Had a 92 right off the lot. PS, Alt, burned more than 1 qt/3000 mi at 43K. Dealer maintained. A lot of stuff still in flux.

 

Do your seatbelts still operate properly?

I can't remember if the dash hits it's so Good from the VSS or from the transmission output shaft sensor, but I do have a schem atic that should show me. My fear is that it has to do with the electronics on the PCB of the dash.

 

Seat belts move, and the lap belt light goes out when it's connected. I originally had a leaky cap on the tach board, and my first thought was the same may have happened to the speedo board? I hope it's not inside the dash, not looking forward to disassembling it again...

 

Update: I just drove a known 3.1 mile route, and the odo registered 3.1 miles. The shifting was smooth as well. During the trip the speedo read around 28 MPH steady (no matter what actual speed I was going) and 22 MPH at stop lights. Halfway back the speedo needle dropped to 0, and the odo stopped as well. but it still shifts well. I'm thinking it's more bad caps on the internal PCBs, and it may have blown a fuse. I have some other projects going right now, so it may be a while before I open the dash again, but I'll update this thread when I do.

BTW, I just re-read the thread, and had forgotten that the capacitor I replaced WAS on the speedo board. There's a few more on there, so when I open it up, I'll replace them all. Caps don't last forever, and they're all past their useful lives.

 

Pulled the dash and cluster today. The capacitor I previously installed leaked again, and many of the PCB traces look burnt. Checking continuity, several of them were no longer making contact between solder points. I figured at this point, it's toast, then figured I might as well try putting some jumpers in to complete the bad traces, replace the cap again, and see what happens. I unsoldered the cap, and it turns out that I'd installed it backwards Apparently when I looked at the side with the + sign on one hole, when I flipped it over to put the cap it, I messed up. It worked for 5 years, but eventually failed, and probably heated up the traces.

So I cleaned it as best as I could, installed another cap the correct way, then made 4 jumpers using thin insulated wire, and the cut off legs of the cap. I've checked continuity on all the traces, and I THINK it might be okay now. Not really expecting it to work, I put the cluster in temporarily, and started the engine. The tach worked, fuel and temp worked, and the speedo stayed at 0. Backed out and went for a drive and the speedo started jumping around, then went to 70 MPH and stayed. Oh well.... But I kept driving, and it began coming down, then after a while it seemed responsive, but reading way too fast. I downloaded a GPS app for my phone, and kept driving, and after a while it was reading just 2-3 MPH over the GPS speedo. BUT the odometer isn't working!

So I came home and removed/opened the cluster to inspect again, but am stumped. Everything is working but the odo, but I can't tell why yet. Gonna sleep on it before putting it back together again. I'll recheck all the traces etc. I know it looks messy, but I can't find any shorts between traces, and if anyone has any ideas, let me know

 

It works! Turns out that the 3-pin odometer connector on the back film PCB was not fully seated. I did push it and the other two connectors in well while assembling the cluster on the bench, but when installing it in the dash, the manipulation flexes the film and caused it to push out. Keep that in mind, and make sure to reach over and push it back in after mounting the cluster in the dash. In fact I may use some foam or something to push in there to make sure it doesn't vibrate out. I'm frankly amazed that it all works, after my mistake with the old cap, and soldering in the jumpers! Gonna drive it another day or so with the dash off to make sure it's okay, then put it back together

 

Simple solution to keep the odo plugged in, a small block of Styrofoam that fits snugly. The tach and speedo connectors have more pins and are more secure.