Hey guys, I feel pretty stupid writing this, but I totally forgot to disconnect the battery when I removed my instrument cluster this morning.

Once I reconnected it, the car starts up fine, but my fuel gauge isn't working properly, it doesn't know the outside temp anymore, the washer fluid indicator is on, etc.

Did I seriously screw something up here, or does it just need to be reset somehow?

TIA,
Todd

 

try disconnecting the battery again and let it sit for a bit, then reconnect.

 

one of the conenctors might be not tight enough. also teh fuel gauge might not work if you were bellow the level where it starts estimating. Top the tank off and see if comes back. my guess is one of the connectors needs to be unplugged and plugged back in.

 

Whew! Dodged a bullet today!

Disconnected the battery for a couple minutes, and reconnected. Same problems, washer fluid level, oil pressure level and gauge, fuel level, outside temp not working. Checked all the fuses... all good. I had read about the fuel gauge... that the tank would need to be at least half full. Mine was at the half way point, so drove and filled it up. Didn't fix anything.

Came home and disconnected the battery again, disconnected all the connections (though they seemed to be connected properly) waited 30 min and plugged them back in and reconnected the battery. Success! No problems!

I was really kicking myself, this was going to be one helluva expensive mod to add carbon dash strips if I had to buy a new cluster LOL

Thanks for the help guys!

 

glad it worked...you do have to let the battery be disconnected for "some time" for the resets to occur.

 

gee can't remember if i unhooked my battery but all has worked for two years or so. when in doubt unhook it

 

You know, I was searching for posts about how to install the mid dash strips. Not one of them said to disconnect the battery. Most of them started with, remove the glove box, remove the horseshoe, etc.

After a while then they said to remove the cluster, but no mention of the battery.

The kicker was, I had actually unhooked the battery the day before for this, I did it over two days. The first day, I did the passenger side strip, didn't have time to get to the drivers side. Unfortunately, I have a tandem garage, so the next day, I needed to get my other vehicle out of the garage, so I hooked the battery back up, moved the car, and then when I went to work on it again, I had forgotten.

Dodged a bullet... the wife says my mod budget is used up for awhile, she didn't know about the dash strips. Would have been... interesting to have to tell her I needed to buy a new cluster because the car mysteriously wasn't working right...

 

Resurrecting an old thread - this exact same thing happened to me this weekend. I followed some chap's directions, nowhere did it say to disconnect the battery - dumb mistake. Now I have the same situation as above - no guages and errors for tank levels etc. No turn signals or bright light indicator. I believe one or more of the connections are not seated well enough. What a PIA, as I've had the pod off and back on a half dozen times already. broke a little ear to the latch on one side of the gray connector. Hope it still works okay!! Replacing just the gray connector could be a nightmare, not to mention unobtainable. I'm not buying a wiring harness just for that little broken ear.

 

If you can get a plastic wire tie in there that can help hold. Hope it all works out.

 

always check your connection guys, it can develop some gremlins, god what would i do without zip ties

 

i did the same thing. it goes in far enough its almost impossible to get it out. don't worry about the clip. just push it in as far as it will go

 

32k you nailed it. You are spot on. I removed the silly black plastic levers on 2 of the 3 male connectors and then they finally seated all the way in. Broke off 3 of the tiny pegs that the black levers swivel on. No biggie, they seat nice and tight, sincerely doubt they will ever come out. All is well, she works fine again!

djcooper@rennkit.com

 

I've taken the instrument cluster off at least 5 times - I never disconnected the battery. In all cases above, the problem was a connector. I really doubt it had anything to do with disconnecting the battery.

... Now I wouldn't suggest removing the cluster with the key turned on...

 

I agree, not sure how it could short something out just pulling out or pushing in the male multi-pin connectors. Still I learned that the male multipin connectors need to be pushed ALL THE WAY IN.

 

C'mon. They're not that difficult to work with. You just have to make sure the levers are in a completely open position when you start to slide the connector into the receptacle and then, once the lever starts moving a little, you usually finish inserting the connector by applying gentle pressure while flipping the lever (2fingers). I have disconnected and reconnected prob in the 3 figures of these and, aside from the occasional lever not being completely open, never had any issues.

Replacement parts for the connectors are next to unobtainable, but you could poss pick up the connector shells from a dismantler. If it were mine I would do it.

Really not trying to sound derogatory, but the levers - locks- are there for a reason. I have not delved into the 996 yet, but the instrument pack generally acts as a gateway module for vehicle comms. You do not want a connector vibrating loose. Or do something with wire ties...