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guage cluster is toast?

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Old 09-26-2009 | 11:45 AM
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Default guage cluster is toast?

just yesterday i got a 1990 blazer in a car trade, and among many problems i need to fix, the first one is the guage cluster. the service engine light and a couple otherwill turn on, but everything that is digital will not. i have the whole cluster out and am looking at it, but i dont know where to even begin looking to see what could be wrong (not too electrically knowlegable...) but i checked the fuse, hit the dashboard, hit the dashboard again, and i even tried something i read on here. which was putting a peice of cardboard betweenthe board to kinda raise it up or whatever. that didnt work. so if anyone has any ideas, or a link to a thread with a bunch of pictures it would be very much appreciated.
 
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Old 09-26-2009 | 12:44 PM
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I found this on fleabay.. this guy fixes these things.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/REBUI...Q5fAccessories

this is one place to get started

hope this helps
 
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Old 09-26-2009 | 12:52 PM
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those digital clusters were one of the biggest mistake GM ever made. the damn thing has (more than likely) burned out. you'll need to have it checked out, and probably rebuilt (very expensive). i upgraded my '84 Blazer to a 4.3 TBI driveline, and used a digital dash, 'cause it looked kinda cool compared to the analog ones. i went to repair it the first time, and said screw it when they said it was gonna be $400!
you can try a wreckers for one, but remember that they're all gonna be close to 20 years old, and there aren't alot of them around (the digital dashes i mean).
mine would shut off the ceter display, and you'd have to smack the dash hard to get it to light up again (my wife was not impressed with having to do this after a very short while). i swapped it out twice before i took the cluster and pigtail from an analog truck, and changed it out. this is not an easy job if you're not really careful, the wires are different colors, and it's best to have wiring diagrams handy.
 
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Old 09-27-2009 | 01:38 AM
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90% of the time its a cold solder joint that can be fixed in less time than it takes to pull the cluster out. If you really don't know much I doubt you'll be able to see what exactly needs fixed. Your does indeed sound more like a shot power supply so I do suggest getting that kit posted or sending it in. The guy on ebay from what I have heard does really good work.
 
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Old 09-27-2009 | 06:28 PM
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Thanks for the help guys. I talked to that guy off eBay and he told me that it would fix it as well. So I'm just gonna go ahead and do that I guess. Thanks again, I'll be back with more issues later on lol
 
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Old 09-27-2009 | 10:05 PM
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don't worry shaguar, that's what we're here for as well, hahahahaha!
 
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Old 09-27-2009 | 10:18 PM
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I hope you get it fixed and enjoy the blazer. I had considered converting my 94 Sonoma to digital but reconsidered that. So it stays as is. Good luck with it.
 
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Old 09-27-2009 | 10:22 PM
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Originally Posted by 96Blazernut
I hope you get it fixed and enjoy the blazer. I had considered converting my 94 Sonoma to digital but reconsidered that. So it stays as is. Good luck with it.
they made a digital cluster for the '94's? don't think i've ever seen a 2nd gen with a digital cluster before.
 
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Old 09-28-2009 | 03:33 PM
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Originally Posted by old skool luvr
they made a digital cluster for the '94's? don't think i've ever seen a 2nd gen with a digital cluster before.


GM never made one.
 
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Old 09-28-2009 | 04:40 PM
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The 94 Sonoma that I have is a mix of old and new stuff. It was more an exercise to see if it could be done than actually doing it. The 94 I have does not have an airbag and it has the old style column, The way it appears is that you might could slip a digital cluster in there if you had used the 93-94 ones.

Its a second gen body on a first gen frame. Its an odd duck as it was a changeover year.
 



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