Ignatz and I have a question about cars...

[MaggieD]

Now, you may know Ignatz as Tommy Boy, but when he ****s up, he turns into Ignatz.

Okay, here it is: He's driving his cab (knowing he has some electrical problems that need a new "cluster" that he's waiting for that effects his dashboard lights). The fuel gauge goes to zero, the tach goes to zero, the temperature gauge goes to zero, the speedometer goes to zero, and banging sometimes helps.

So he calls me and says, "I've shut the car down because I don't think it'll continue to get fuel. You may have to come and pick me up." But he'd already driven on it a couple of miles.

I said: "Ignatz!! If you've driven on it, why didn't you come home??" He was only 3 miles away. He figured a "controlled stop" was better than just running out of juice.

Now. My position is that if the "problem" effected his fuel pump, he'da been dead on the road in a quarter mile.

Your thoughts?

 

[Fisher]

I bet his meter still worked

I had a car with a mystery electrical problem that the mechanic finally gave up on. We replaced everything between the key switch and the starter/solenoid and the neutral safety switch. It would just sputter and cut off. When it did, nothing worked and it might be hours or even days before you could even get anything on the dash to work or the thing to start. IDK, but it if was running, the fuel pump was working.

 

[joko104]

Naw, he wants something else from you. He wouldn't have just pulled over unless its sputtering.

I'm not sure why this is your problem?

 

[Helix]

Now, you may know Ignatz as Tommy Boy, but when he ****s up, he turns into Ignatz.

Okay, here it is: He's driving his cab (knowing he has some electrical problems that need a new "cluster" that he's waiting for that effects his dashboard lights). The fuel gauge goes to zero, the tach goes to zero, the temperature gauge goes to zero, the speedometer goes to zero, and banging sometimes helps.

So he calls me and says, "I've shut the car down because I don't think it'll continue to get fuel. You may have to come and pick me up." But he'd already driven on it a couple of miles.

I said: "Ignatz!! If you've driven on it, why didn't you come home??" He was only 3 miles away. He figured a "controlled stop" was better than just running out of juice.

Now. My position is that if the "problem" effected his fuel pump, he'da been dead on the road in a quarter mile.

Your thoughts?

this exact thing used to happen to me all of the time when my Jeep was brand new. i usually just kept driving and matched my speed with traffic, but of course, i was 25 then and my brain was considerably less developed.

i can't remember what the exact problem was; something electrical. i would hit a slight bump on the highway, the airbag light would come on, and the speedometer and odometer would go out. it took them a few tries to fix it.

 

[MaggieD]

Naw, he wants something else from you. He wouldn't have just pulled over unless its sputtering.

I'm not sure why this is your problem?

It wasn't sputtering.

It was my problem because he wasn't sure the car would start again, and I would have had to pick him up. I'd already had a couple glasses of wine...dinner was on the stove...but, of course, I would've done it in a heartbeat. I just couldn't understand why he shut it off.

 

[Dickieboy]

Now. My position is that if the "problem" effected his fuel pump, he'da been dead on the road in a quarter mile.

Your thoughts?

Opinion based on the limited information. If the vehicle is a newer one with EFI (electronic fuel injection) the engine would have quit immediately upon instrument cluster failure IF RELATED. If an older model with a atmospheric carburetor and mechanical fuel pump the instrument cluster would have no effect on the engine operation as neither are dependent on electricity. The older models are started/stopped on ignition power and would have quit immediately upon cluster failure. This sounds like a power short to the instrument cluster but since the wiring harness for said cluster is a major bundle of crap it is quite difficult to troubleshoot.

 

[ttwtt78640]

A semi-educated guess is the ground clock spring in the steering column. Many circuits pass through the steering column for controls contained there. This starts as an intermittent problem and progresses (gets worse) until something critical stops the car from running at all. Another common electrical problem (but would affect everything) is a frayed/corroded battery cable, that is vibration sensitive and may respond to banging.