a cheapy bluetooth radio and new alpines in my sons 97 camry. This is what I got him. Works great after kludging the wire harness to match what was in there previously. I bought the Pioneer assuming that the wire harness from the previous Pioneer radio would be a fit, but I was wrong there

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EQGBH4M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Homercidal]

There was NOTHING from the IC. No lights, gauges, nada. (Except the CEL, which seems to come from a different circuit.)

Also the stupid Electronic climate control panel was completely dead.

I got some schematics from Autozone.com and dragged the voltmeter out. I found a single wire on the cluster that was not getting current when it should. It pointed to a fuse for the HVAC/IC/"bunch of other stuff". I looked at the fuse. It looked all there, but the metal part inside was slightly bend looking. I swapped for a known good fuse and everything was fine.

Must have partially cook it enough to damage it's function without making it look blown. Serves me right for not checking the fuses for continuity right from the start.

She's happy now the car is driveable and the radio is back. And I finished wiring the reset switch to that crappy Chinese radio so she can get it working again when it dies without having to pull the dash trim and radio out.