1988 Digital display does not work would/could a ...
Drifting
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 3
From: Sacramento, CA Money can't buy happiness - but it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than a Yugo.
I wouldn't think it possible unless the dying battery was so far gone that the alternator wasn't able to supply voltage to the car. In that case the car should be experiencing drivability problems.
When you say the display does not work, there are a couple of possible meanings. Do you mean it is completely dead? Or is it extremely dim? Do any of the readouts display anything or do any of the LCD segments appear to be working at all? Potential causes are:
1) bulbs burned out
2) brightness potentiometer going bad
3) bad ground at the power connector or between one of the boards
4) broken power wire
5) bad digital display
Try doing a search on the word batee for the most recent threads where Bryan Thompson's Troubleshooting the Digital Dash web page is referenced.
When you say the display does not work, there are a couple of possible meanings. Do you mean it is completely dead? Or is it extremely dim? Do any of the readouts display anything or do any of the LCD segments appear to be working at all? Potential causes are:
1) bulbs burned out
2) brightness potentiometer going bad
3) bad ground at the power connector or between one of the boards
4) broken power wire
5) bad digital display
Try doing a search on the word batee for the most recent threads where Bryan Thompson's Troubleshooting the Digital Dash web page is referenced.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Thanks Mike
I've been to that site but my problem is that the light will blink/flash intermittently, I'm was going to take it back off and spray contact cleaner on the connectors and see if that helped. I sent it out for service to Mr Whizard, reinstalled, same problem.
I've been to that site but my problem is that the light will blink/flash intermittently, I'm was going to take it back off and spray contact cleaner on the connectors and see if that helped. I sent it out for service to Mr Whizard, reinstalled, same problem.
Drifting
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 3
From: Sacramento, CA Money can't buy happiness - but it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than a Yugo.
Originally Posted by russellp23
...but my problem is that the light will blink/flash intermittently, I'm was going to take it back off and spray contact cleaner on the connectors and see if that helped. I sent it out for service to Mr Whizard, reinstalled, same problem.
It could also be the photodiode in the dash. That diode controls dash LCD brightness based upon outside light levels. It is in the little square hole near the headlight switch.
Gordon Killebrew has an excellent manual he prints and sells that covers troubleshooting the digital dash including complete pin-outs and external ground locations. It's available at his site http://www.gordonkillebrew.com/pages/800740/index.htm
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
In that case I would assume that you have an external problem with power or ground for the entire display. When it goes dim, does it appear that the LCD segments are still changing/working or does the whole digital display stop working?
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta GA
I had this problem on my 88 last year, only it would flicker, along with the headlights. It was the battery, someone had put a cheapo Autozone batt in it, and while it still charged, started, etc., it couldn't keep up at night.
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