Our gas gauge, engine temperature gauge and the RPM stop working.

[Agravelle]

My wife and I and our cat, are on the road from Ontario to BC. This is our 7th day on the road with our fully packed L300. We are currently just outside Calgary and have been having some weird electrical issues. Our gas gauge, engine temperature gauge and the RPM stop working. They come and go, hit the right bump on the road and I have them again. Turn off the van and the next time I start it they may or may not be back.
I'm quite concerned at this point because we are about to head through the mountains and do not want to attempt that without the engine heat gauge.
Our delica is equipped with one of those timers that allows the van to run for a short time after I turn off the ignition.

This problem has occurred in the past, but it will come back on, and I may not have the problem for months and tend to forget about it again until it returns again.

Please help,
Mountains are within site

Andy, Christine and Sooty

[Growlerbearnz]

It sounds like a loose connection to the gauge cluster. When all those things stop working at the same time, the common link is the power to them- which means you probably don't have Oil, Low Fuel, Battery, or 4WD warning lights either.

Pull the gauge cluster and look for a loose connection on one of the plugs.

Please let us know what you find- pictures are handy.

Good luck!

[Morganizer]

I concur, sounds like the connector is not making connection (probably oxidized contacts over time, will clear up just by unplugging and plugging back in.)

I took my gauges out recently (trying to solve a jumpy tach problem) and it was pretty easy. I think the only tool you need is a Philips screwdriver. Get your eyes down by the steering column and look waaaay up: there's a couple of screws up above the gauges, and taking them out gets the process started.

BTW my tach is still jumpy, so don't take me as an expert on this one...but I did take it apart and put it together without any pieces left over!

[Growlerbearnz]

To pull the gauge cluster:
-one screw behind the brake fluid filler cover
-one screw behind the hazard/rear wiper switch panel (use a thin knife to prise it out, and unplug the switches.)
-two screws where Morganizer said.

lift off the shroud, then unscrew the next four screws holding the cluster to the dash.

Reach behind the cluster to find three round plugs (which just pull straight out), one rectangular plug (which has a latch on the underside you need to press) and the speedo cable (which has a plastic latch you need to squeeze).

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly, but with more swearing. Sometime you need to rotate the speedo cable to get it to re-engage with the cluster. The round plugs have tags so they can't be installed wrong.

[cosmo727]

To add to Growlerbearnz's post,

Be gentle when working the round connectors off so that you don't bend the circuit board and cause a break in the circuits. A can of contact cleaner and re-seating the plugs might be all that it needs.

[ChuckBlack]

I agree... Corrosion and loose wire over a period of time definitely result in an intermittent connection!!! Get some dielectric grease in these connection before you get it back together!!!