Hey guys, i have a question for those who really know the instrument cluster. When we got the car, (87 240), it had a 'dead' alternator, after that was changed and it didnt fix the system, "we" (previous owner) had drained the battery enough that it didnt hold much of a charge, so that was changed. Checked the ground and the lead from + battery to alternator, ohmmeter reads very little reisitance, and voltmeter is in the mid 12-s... so, its still not working problem. Then I got to thinking, on our last car, the same thing happened,but it was after the instrument cluster had died, (read shorted out), so before i shell out more money for that, does anyone know either a way to check that part of the circuit, or a way to work around it? Thanks

 

Does the battery light in the Dash work?
Do you get power to the trigger wire at the Alt.?

 

battery light, will have to check, would that be a cause if so... when i checked the alternator, both the one going into the car, and the one going to the battery had ~12.6-12.8V on each, so if you have any suggestions

 

If the light bulb is burned out the car won't charge.
But if you have 12 volts at both wires then at the Alt. it has power.

Mayeb the Alt. is bad.

 

well, checked the bulb, car=dead, so it wasnt very bright, but the oil light, which was next to it, was much brighter, so i switched it with the battery light, but same results... oil bright and battery dim...
also, assuming that autozone testing is accurate, then the alternator works, but... its autozone

 

Exactly how old it the Alt.?

 

bought 'new' in july when we got the car, hasnt worked yet, wondering what it would take to rewire the whole circuit just so i can pretty much make sure because the alternator and battery have been tested, but currents getting through, so... technically nothing is wrong ha

 

Are you getting a 13v or more reading from the Alt.?

 

well.. got a new problem, took out the cluster to make sure bulbs were working, and when i plugged it in again, i was getting movement from the speedo (ie car in run, engine off, and going 30mph+) so i figured that it was related to the battery being almost dead... so i charged up the battery and tried it today, no starting. I let it sit in run for a bit in between tries of starting it and the instrument cluster started smoking. So i pulled out the cluster again and checked to see if perhaps i had mixed up something, but from what i can see, nothing. All the wires seem to only have one possible connection except for two that appear to connect to the same piece. It has two prongs for the connection, one each, and so i hooked it up again, and same results. Moving speedo and after a minute or two i get smoking. The car will also not start. It just cranks and i can smell fuel after the 10th attempt of starting the car, so i think its more of this electrical stuff...

 

I will bet you have one of the wires in the wrong place.
But once you fried the speedo cluster that might be stopping it from starting.

If you can buy a used one from a Junk yard and you remove it your self and pay close attention to the wiring.

 

ok, so... unpluged the tach from the board (since i dont have one but volvo was kind enough to provide the hookups) then everything works yay!!!!!