Electrical cluster**** help

NewTegLover

New Member
Really stumped on this one and I am losing my mind, ok so here goes. Just before Christmas someone hit me from behind and my cars right rear passenger side was destroyed. It still drove and worked fine except for the fact the wheel well was crushed in. I bought a new car because I am in the Navy and needed something to drive so I left my teg in the driveway for about two weeks. My father took it to work a couple weeks ago and it was fine and then when he went to take lunch he had trouble starting it so he bump started it and it worked fine and told me so I thought ok cool new starter and its good to go. So he drove it to a friends house and the car cut off, that day he couldn't get it to crank over and so he left it there. I came home a few days later to diagnose it and it cranked over every time I tried but it never started. I started to pull the dash and then it got dark so I stopped. I went back a few days later and there was no crank no start and I called a friend to help me tow it back home. My friend pulled up with a dollie and I put the key in the ignition to unlock the tires so it could be pulled onto the dollie and when I did I saw a faint light behind the odometer that seemed unfamiliar but I was on the phone so I payed it no mind. I soon after smelled electrical smoke and realized it was a very small fire. The speedometer needle then melted off and the fire went out. I switched out the ecu and tried to start it again. When I finally got it home the dash lights did nothing when I turned the key and obviously no crank no start. I completely rebuilt the engine and have put thousands of dollars into this car and it is fast as hell and I really want to fix it but I am baffled where to start. The car has a brand new alternator and battery... like week old new so its not that and I could hear the fuel pump prime but I cant figure out what the f*** is going on. Any ideas anyone?
 

NewTegLover

New Member
Yes because now nothing is coming on at all. Could it be the ignition switch? That's my best guess.
 


djzachtyler

Looking for my next Teg..
did you figure out what cause the small fire in your dash?

might want to pull the clusster and get an idea as to what all burned and if any wiring is toast...
 

NewTegLover

New Member
I'm not sure if it's getting a spark but it's not the dizzy and the plugs are new. I am in the process of pulling it all right now but it is one solid piece so its difficult to get off. I plan to replace the speedo but I have to get to it first. I am looking for somewhere to start and I literally have no idea at all.
 


djzachtyler

Looking for my next Teg..
ok so start with whatever caused the fire in your dash...

melted wires could be shorting something out in your ignition system... that is 1st.

next inspect your ignition switch... a new one is only about 25 bucks if you shop around... they are known to go bad all the time so swap it for sanity sake...

After you rule out faulty wiring check your grounds... all of them... these cars are notorious for having ignition issues that are the result of a bad ground or battery cable.

Distributor "could" be an issue... this is another common part to fail in 2nd generation integras... generally the coil or control unit in the assembly can go bad. it is my experience that it is often easier to just replace the distributor in whole rather than dick around with coils... seems replacement coils are about as reliable as a flaky blonde... Also when testing for spark you cannot just pull a plug turn the car over and see a spark and assume all is good... you need to turn the car over for 30 sec - 1 minute and see if the spark weakens. this indicates a coil issue. you can also pull the old coil and test it's resistance with a multimeter.
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
I would do this:

1.find the source of the fire, fix any wiring.
2. check your two ACG fuses and replace the plastic ones with an actual fuse.
3. see if you blow your acg fuse

if that is blowing, your car will not start.
 

NewTegLover

New Member
Thanks for the help guys ill get started on all that. I have checked the fuses already and I will check them again just for the hell of it. Also I will finish pulling the instrument cluster, speaking of which is there any way to pull that out by itself because pulling the entire dash is proving to be a huge pain. All I really need is to get the cluster out so I can see behind it. It's an Ls special so it has a ton of stuff attached to the dash. Once I get the dash lights to turn back on ill be good to go and I can continue my diagnosis. For now its dead in the water and isn't responding to the key at all.
 

djzachtyler

Looking for my next Teg..
Samurai_Blue said:
look at the bezel, two screws holding it in. remove. 3 holding the cluster in .
Click to expand...
do not forget the hidden 3rd screw at the very right side of the bezel... it is hidden behind a little black coverpeice that pops out... IU'll post up a pic when I leave work to help you ID it... first time I pulled my bezel to replace a speedo cable I couldn't figure out WTF screw I was missing to get it off LOL...
 

NewTegLover

New Member
Ahhhhhhh so confused right now. Ok so I pulled the cluster today and inspected it. I found that all wires behind the cluster were fine and there is nothing out of the ordinary about the cluster except the melted needle. It's like the speedo needle got to hot and then caught the plastic around it on fire. Makes no sense. The only reason I can think this could happen is because there is a bad ground somewhere. I m going to check through my engine bay again to see if I can find anything. If you guys think im chasing unicorns let me know what else you think is going on. Oh and by the way I found the problem with the lights coming on, the ignition switch fuse was blown and I changed it out and crossed my fingers but still no start :( . I know I must have blown the fuse when I was checking the switch because I saw a spark and smoke which we all know is never good. Anyway back to the grind I suppose.
 

NewTegLover

New Member
Ok so I found a bad ground and fixed it now it cranks all day but no spark from the dizzy. Could I have fried the dizzy?
 
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