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gauge panel failure

R

Rockslider1

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hello all hope some can give some insight on a fix for the pin plug behind the gauge panel that the panel plugs into on my 94 C2500 Cheyenne 305.
Im told its a GM flaw by auto elect pro
Whats done - all new drive train rebuild engine to driveline. All new sensors on engine new fuel pump and sending unit.
Whats happening - fuel guage is intermitten and slow to rise if at all. amp gauge non op. Oil gauge switched to manual gauge temp gauge sets at 100 degrees.
the pro who checked the issue removed panel and explained its a flaw with these models with the pin connector behind the panel. He doesnt know what the fix would be.
 
Hello RS1. Welcome to the forum.
I am surprised someone has not jumped on tne opportunity to help You out with Your problem.
I have not ever heard of gauge problems with the gas series of the GMT400 series of trucks.
Maybe someone will jump in that has more knowledge than I.
 
Welcome to the forum. First thing i would do is disconect the temp sender on the engine (two wire plug) and with key on see where the gauge sits, then use a wire to ground the yellow lead on the connector and watch the gauge. It should peg out at max temp. This will verify the wires to the gauge and the actual gauge is working . Then next check if the black lead on the connector has ground with a test light connected to the battery positive while probing the connector. It should light up bright. Same process for the other sensors if those gauges are having issues.

The gauges can fail and for the age of the rig, it is a possibility. If you have a pick a part junkyard in your area, it might be worth a trip to pull a gauge cluster for your truck to test with.
 
I am not sure if this truck has a temperature sender and a temperature sensor.
If it has both, the temp sender will most likely be a green wire into the front of the left side cylinder head. iirc is how it was on My 93 with the 350 gas enjun.
 
MrMarty51 said:
Hello RS1. Welcome to the forum.
I am surprised someone has not jumped on tne opportunity to help You out with Your problem.
I have not ever heard of gauge problems with the gas series of the GMT400 series of trucks.
Maybe someone will jump in that has more knowledge than I.
Click to expand...
What Im told is its a design flaw with the pin plug behind the panel that the cluster plugs into and so far I can not find related articles
 
Rockslider1 said:
What Im told is its a design flaw with the pin plug behind the panel that the cluster plugs into and so far I can not find related articles
Click to expand...
I have had several of these panels removed and never had a problem.
The Square Body trucks had some clips on the back side of the gauge cluster and the gauges had threaded pins that plugged into those clips, the clips would loose tension and then the gauges would fail to read proper but in the hundreds of GMT 400 vehicles I had worked on there never was a problem with the gauge cluster connectors.
I might he wrong though as I have not seen it all.
Remove the entire cluster and see if some pins/connectors are bent or pushed into the terminal block.
 
some of these series trucks had two coolant sensors on them, one for the ecm and one for the gauge. I may be wrong but iirc the gassers only used one sensor. look on the drivers side head by the exhaust manifold and see if there is a one wire sensor threaded into a coolant port. or on or near the thermostat housing. the sensor with two wires is for the ecm and the one wire will be for the gauge if it has two sensors. you can ground the one wire and the gauge should respond. I would recommend looking online for a schematic or your local chevy dealer service dept should allow you to see and print that circuit for it.

on your gauges, is your cluster the bar sweep style or has actual gauges? I have read about the bar sweep ones having issues.
 
dbrannon79 said:
some of these series trucks had two coolant sensors on them, one for the ecm and one for the gauge. I may be wrong but iirc the gassers only used one sensor. look on the drivers side head by the exhaust manifold and see if there is a one wire sensor threaded into a coolant port. or on or near the thermostat housing. the sensor with two wires is for the ecm and the one wire will be for the gauge if it has two sensors. you can ground the one wire and the gauge should respond. I would recommend looking online for a schematic or your local chevy dealer service dept should allow you to see and print that circuit for it.

on your gauges, is your cluster the bar sweep style or has actual gauges? I have read about the bar sweep ones having issues.
Click to expand...
I changed my thermostat (195) and guage stops at 150.
I filled my tank and the guage went to full but really slow. Im leaning more towards the step motors being bad. Now if I could find the right ones
 
dbrannon79 said:
some of these series trucks had two coolant sensors on them, one for the ecm and one for the gauge. I may be wrong but iirc the gassers only used one sensor. look on the drivers side head by the exhaust manifold and see if there is a one wire sensor threaded into a coolant port. or on or near the thermostat housing. the sensor with two wires is for the ecm and the one wire will be for the gauge if it has two sensors. you can ground the one wire and the gauge should respond. I would recommend looking online for a schematic or your local chevy dealer service dept should allow you to see and print that circuit for it.

on your gauges, is your cluster the bar sweep style or has actual gauges? I have read about the bar sweep ones having issues.
Click to expand...
it has the 2wirre on the intake by the thermostat housing the engine temp is a single wire on the side of the head.
 
on some GM vehicles I have seen the fuel gauge move slow. I think GM implimented something like this to comp for the sloshing fuel in the tank making the gauge bounce around. as for the temp gauge, ground the sending unit for the gauge and see if it pegs out at max temp and when disconnected it sits at low. Have you replaced the gauge sender making sure it's not a faulty sender on the head? if so, was it a GM part or something made in china from the auto parts?
 
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