Thread: Cluster quit working, pops fuse every time

So yeah, bouncing off the rev limiter last night the whole cluster just stopped working. Checked the fuse and sure enough it was blown. When I replaced it and then turned the key on, it immediately popped the new one. Tach stays past 9, none of the other gauges work at all, and battery light stays illuminated for some reason. Nismotronic shows the alternator is charging fine and the car drives normally. The chassis has 278k and its like 22 years old sooo, I guess something finally pooped out. Where do I even start?

Pull the cluster and unplug it. Replace the fuse and see if if blows again. If it does, then start diag on the harness. If it does not, start diag on the cluster.

Specifically - which fuse is blowing.

Also when you have the cluster out, you can put the tach to zero.

Yep, simple as that. Unplug cluster and see if it blows. Its more than likely something in the cluster is shorted. Like you said, its old.

It is the "meter" fuse in the fuse box by your left knee. I pulled the cluster today and replaced the fuse. The very second I turned the key to the 'on' position it blew the fuse, cluster was not plugged in. Guess I got a short some where? How does that even happen from rev limiter and hard shifts?

Normally something like what would only happen if someone had modified some part of the harness and left a wire loose.


Next, unplug the ECU and the 2 other plugs on the harness that plug into either side of the center console and try another fuse.

When this happened to me (in 1993), it was because part of the harness had slipped down and got pinched by the clutch pedal mechanism.

I tried unplugging the ECU yesterday and it still blew the fuse. What 2 plugs are you talking about? I've damn near got the whole dash torn out lol.

I haven't checked the harness around the clutch pedal, I will check it out tomorrow. It is raining right now or else I'd be out there messing with it.

they come off the the ECU harness and plug into the center console area by the ecu. Just follow the ECU harness.

Reverse switch harness wrapped around the drivers axle and all the bare wires were grounded on the transmission. Problem solved at least.

doh!