Subject: I've had this surgery done on my cluster. My theory below Author: bcweir as bcweir750 : member since January, 2006 : 4266 posts Posted on: 2008-06-08 21:13:13

The capacitors primary job is to store electricity until needed. Capacitors are basically for short-term electrical storage necessary for data that has to remain intact while the car is stationary. The use of capacitors also reduces drain on the car's electrical system by not needing a constant feed of electricity all the time. Most importantly, your mileage data needs to be retained over the life of the car.

At some point, these caps start to overheat, degrade and burnout. This creates an instability in the cluster. I experienced problems in which I would have to wait 5 minutes for my gauges to work, and then they would turn "on" by themselves. My trip odometer would reset to zero everytime I turned off the car.

Failing caps don't create the same symptoms in every car, but based on what shogun is saying, if you haven't replaced the capacitors, this is a likely source of your trouble.

I had the caps replaced when i changed out my bulbs and my cluster worked fine until I inadvertently shut down the car with my Peake tool misadventure.



Last 7 digits of VIN number are 2765157'

• fuel gauge and temp gauge nonfunctioning - semar 2008-06-07 18:33:08 (46 views)
  • Re: fuel gauge and temp gauge nonfunctioning - moolieboy 2008-07-19 14:05:42 (14 views)
    • Re: fuel gauge and temp gauge nonfunctioning - moolieboy 2008-07-19 15:32:08 (11 views)
  • Re: fuel gauge and temp gauge nonfunctioning - semar 2008-06-08 20:33:49 (44 views)
  • ever changed the caps? (url) - shogun 2008-06-07 18:49:10 (52 views)
    • Re: ever changed the caps? - semar 2008-06-08 21:00:36 (34 views)
      • environmentals affect electrolytics - kfister 2008-06-08 21:40:28 (28 views)
      • I've had this surgery done on my cluster. My theory below - bcweir750 2008-06-08 21:13:13 (40 views)
        • Re: I've had this surgery done on my cluster. My theory below - semar 2008-06-08 22:53:41 (30 views)
          • Re: I've had this surgery done on my cluster. My theory below - bcweir750 2008-06-08 23:09:29 (31 views)
            • Re: I've had this surgery done on my cluster. My theory below - semar 2008-06-09 20:10:36 (33 views)
              • I had to pull the cluster myself, but once I got it out.... - bcweir750 2008-06-10 09:26:22 (25 views)