QuestionI submitted this question before, and got was was supposedly an answer, but to me it was a set of questions about my question, which put me no closer to resolving my problem that I was before I submitted the question. I decided to re-submit the question with all of the information that I have on the question.
Question
I have a 1991 Cadillac El Dorado that I bought a few years ago from my brother, who purchased it new. Occasionally while driving, the instrumentation will go completely blank, like the key was shut off, but the motor will keep running. If you shut the key off and restart the car, everything is back to normal. I haven't driven the car much since I bought it, so it hasn't been a problem to me, but it was a problem to my brother, who took it to the dealer a number of times, where they replaced parts but did not resolve the problem. I saw one mention of a problem associated with an aftermarket radio, which this car has, but I believe that the problem occurred long before the radio was installed. The car is a 9.5 without that problem, but a 3.5 with the problem.
Answer
IS or HAS the CHECK ENGINE light on the dash ever illuminated on the dash while driving the vehicle ?. Response: CHECK ENGINE light on the dash has illuminated, but that was years after the problem with the instrument panel, that problem was resolved with a new ERG valve.
Have you seen any MESSAGES being displayed in the message display center ?. Response: None that were observed.
Tell me what components go completly blank ?. Response: EVERYTHING GOES BLANK - just like you shut the key off or took the battery completely out of the car.
Is this a DIGITAL speedometer cluster or the old style ANALOG (needle speedometer) system ?. Response: Digital.
Have you ever seen any of the below symbols in the fuel data display ?. Response: None that were observed.
-c
-d
-151
Apparently, "autohelp" considers the above set of questions to be an answer, but it certainly isn't an answer to my question.
I submitted the "Answer", or more properly Questions to my Question, to my brother, who is much more familar with the problem than I am, as I have only seen it one time, and have driven the car only a few hundred miles.
His response was as follows...
It is a DIGITAL speedometer cluster and all of the drivers panel instruments and the information panel go dark. The engine runs a little rougher when the panels are dark, other than that the car runs fine. This happens quite infrequently, many once every 6 months.
I believe that the clock resets also.
My brother did not indicate that he had ever seen any of the above codes in the fuel data display, and I have not, either, as EVERYTHING SHUT OFF BUT THE ENGINE!!!
I would characterise it as when you shut off certain diesels, like a Mercedes, and everything shuts down EXCEPT the engine, which struggles to keep running.
AnswerDo you still have the exact same radio that came with the vehicle or have you installed a different brand of radio ?.
IF all the GROUND wires are OK, Then I would sugggest that we run some diagnostic tests on the instrument panel 16 volt data line as this is the main power source for all the displays. It is possible that you have an intermittent fault in either the digital cluster and or the BCM computer.
TESTS need to be performed on these 2 components.
