PATROL ELECTRICAL GREMILIN'S....dont feed 'em after midnight

[MS29431]

Ahh the joys!.... Has anyone had this happen to there patrol or know of this happening or how to fix this problem??: 3 out of 4 of the the dash gauges (oil press,temp and fuel) are waving around (registering for a sec then die) at idle then when you get out on the road they just die ive had the dash apart, the cluster apart traced wire's back and found nothing????? Just wondering if anyone's come across this before and how to rectify it as in attached pics you can see i hav'nt moved the vehicle and they just go out just like ive cut the power ive gone over everything i can think of but to no avail!..... Im thinking dry solder joint in cluster plugs, exessive water in cabin area, stuffed cluster but i am not sure any info/help would be greatly appreciated thank you,

[the evil twin]

Man, that can be soooo frustrating...

What is the go with your voltmeter?... Can you expand on what it is reading when...
Ign off
Ign on instruments working
Ign on and fault present
Engine running and fault present
and, finally...
Do you notice any flickering in the vehicle lights

It is possible it is a remote fault in earthing or even the Alternator if the fault isn't there when the engine is off but tell us some more and we'll see how we go

[MQ MAD]

Either a stray volt ,bit like a stray cat you cant see them but they are there
Bad earth
Cross arc in wires somewhere, a cut or something
Water in behind dash on cluster causing rust in contacts ect
To many variables
Do you have a volt meter handy

[MQ MAD]

Also remove your fuse box/holder and check wires behind that
Breaks in the wires,rusty looking wires ect
Water is prone to leak from the screen on to the fuse holder

[patch697]

My fuel gauge started working in reverse yesterday so I'll have a look & post up what I find.

In the mean time any advice on wear to look first???

[MQ MAD]

The main issues with electrics is process of illimination un fortunately
What is a problem/cause for one mite not be the problem/cause for another
The main cause are, well age of stuff,broken wires,rusty wires,corrosion,broke earths,bad earths,then fuses ect
Just way to many variables on these oldish 4x4s
Handy tip
Read and study wiring schematics for the car and buy and learn how to use a volt meter
A volt meter will probably 1 of the best tools youll ever buy

[patch697]

The main issues with electrics is process of illimination un fortunately
What is a problem/cause for one mite not be the problem/cause for another
The main cause are, well age of stuff,broken wires,rusty wires,corrosion,broke earths,bad earths,then fuses ect
Just way to many variables on these oldish 4x4s
Handy tip
Read and study wiring schematics for the car and buy and learn how to use a volt meter
A volt meter will probably 1 of the best tools youll ever buy

Yep got a meter & wouldn't be with out it & also agree with your post but as you know some problems can be a stand out simple fix that can sometimes take days to find without a little info & that was the aim of the question.

[ripper]

I only know a little bit about fuel gauges, and having it work backwards doesn't mean anything to me.

Not sure if this is safe with an EFI model, so user beware.
You might be able to isolate where the problem is if you can get the wire that goes to the sender unit and earth it out.
If the gauge swings from full to empty as you touch it to an earth and then take it away again, I think that tells you your gauge is fine and the sender is the problem.
If the gauge doesn't change as you connect and disconnect an earth, I think the gauge is the problem.

[MQ MAD]

Patch,
Checked out the trouble shooting guide in 1 of the bibles here,

Loose connection,Poor or loose connection
Check wiring and/or repair connection,correct connector terminal contact

Guage pointer read "F" but returns to original position when ign turned off
Faulty fuel tank guage unit
Replace

Fuel pointer indicates"F" position even when ign turned off
Faulty fuel level guage
Replace

Hope that steers ya in the right direction

[MS29431]

These pics are taken at: 1.IGN OFF, 2.IGN ON, 3. STARTUP, 4. REVERSING OUT, 5.TAKING OFF IN 1st, 6. DRIVING 60-80kph, 7. DRIVING 100kph. I have a multimeterbut dont know enough about it to work it properly for what i want to check.. The volt meter works fine and i dont have to have oil press or water temp as i can get them aftermarket its just the fuel gauge i liked to have working cause as we all know you dont let a DIESEL run out of fuel and also there is no dimming of lights as asked earlier, This problem happened once before and the gauges did'nt work for 6-10months and i took 'er to the snow and got bogged in 4wd in a snow storm and left a Qtr vent window open and as the snow melted the dash came back to life but that was 3yrs ago and have worked fine since any tips on using a multimeter would be a great help also thanks for your feedback....MS