My entire gauge cluster, to include DIC will randomly blackout, to include before start up, during driving, ect. But it will turn back on randomly. Blackout lasts anywhere from 10 sec to 10 minutes. After some searching i found CF user: "Dope" had this same problem back in 06' he fixed it by replacing the entire cluster. I was wondering if there's another way? Has anyone else had this issue?

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ork-ideas.html

Extra info: 2002 coupe with mn12 trans swap. During blackouts the seat belt light and parking brake light remain illuminated, turn signals work, headlamps and motors function. I do not have HUD


Thanks for any info

 

LOL! There isn't any actual incandescent bulbs for that lighting!

The gage/IPC lighting comes from a set of small 4" long BLACK LIGHT florescent tubes on the LEFT and RIGHT outsides of the IPC display. The lighting that you see is actually the GLOW of DAYGLOW Paint that is painted on the gage hands and printed stuff.
If you get down on you hands and knees and peer up inside the inboard corner of the IPC display, you can see the florescent BULB and small foil reflector behind it.
The florescent bulbs operate on high voltage AC. That voltages comes from an INVERTER on the back of the IPC Cluster. It takes 12 VDC and pumps it up to 700 VAC.

The inverter either has a poor connection, poorly soldered circuit component/s or the solid state drivers inside inverter are ready to POP! Blown driver transistors are a very common problem.

If, THE INVERTER *****ITSELF, YOU CAN NOT purchase a new inverter. You have to get a new cluster or rape the inverter out of a spare cluster.

If it were ME, I would start checking the condition of the inverter and MABEY JUST MABEY, you can save it..

Here are a couple of post that deals with cluster disassembly and where things are inside the cluster:

AAWW CRAP! I will have to post it later tonight. Don't have the links at work!

 

On another troubleshooting brain storm, I have seen the DIMMER SWITCH on the dash go bad and cause similar issues.

Pop out the button and give it several full CW-CCW sweeps and then leave it in MID position and see if the symptoms change!

NOTE,,,,,, If you turn it FULLY CW, it will cause the interior lamps to stay on ALL THE TIME and kill the battery!

 

I had the problem again today while driving so I figured I'd take a short video of it as you can see everything operates normally except the windows don't move, no illumination, no interior lights (under mirror) and no gauges. I also discovered that if the car is turned off and it's having the issue and that it will start by simply putting the ignition switch to on instead of turning it over to start

 

What you are describing is a whole different issue.

Look to the LEFT of the BCM in the passengers foot well. You will find TWO thin connectors. One will have FOUR WIRES.

POP the top shorting buss off the connector and then see if your issues resolve.

If it does, let me know and we can get that resolved..

Bill

 

Thanks Bill, ill diffenatly give that a shot. Lucky im off this weekend so ill have a couple days to check it out. Thanks for the advice and speedy response

 

Still experiencing the issie, nothing listed under dic. No luck piping that cap. I saw froggy had a video about cleaning and greasing grounds, I'll double check mine to see of that may help.

Also, I found that when the problem occurs I can turn the car off, then to "ACC" and I'm able to roll up my windows. I'm waiting for it to happen again to try and test the clutch safety switch

 

Have you ever cleaned or replaced the ignition switch? If the symptoms change when you change the ignition switch positions, that tells me it is suspect.

Bill

 

The DIC and the HUD would also go out with the IPC.NEVER could anyone figure it out. New cluster did not help. Charging system and battery were all up to par. New BCM did not help. No dampness in footwell. New ignition switch did not help though the original was very clean at only 18K miles Checking and securing all grounds and plug-ins did not help. Removing 4 wire star connector bar did not help. Neither Mr. Sam, (Daddaroo)who spent a day on it in person with me, nor my Corvette electronics guru could help! Everything else on the car worked! Turning the key off and on quickly usually cycled the gauges back on. They would then always eventually, often quickly, go off with a whine, sometimes coming back on only to go off again at some point in the drive. We tracked down every lead we were given with no result.

It may have been connected to my blood pressure, as each time it happened my BP went up 60 points top and bottom! Selling it helped a lot!! No problems with the 02!

