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1990 Olds cutlass, weird electrical stuff


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zappo168
New User

Jan 11, 2008, 12:23 PM

Post #1 of 2 (1587 views)
1990 Olds cutlass, weird electrical stuff Sign In

Hello, car folks! Hope someone can help me out here.

1990 Olds Cutlass Supreme that is in great condition. Only 57K miles, kept up well by my grandpa who died and left it to me.

Speedometer, odometer, gas tank gauge, etc are all electric and LED on the dashboard. A few months ago the dashboard went blank while I was driving. It then came on and read all 8s for numbers, stayed that way for awhile, then went blank again. I was at the drive-through dairy and when I went to pull out the car was dead and would not start. I got it towed thinking it was something horrible and it turned out to be only a fuse, thank God (that they charged me $80 to replace, but never mind--glad it was only a fuse).

Now a few months later, I went to start the car and it started but the dashboard was all blank except for my odometer which read "8.88" miles. I had to get to work so I drove it anyway, and about halfway there (2 miles drive maybe) it lit up with the correct mileage, gas tank reading, etc. I then didn't have any problems with it for a week or so.

Yesterday I was driving home from class when I noticed the entire thing was blank again.

A) I'm terrified that the car is going to die on me while I'm driving and I will crash (slick roads and I can't control a power-steering car well when it's dead--I've gone onto someone's lawn before!) B) I don't know squat about cars C) people keep telling me electrical problems are the worst to have and I am worried I'm going to spend tons of money that I don't have and not be able to fix the problem.

Any advice would be SO very much appreciated--and I'll pay you back any way I can! I bake a mean pie!


Double J
Veteran / Moderator
Double J profile image

Jan 11, 2008, 12:42 PM

Post #2 of 2 (1583 views)
Re: 1990 Olds cutlass, weird electrical stuff Sign In

did someone say pie?
will work for food..yeah.

anyway,it's possible that the instrument cluster itself is at fault.internal falure.
could be a connection problem as well.
i do know that in those years,(w )body cars i.e. cutlass, grandprix, lumina etc would have an ecm (computer problem )that would affect the speedmeter operation ..usually it would affect the running of the vehicle as well,stall,hard start etc.
just throwing stuff out there..
i suggest you take it in to a reputable shop to have checked,and inspected all over,so you'll know the condition of everything....better to be safe than sorry...stalling while in traffic is scary as you well know.
sounds like its a nice car...it'll be worth the money to have it checked/repaired.this way you have piece of mind .

sounds like grandpa was a helluva guy....

BTW-(apple pie )or sausage and cheese pizza pie.....hmmm...now were talkin'
post back results......maybe even the others will jump in here with some advise.......they'll do anything for pie around here....maybe even drive out to you to repair it......<<<<<good luck>>>>>>>>>>>>.

JIM


(This post was edited by JIM N on Jan 11, 2008, 12:44 PM)






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