crazy gauge light

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Jan 15, 2005 | 10:47 PM

Clemson Vette

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From: anderson sc

crazy gauge light

so i cleaned out under the hood today, pressure washed everything and all. had lots of oil and grease from recent mechanic work. anyhow. i spent all day with the switch on accessory with the radio running as i washed, polished, and waxed the whole car. now going down the road, the check gauge light wont go off. oil pressure is good, oil temp is low but reading on the analog gauge, and the voltage is about 14.7. or that's what the digital one says. the analog one reads a little higher but isnt maxed out. i thought it was low fuel so i put some in it and it's still doing it's thing. any ideas on what the problem is? runs fine and all, but i'm just worried about running it and messing something up. please help and i'll be checking back in later tonight. thanks in advance

Stuart

Jan 15, 2005 | 11:18 PM

smacko

Burning Brakes

Joined: Jul 2003

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From: Brisbane Queensland, Australia

Unsure about Corvettes but with a lot of cars, keeping switch onto accessories also provides power to coil - NOT a good thing as coil would be superheated. I actually melted one in my Ford a few years back. Prob not related to your problem tho; Have you tried disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it?

Jan 15, 2005 | 11:21 PM

randy814u

Melting Slicks

Joined: Oct 2001

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From: Salem Oregon

If the check engine light is on, then you should check your codes to see what is there. Randy

Jan 16, 2005 | 01:24 AM

Clemson Vette

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From: anderson sc

no it's not the check engine light. it's the check gauges light that is on the instrument panel, not in the info center. the car runs fine and i found out that after sitting for a while, and then getting back in the car. upon starting the light almost goes out. it gets very dim right after startup, then after a second or two it brightens back up to full illumination. please help me out. think i fried my battery or alternator? how could i tell using a voltage tester?

thanks again, and i'll be waiting by for info. thanks

Stuart

Jan 16, 2005 | 01:33 AM

tempest

Burning Brakes

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From: walled lake MI

Clem, i just checked my 92 shop manual and found that the CCM or the oil pressure switch can turn this on. since the CCM is a solid state device, and you are experiencing various light intensities, i would suspect that the oil pressure switch might be causing this. either that or the connections to the that switch are intermittently shorting. would make sense since you cleaned the engine.

Jan 16, 2005 | 01:24 PM

Clemson Vette

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From: anderson sc

ok so where is this pressure switch? my owners manual says it's for that too, but the gauge says that the pressure is good. which i'm fairly sure it is because i've driven it like 20 or 30 miles with the light on and the engine hasnt erupted. so i just need to check connections or waht? i'll do that as soon as i can find out where the switch is. thanks

Jan 16, 2005 | 11:14 PM

tempest

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From: walled lake MI

on my 92 it is at the top and the back of the block. if you look at the back edge of the intake, there is a fitting coming out of the block with two knobby looking things sticking out of it, each **** has a wire.

the bigger one sticking up is the switch. (the smaller one sticking out sideways towards the driver's side is the pressure sensor.)

Jan 17, 2005 | 02:12 AM

cash's90

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From: Yucaipa CA

I've got the same problem on my '90 except the light comes on and goes off depending somewhat on the orientation of the car. Going uphill often turns it off and going downhill often turns it on. Bumps make it flicker. I can also cycle the light by moving the wire loom at the rear of the engine. The problem is probably a loose connection or intermittently shorting wire at the rear of the engine. I've checked the connections at each of the sensors that could cause the light to go on and they are not the problem. I'm going to install a new cat-back system this week so I'll be under the car an will check for loose or shorting wiring. Try gently lifting/moving the wiring runs at the rear of your engine, with the engine running, to see if the light flickers. I used a mirror resting on the steering wheel to do the check single handed.