this may be a little long so please stick with it. a couple months ago i bought a 98 s-10 blazer 4x4 has 129,xxx miles now. well when i bought it the cruise control worked and the wipers had a short in them. last month my blinkers and cruise went out so i took it to the shop and they said i needed to replace the multi function switch. i did that and they installed it but that did not fix the problem. while they were inside the dash they noticed that some wires were burnt and exposed. the guy working on it cut some live wires that were just sitting there (way he explained it was they werent connected to anything, just a fire hazard) i was ok with that, but once i got into the vehicle my security, batt, abs, low fuel, lights were on my shift light stopped working, and my gas and temp gauge stopped working. so i had him put the old multi function switch in and he then fixed the wipers (was bad motor) he then told me that since my wires were shot that i needed to buy a new wiring harness. i did that and Thursday i took the harness to the shop to install it. they got it in but it again didnt fix anything. i have spent too much money from parts and the labor on this vehicle and i just want it fixed. all my friends and family said that since they caused the problems in the first place that i need to make them fix it for free. well anyway i was doing some searching on similar problems and it kind of sounds to me that it is the instrument cluser. any ideas to this annoying problem?

 

did he tell you before or after he cut them. did he have your OK to cut them before he did.

a wire just doesn't get burnt on their own. if a wire gets hot enough to melt the coating it SHOULD blow a fuse first. that is what they are there for. that is why you replace a fuse with the same size and not a higher one.

replacing the harness may help in short term but unless you find why the wires got hot or burnt it may happen again.


make the part replacers fix it or find a real mechanic.
most repair shops i've seen just want to replace parts and not find the problem. sounds to me like a ground. search the forum for ground issues relating to your issue and you should find places to check for grounds related to the dash and cluster.

 

he told me after he cut the wires. well the mechanic show me the old wiring harness and the wires were indeed burnt. there was one wire burnt to the extent that it melted the tape and melted into the other wires. this guy that im going to seems reasonable and has worked with me with me in the past about labor costs and everything. he has also done good work in the past on this vehicle and also my 96 chevy silverado. so unless im just naive it doesnt seem like hes screwing me over.

 

OK, since you trust the guy doing the repair. let him find the trouble. still a wire just doesn't melt. there has to be a reason for the overload and a reason that the overload melted the wire and not pop the fuse.

just remember that every used vehicle was once someone else's headache. I tend to drive them until the wheels fall off and the only thing that they are good for is scrap.

So now, what is not working? If the mech changed out the entire harness there is a chance that he forgot to make a connection or something. I had a head replaced once and the guy forgot to tighten the exhaust manifold folds. they were snug but not tight.

One thing, don't go in there telling him he screwed something up. no body like to admit when they did something wrong. just ask him to take a second look at it and see if there is anything else he could find. tell him what is happening and how often. don't tell him his job. don't act as if you know what is wrong or he will repair what you tell him and not even look for something else.

example - if you tell a mech to replace the front left wheel bearing he is going to replace the front left wheel bearing. when it is the front passenger side (right) wheel bearing that is bad.

if he does see an error he did. he should fix it. it all comes down to how much you trust your mech.