[Z06] My gauges freaked out - please help - Reduced Engine Power, all gauges pegged, etc.
10-24-2014, 04:00 PM
#1
My gauges freaked out - please help - Reduced Engine Power, all gauges pegged, etc.
I was driving down the highway today in my 2003 C5 Z06 at maybe 50 mph and my attention was drawn to the instrument panel wherein I saw that all of my gauges were pegged, plus there was a message on this play that said "Check Gauges" and "Reduced Engine Power."
At first, I panicked because all I focused on was the engine temperature gauge and I thought that the engine was overheating. Upon closer inspection, I realized that all of the needles were pegged.
I pulled the car over, turned the engine off, and when I restarted it a few seconds later, all of the gauges read normal and I had no check engine lights or anything. My temp, battery, oil pressure and fuel gauges were all reading normal and the "Check Gauges" and "Reduced Engine Power" messages were gone. I drove it back to my office and this happened twice more. Both times it happened on the way back, I just depressed the clutch and turned the ignition switch off and then back on again, and it would fire right back up again without any issues. I never gave it any appreciable degree of throttle, but I never noticed it driving abnormally at all, even when the "Reduced Engine Power" warning was displayed. It felt totally normal to me. No surging. It idled fine. It didn't appear to have reduced power.
When I got back to the office I plugged in my OBDII scanner and checked for codes and there were none. Again, no check engine light. I did a search on the forum and I've found where people have had similar issues, but, frankly, I'm incredulous as to the supposed causes that were identified in those threads, and their problems all seemed to be at least somewhat different than mine.
Any thoughts?
At first, I panicked because all I focused on was the engine temperature gauge and I thought that the engine was overheating. Upon closer inspection, I realized that all of the needles were pegged.
I pulled the car over, turned the engine off, and when I restarted it a few seconds later, all of the gauges read normal and I had no check engine lights or anything. My temp, battery, oil pressure and fuel gauges were all reading normal and the "Check Gauges" and "Reduced Engine Power" messages were gone. I drove it back to my office and this happened twice more. Both times it happened on the way back, I just depressed the clutch and turned the ignition switch off and then back on again, and it would fire right back up again without any issues. I never gave it any appreciable degree of throttle, but I never noticed it driving abnormally at all, even when the "Reduced Engine Power" warning was displayed. It felt totally normal to me. No surging. It idled fine. It didn't appear to have reduced power.
When I got back to the office I plugged in my OBDII scanner and checked for codes and there were none. Again, no check engine light. I did a search on the forum and I've found where people have had similar issues, but, frankly, I'm incredulous as to the supposed causes that were identified in those threads, and their problems all seemed to be at least somewhat different than mine.
Any thoughts?
10-25-2014, 09:33 AM
#4
Race Director
Member Since: Mar 2006
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check the grounds... Don't panic, I's pretty common on these cars.
10-25-2014, 10:02 AM
#5
Le Mans Master
Check Battery and alternator. I had a bad alternator one time and it done that.
10-25-2014, 08:29 PM
#6
Racer
I had same issue years ago. The fix:
Check both ground wires (female connector) in passenger side door.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/3128605-power-windows-wont-work-gotta-wiggle-harness.html#post1581810900
Last spring the issue came back. I unplugged my instrument cluster and found a misaligned pin.....
Good luck.
Check both ground wires (female connector) in passenger side door.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/3128605-power-windows-wont-work-gotta-wiggle-harness.html#post1581810900
Last spring the issue came back. I unplugged my instrument cluster and found a misaligned pin.....
Good luck.
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MyCoal (06-10-2023)
11-02-2014, 08:33 PM
#7
I had the same problem today at an autocross with my 2003 C5Z. Apparently all of the modules/computers are interconnected so a short can cause the DIC to go crazy. Here's a thread about the door connector problem.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ndow-inop.html
In my case, the temp gauge was pegged, fuel was zero and the windows/locks were dead. I had to pull the battery to get the windows working again. Must be intermittent in my case as it runs fine again now (for now at least). I'll have to start checking connectors I guess.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ndow-inop.html
In my case, the temp gauge was pegged, fuel was zero and the windows/locks were dead. I had to pull the battery to get the windows working again. Must be intermittent in my case as it runs fine again now (for now at least). I'll have to start checking connectors I guess.
12-11-2014, 10:07 AM
#8
Guys, thanks for all of the recommendations. I'm happy to report that the problem is solved, thanks to your help.
I read all 500 million pages of Bill Curlee's thread and was able to rule out a few possibilities. The more I read, the more it started to seem obvious that it had to do with either a corrosion problem (apparently the main ground connectors, of which there are several, often become corroded) or a problem with a particular wire in the section of harness that runs through the accordion tubes by the door hinges (apparently there is a special data wire that is not like the other wires in the harness in the sense that it doesn't have normal shielding around it. Instead, it has something that looks like clear heat shrink (like a straw) that was never shrunk; at least, thats what it looks like. The shielding is about 1/8 of an inch too short, so part of the wire is exposed and can make contact with the chassis.).
I disconnected the passenger side door harness connector and it indeed was riddled with corrosion. I bought some corrosion inhibitor and sprayed it in there. Then I moved onto the aforementioned special wire with the lack of shielding, and I applied liquid electrical tape to it to fill the gap in the shielding.
The problem immediately went away and it seems to be working perfectly. Thanks Corvette forum, you truly are the win beneath my wings. LOL.
I read all 500 million pages of Bill Curlee's thread and was able to rule out a few possibilities. The more I read, the more it started to seem obvious that it had to do with either a corrosion problem (apparently the main ground connectors, of which there are several, often become corroded) or a problem with a particular wire in the section of harness that runs through the accordion tubes by the door hinges (apparently there is a special data wire that is not like the other wires in the harness in the sense that it doesn't have normal shielding around it. Instead, it has something that looks like clear heat shrink (like a straw) that was never shrunk; at least, thats what it looks like. The shielding is about 1/8 of an inch too short, so part of the wire is exposed and can make contact with the chassis.).
I disconnected the passenger side door harness connector and it indeed was riddled with corrosion. I bought some corrosion inhibitor and sprayed it in there. Then I moved onto the aforementioned special wire with the lack of shielding, and I applied liquid electrical tape to it to fill the gap in the shielding.
The problem immediately went away and it seems to be working perfectly. Thanks Corvette forum, you truly are the win beneath my wings. LOL.