lit up, but blank odometer in a 98 firebird roller.
09-14-2013, 08:10 PM
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lit up, but blank odometer in a 98 firebird roller. I have a 98 Firebird I bought as a roller. It is an original 3800 v-6 car. Due to the fact that it has an out of state title it has to have an IDOD done before I can title the vehicle and part of the IDOD is a check of the milage. The shops I have talked to say the odometer will have to display the milage in order to pass the IDOD. With a battery the cluster lights up including the odometer, but the odometer doesn't display any numbers. I was going to buy another cluster but before I do I wanted to find out if possibly this could be related to a ground issue from something that was unhooked when the previous owner pulled the engine and transmission. The pcm is also gone from the car as well as the engine harness. I also was considering switching to a v-8 cluster because I have an LM7 5.3 liter to use as the power plant. Does anyone know specifics of the different year gauge clusters, as I understand it the 98s are 98 specific. What, if at all possible, would have to be done to use a different year cluster?
Last edited by mongolikegofast; 09-14-2013 at 09:30 PM.
09-14-2013, 10:36 PM
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with the amount of wiring and stuff removed I'm forced to ask the simplest most retarded question just to rule this out. You are putting the key in and turning the ignition to the "run" position, correct? The digital odometers don't display unless the car is "on", the backlight is another circuit entirely. It is possible the LCD display broke but I haven't heard of that happening on these cars before.
09-14-2013, 10:40 PM
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with the amount of wiring and stuff removed I'm forced to ask the simplest most retarded question just to rule this out. You are putting the key in and turning the ignition to the "run" position, correct? The digital odometers don't display unless the car is "on", the backlight is another circuit entirely. It is possible the LCD display broke but I haven't heard of that happening on these cars before.
09-15-2013, 10:20 AM
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With the key to "on" is when I'm having the problem. When I turn the headlights on the odometer lights up, but no milage. I've read in other threads that the Odometer stores the milage and wouldn't be effected by a bad computer, so it's my guess the odometer should still work with no computer. The milage can be programmed into the odometer by a GM dealer, but it's a little pricey.
09-15-2013, 11:05 AM
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In that case, your best bet is to chase down the wiring that goes to the odometer. I'm not very electrically inclined, but if there's a bad connection somewhere or no power going to it, that would explain the problem.
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11-18-2013, 07:41 PM
#8
Just had the same thing happen changing a 98 Z28 ICP. Turned out when I removed the ICP the multi pin connector came out of it's 'track'. New ICP was intermittent and most gauges didn't work. Took ICP out and checked the connector, slide to the right, reseat and slide left. You will know if its in securely. Everything works great now.
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11-19-2013, 03:36 AM
#9
I had the same problem when I was putting my '02 SS drivetrain into my 98 body. After repinning the cluster harness, I realized I hadn't repinned the ground. Have you double checked that? Was in the same exact scenario as you with needing the odometer to be checked. Put my 02 gauge cluster in from the SS since I prefer those as well, and then after rechecking everything, was as simple as that.
