Hi fellas, I was happy today the 1985 vette I purchased a few months ago, I got it started for the first in 8 years of laying in a garage. My issue is the dash panel is dark, the lights are not working at all, not sure if the hi beams are on hi or not and the left turn single is always on and will not turn off as well the wiper blades will not turn off...after all my reading it seems I may need it rebuilt. I read that the car needs to run from time to time to keep the panel in working order and this vette has not run. In 8 years, is this true or should I be looking for a bad ground...or just have the panel sent out for repair...

 

Electrical connections is the obvious starting point. the issues with the turn signal and wiper settings probably has nothing to do with the dash display except that the common factor can be the age of wiring and ground issues. In my mind the first step is follow the voltage with a meter each step of the way. Having a FSM will provide you with the information you need to self diagnose the problem.

Look at batee.com for good information on your display

 

I did watch a few of his videos...thanks for the reply

 

In my case when the instrument cluster went bonkers the turn signal indicators and hi beam indicator were lit but nothing else (or so it seemed). Taking a light and shining it into the cluster you would see the dash was working just not illuminated. I sent it into Batee and Bryan fixed it up. It turned out there are 2 boards in the cluster and the ground connector was damaged due to heat over time. Bryan rebuilt it including a new ground connector and switching it out to xenon bulbs and it's been happy every since.

 

Before you spend any money, take your cluster out of the dash (you will have to anyway if it needs BATEE) and clean all your connections and grounds to the dash. Dependant upon how the car was stored , the connections could have easily corroded.

 

what did Bryan charge you?

 

Batee ran me $299 plus return shipping on my 91. The tach was bad and LCD starting getting issue. Bryan was great with communications and quick with repair.

 

Hi fellas, good and bad news...I got the wipes to stop, bad switch, got the blinkers to stop blinking as well....however dash still not working at all. This car sat for 9 years, so it's time and I got it out today and I'll send it out to Batee on Monday...thanks for all the help and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend...

 

Hi fellas, good and bad news...I got the wipes to stop, bad switch, got the blinkers to stop blinking as well....however dash still not working at all. This car sat for 9 years, so it's time and I got it out today and I'll send it out to Batee on Monday...thanks for all the help and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend...

 

Dash panel was just sent to Batee and I'm sure he will do a perfect job and looking forward to having the dash working perfect again... thanks guys for the information

 

Let us know how it goes with the rebuilt unit. I will need a rebuild of my cluster 1985 soon.

 

Sure will do, I shipped it and should have it about 2 weeks...BATEE is said to be the best....

 

Hi 1985 Vette, just got an email back this morning from BATEE and said my power source was shot that's why I have a dark dash and no lights, there were a few lights bulbs no good and the motor for the odometer was **** too. 300.00 for the full repair plus shipping. I should have it back by next week ...

 

BATEE is an awesome resource for "we the owners" of the famous cars with the Atari dashboards. I have used BATEE a couple times and have always been satisfied with his service and especially his knowledge. He sold me the parts and I rebuilt my dashboard and my C68 A/C controller.

The one thing I would suggest is getting a small bottle of DeOxIt and cleaning the connectors that attach to the dashboard. This DeOxIt is great as it will remove years of corrosion in one wipe. This is a important thing to have around when working on your C4's electrical system. I use it on virtually every connection now just to ensure that everything gets full power. It even works with the windshield wiper switch, I used it to clean the parts inside that made contact and the switch works like new. After 32 years of use the electrical connectors are in need of some basic cleaning.

By the way one of the reasons your power supply went south is that the components they used had a 15 year life expectancy and they are way past that now. The C68 controller has a wide connector strip and on my car it warped upwards breaking the connections every now and then causing me grief. That is something that you want to fix as well. BATEE has the parts and will happily do it for you or you can buy the parts and do the work yourself. Be sure to thank Bryan for taking care of us!

Best regards,
Chris

 

Thanks, yeah I have used DeOxIt in the past for other classic I have rebuilt over the years. This is my first vette and the guys on this forum as awesome filled with knowledge and very helpful. I will DeOxIt on the connections for sure. As far as BATEE he was highly recommended from the guys on the forum and I'm sure it will be in perfect working order with many years of service...

 

I needed a power supply and new bulbs and screens, $400.00, it's in and working great

 

perfect BATEE did a great job, the price was $400.00

 

he is a great resource for us. Had mine done a year ago. BTW, the ground is near the oiil filter,.