funny gauge problem - they all failed at once!
 

I had finally started feeling pretty confident in my e30's reliability, so I was driving somewhere for work on monday that was about 2 hours away. I was almost there when I drove over some railroad tracks going a little faster than I should have. Just as I got to the other side of the tracks, I notice my tachometer dropping. Thinking my car had died, I pushed on the gas and was a little surprised to feel it surge. Then I noticed that my fuel, coolant, and mileage gauges had also dropped to their "off" positions. And since my odometer had already stopped working, I had to chuckle. The only things functioning on my gauge cluster right now are the speedometer and the ABS light which has been on for months (which incidently, I need to have repaired before it can pass inspection in Virginia, so I guess I'll take it apart and fix it all at once).

I suspect the jar from the railroad tracks knocked loose the common ground to the cluster, so they all failed at once, but I wanted to post to see if anyone else has run into this problem.

I would suspect the same, the bump may have knocked something loose.

I was inspired to check the fuse panel the other day, and it turns out that I had blown my #10 fuse. The gauges seem to be the onlu thing really affected, but I haven't done too much searching. Maybe the backup lights are dead too...

So I replaced my #10 fuse - I stared with a 5-amp fuse and it worked for a second, then blew. So I went up to 7.5- and 10-amp fuses (it's supposed to be a 7.5-amp fuse) and the same thing happened.

It seems like there is a short somewhere in the circuit that's allowing too much current to be drawn. #10 is on a big circuit though. Any ideas?

First, check the instrument cluster ground. But I had almost the same problem (all the gauges went except the speedo) and it turned out to be the SI (Service Indicator) board. It is not a big deal to change -- about an hour or two. You can get it out without removing the steering wheel if you have an airbag car.

Rich

There's another way.

You have a shortcut for sure, the problem is WHERE AND OR WHY

you can do the next to locate the problem (although not much recommended) use a 30A fuse and wait until smoke comes from somewhere.