You can likely find many old posts about the issue I had and the input I got.
Dave
PS: most codes were com codes.Also checked out the L andR DCMs and the SCM as well as other modules

 

It doesn't seem to be anything with ignition, when the blackout occurs the clutch safety switch still works. I'm in the process of checking grounds now.

Thanks again for the input, the search continues

 

of any findings. The fact that yours seems to directly and exactly parallel mine is noteworthy. WHEN IT IS WORKING, WHAT CODES IS IT THROWING? We were about to pull the dash pad and trace each and every wire individually, but I felt I already had more than enough time and $ in it and had a chance to sell to an MEE who was certain he could find it. Obviously something was interrupting power to IPC. However,I never got any feedback from him. I am not known for my patience! I just wanted to share what we did to, perhaps, save you some dead-end work!
Dave

 

When you had the IPC removed, did you by chance examine the FEMALE PINS in the main connector. One or more could be spread or pushed and making a poor connection that interrupted by vibrations. Sometimes the plastic connector back shell gets heated up due a poor connection and actually melts causing the pins to improperly lock into the connector.

Bill

 

As we went through each component, having been made aware by your many posts, we checked both male and female plugs and also for wiring integrity near the plugs. That car had only 18,000 climate controlled garaged miles on it. Nowhere did we find any misaligned or heat damaged plug or mating issues. Actully, it would have pleased us to have found them. The solution eluded all who looked at it. I never took it to a dealer, but my Corvette go-to guy, was for 16 years the Corvette electrics guy for Charleston Hendricks Chevrolet, and he was stymied. Had never seen it, but now, here, we see another repetition of the exact same issue my prior 01 had. So the cause and fix have to be discoverable. I often wonder if the 01 ever got fixed.
Dave

 

It looks like the lamps that work fine are on a different circuit than the ones that turn off while driving. I'm wondering if I ran my own power source directly from the battery (throught a stand alone switch) to my gauges. Would I still have the issue? In theory I think it may work, or atleast help isolate the issue

 

Have you looked to see if your BLACK LIGHT tubes are lighted?

Like I stated previously, the lighted gage hands and numbers are a result of the GLOW from the black light tubes.



BC

 

I was talking to my go-to guy here in Summerville. We got on this thread. He is thinking a definite intermittent power source interruption likely internal to the IPC or in the wiring to the IPC. Likely a heat affected component. We ruled out vibration as my IPC would cycle in and out without any movement of the vehicle or without the engine running. He wondered if you know anyone who would do a quick diagnostic swap of an IPC with you. He also suspected bad plug in.

 

grounds as mentioned above. Clean and check pins, but no grease. Suggest dc the battery in case you cross some powered leads when cleaning. An ounce of prevention.

 

I'll diffenatly check out the IPC, I'm sure a buddy of mine would be willing to swap it out and see what happens. In the mean time, I finally caught the problem on camera while driving. at about 8 seconds in, you can see where the turn on. When it turns off, the gauges just zero out and everything goes black. I dont have any video editing tools, so I just cropped it shorter so you can see what it looks like when it goes from blacked out to functional. That "clunk" noise in the background when the gauges come on are my door locks "locking"



Also I may check out the "accordion wiring" in the door jam, apparently that's a thing?

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...-died-wtf.html

Anyways, thanks everyone for the help thus far. Unfortunately i'm using this car as a DD right now, so I can only diagnosis so many problems before I have to re assemble everything and wait until the following weekend.

 

do you hear a slight high pitched buzz or whine emanating from the IPC cluster? Do the gauges fall rapidly?? Again this acts just as mine did.Mine already had had a new IPC installed when I got it at 13K miles! Obviously, it did nothing, and I think the first owner got frustrated and dumped it without telling anyone.
As Bill suggested, by all means, check out the accordion plugs, especially for misplaced, bent or loose pins. There is a lot of flexing in that harness as the doors open and shut. Several folks here know much more than I. I just had the similar experience and know what was done to try to uncover the source. Afterall we did with no result, I still wonder if we should have replaced the ECM.
I missed it, but how many miles are on your car and year?
If you do try another IPC or loaner from a buddy to rule in or out your IPC as the cause, be sure to check your IPC plugs very carefully.
Dave

 

gauges die. Anyone, Bill?? should he be checking out the L and RDCMs?? With the grounding bar off, they should have been eliminated as a cause???