4 replies to this topic

[helodrv]

Whenever it is damp or there is drizzle, my 1995 850 wagon's (N/A) Tach either dies or is intermittent. From the middle of June until last week, it worked flawlessly. But in the last week, it has started repeating its old bad habbits. This is the non-Bosch instrument cluster.

I suspect I have a bad connection somewhere but have no idea where to even start tracing wires. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? This is not a new problem. I have had the car 1.5 years and it always seems to start with damp weather.

[dykaar]

I have a 94 that developed intermittant connections on the tach, outside temp gauge and coolant gauge. The dealer charged me for new sensor, but I didn't trust them and made them save the old part. When the engine light cam back, they offered to go on a gremlin safari at the full labor rate. I had them put back the old sensor, and refund the money for the repair.

I eventually ran new wires from the speed densor on the back of the tranny to the dashboard. I recently discovered what I believe too be the real issue and have now resolved the other intermittants. If you drop the bottom of the dash in the drivers footwell and look up underneath, you will see where the fuse box/wiring harness extends into the interior. Just below that is s stackup of junction boxes where it looks like every freakin wire in the entire car is routed.

Apparently, someone decided all those wires might making noise from rubbing, so they had been sprayed with lubricant. I grabbed the wires by the fistful and jiggled them around, hoping to move the contacts around and rub through the oil/corrosion/build up/sweedish troll buggers.

I guess I got lucky for once, since that fixed the problem. Your problem could actually be a bad sensor, so you may want to test that as well.

[helodrv]

Yesterday, the tach rarely moved. After drivning about an hour today, it is working again. Of course it was dry today after the fog burned off...

Thanks, Doug. I will check the wiring bundles as well as the sensor. Who knows, I might get lucky.

Mel

[JehovArob]

Just below that is s stackup of junction boxes where it looks like every freakin wire in the entire car is routed.

Heh. No kidding. Been trying to diagnose my busted power locks and have spent a decent amount of time under the dash...

Apparently, someone decided all those wires might making noise from rubbing, so they had been sprayed with lubricant.

You really think they sprayed the wires with lubricant? I don't recall my wires being too bad. (Although, I did notice that most of the bits of 15 y/o electrical tape they had used to bundle the wires had melted into a sticky, slimey goodand become essentially useless...)

[AlvinL]

You have a 95 so check for DTC trouble codes for the instrument cluster. Check out the maintenance links.