rpm needle pinned against the boost needle?

[MNmopar]

I pulled the iroc r/t out of storage and noticed that the rpm needle is now pinned all the way around against the boost needle... it doesn't move at all when the car is running, or go back when it's turned off. I tried disconnecting the battery and re-connecting it just to see if that would do anything and it didn't.

What causes this? I suspect that I may have a wiring issue somewhere in the dash because the blinkers only work when they want to. Sometimes the switch does absolutely nothing, and other times for no reason, it works perfectly. Anyway, just mention that in case they may be related somehow.

Thoughts?

[shackwrrr]

it might just be stuck, my spirit would do that every once and a while and I would have to pop the cluster out and shake it until the needle went back. Also the solder joints on the back can crack, causing some funky stuff too.

[bakes]

sounds like a bad ground

[MNmopar]

Those were the two things I was wondering about (ground and soldering on back of cluster)... I have a spare gauge cluster and a few 140mph clusters so I'll have to try swapping it out. I'm leaning towards it being a ground issue due to the needle being all the way around... it wouldn't be over there normally, so it couldn't have gotten stuck there naturally. Something made it go crazy and pin all the way around.

Would a ground affect other parts of the gauge too, or is the rpm gauge especially susceptible?

[sdac guy]

I can't recall what I was doing that caused it, but that happened on my 90 Daytona. Knowing a little (enough to be dangerous as the saying goes) about how gauges work, I started the engine and revved it beyond halfway on the gauge, the needle came up to the correct revs and then returned to the correct side when it went back to idle. I didn't need to hold the revs long, pretty much as soon as the engine revved to the point where the reading would be closer to where the needle rested than the idle area, the needle came off the pinned area to the correct reading.

If this doesn't work for you, then the gauge (or it's supporting circuitry) may be to blame.

For the flashers, I am pretty sure they are controlled by the body computer. At least in my 90 they are. I am not sure if later years (like your IROC) used it though.

Barry

[4 l-bodies]

Josh,
On the turn signals, many times on my omni's after hibernating during the winter months the contacts on the printed circuit board stop making contact with the bulb. The fix every time on my Omni, just clean the copper contact points on the bulb and board and signals would work normal again.
Being magnetic gauges it's common for them to swing all the way around acting possesed momentarily in key run position. I've seen gauges get stuck like this before. Part of the charm owning a 20+ year old vehicle.
Todd

[MNmopar]

Thanks Barry and Todd, I'll try tapping the throttle quickly to see if I can get it to come back on it's own and if not I'll take it out and give it a tap or two to see if that will snap it back into place. I've never had that happen before. Oh, and I'll clean the contacts on the lights and board!

I appreciate it!