xny1989

iTrader: (1)

When I start my 99 z28 after a cold overnight temperature, the dash gauges reset, that is, the needles swing to their maximum levels, then drop back to normal. The trip odometer resets to zero.
This only happens overnight when the temps drop, and this is the first time I've had this issue over the years.

Battery is fine, as motor turns over and starts. On restarts, this does not occur. When I just turn the key to on, without turning over the starter, the gauges set up fine, so it's just when I engage the starter. In this case, it appears that my first thought that this was some electrical connection to the dash becoming "open" because of the cold, does not seem logical as the gauges only reset when engaging the starter.

What are your thoughts on this?

01WS6/tamu

iTrader: (37)

Replace the battery very common problem on these cars when they were still brand new.

trans_am7935

iTrader: (15)

When the gauge cluster falls below a certain volts, it will reset when set back to normal. This will happen if you have a drain on it when the car is off. Happened to mine when my factory amp was pulling power when off.

It could also just be a crappy battery, they die for no reason sometimes.

Nathan C

I read somewhere that the instrument cluster panel needs replacing when that happens. No idea if it's true or not.

Ferocity02

iTrader: (60)

Mine did this when the battery was getting tired. And it happened more often in cold weather. Dropped in an Optima and never happened again.

BlackBetty99SS

iTrader: (1)

Your battery needs replacing. Best to do before its too late

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

sound unanimous. I'll check my battery voltage the next cold morning before firing it up. It's been warmer the last day or so, so it hasn't recurred.

Thanks

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

all lead-acid car batteries will be less powerful and have a lower voltage in colder weather. which is why the cold crank amp (CCA) rating is at 0° F or -17° C. when the starter engages it draws a lot of current so the system voltage drops down to 11 volts or slightly under. when the battery is weak, system voltage when starting the car drops to 10 volts and below which causes electronics (gauge cluster) to not work but you still have enough power to turn the engine over to get it started.

if the battery is 3 years old or more and if the car isn't driven every day for a decent amount of time, your battery self discharges which is normal but it sits in a discharged state for extended period of time which is bad and lowers it's output capacity leading to your current problem. it still has enough power to start the engine, but your gauge cluster doing the reset thing is showing the battery capacity is near borderline. only matter of time before it's colder out and you turn the key to start and only get click. if the battery isn't that old and it has not sat in a discharged state for a long time then you can bring it back to near 100% with a good battery charger. otherwise if you rely on the car as a daily driver you should get a new battery.

also be aware brand new batteries off the shelf can be discharged up to 50% because they have sat on the shelf for 6 months or more. always check the manufacture date and choose a battery which is least old. and even then it's a good idea to put a good charger on a new battery over night to be sure it's brought to 100% state of charge, especially if the car it's going in is not a daily driver and sits a lot. your new battery which is already discharged will only discharge more and fail sooner.

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

While the car is my daily driver, being retired and all, I just don't go out every day. Just checked, and the battery, a NAPA, was installed 1/09, so it's about 5-years old. So, it seems like it's time to replace before getting stuck somewhere.

Thanks all.

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

Replaced the battery yesterday, problem resolved.