[newman]

So I was driving my S240 down a fairly bumpy road the other day and the oil pressure light came on, the digital LCD turned off and the first stage of the shift light started blinking. I immediately pulled the car over and checked the oil.

It was full and fresh.

Then I got back in the car and noticed something strange. The oil pressure light was still on, the first stage of the SL was still blinking, tach showed 2000 rpm and speedo showed about 30mph.

The car was off and the key was not in it.

So i tried starting the car. It started right up, no issue, but the dash still read exactly the same, with the exception of the tach still working.

So I turned the car back off. Tach read 1000. Oil pressure light still on, etc.


So I sat there, wondering what the hell to do. After about 2 minutes, the light went off, needles dropped to zero. I started the car again and everything was perfectly normal. When I started the car the normal display of CEL, ABS, seatbelt, etc all came on and the gauges functioned fine.

I assumed since it seemed like a cluster fault, not an engine issue that it was OK to drive, and I did so, with no issue, for about 3 hours.



Anyone else have this happen?

 

[ads_green]

Sounds like either:
-dodgy dash
- bad connection somewhere (more likely if just gone over a bump).

 

[AustinP]

There is a thread or two here (in the "electrical" section) about this. It seems to only effect the gauge cluster, it doesn't effect actually running of the engine. It happened once to me, I "fixed" it by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery ground. Make sure to turn off the alarm and disabler before disconnecting the battery. Fortunately it hasn't happened to me again, though it did prompt me to install a quick disconnect on the battery. My guess is that the gauge cluster electronics on the newer cars are a little dodgy.

HTH,

 

[newman]

I did a basic search, but didn't come up with anything concrete.

I also thought about putting a quick disconnect on my battery as well.

 

[charliex]

Something bumped loose and caused an electrical fluctuation, when the cluster gets switched off while its not a zero, it restarts in an off place, the new clusters have better zeroing capabilities.

 

[AustinP]

I'm not convinced about the "bumped loose" part, at least not in my case. When it happened to me I was going about 5mph on my (smooth) driveway, it was coincident with me turning off the Alpine head unit. As I'm sure you know, to turn it off, you hold the power button for a few secs; the gauge cluster went static the instant the HU powered down. Apparently that caused enough of an electrical fluctuation. Maybe the HU needs to be grounded better? OTOH, I've turned off the HU plenty of times since, without it happening again. :shrug:

BTW, here's another thread: my-instrument-cluster-stopped-working-lights-wont-turn-off

 

[charliex]

try a smoothing cap

 

[AustinP]

try a smoothing cap

If it ever happens to me again, in the same way, I probably will. It shouldn't be necessary though.

 

[charliex]

I don't think the radio's necessary

 

[AustinP]

Agreed. But the real issue is, why should the dash be susceptible to crashing with such a minor electrical event (turning off the HU)?

 

[charliex]

Did you change the battery size, or still using the stock one ?

I think it'd be an easy fix with a filter or smoothing cap, it depends if its a spike or a dropout, if you're able to monitor the voltage while it happens that'd help determine a fix for people with it.

 

[AustinP]

Did you change the battery size, or still using the stock one ?

I think it'd be an easy fix with a filter or smoothing cap, it depends if its a spike or a dropout, if you're able to monitor the voltage while it happens that'd help determine a fix for people with it.

Replacement battery, but same size as stock. Problem is, it's only happened once, and I've turned off the HU plenty of times. I wonder if maybe it's the gauge cluster power line that should get the cap, rather than chasing after the HU.

 

[newman]

I still have the OEM battery.