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Oldsmobile Intrigue need extended jump time

smuhlbaiersmuhlbaier Member Posts: 5
edited March 2014 in Oldsmobile
'98 Olds Intrigue with 110k, and great mechanically, but it's to the point that all sorts of fun "events" keep cropping up. It's kind of like Russian Roulette as to what will happen next. I am currently searching for a replacment vehicle for my tall frame but wont settle for less room that this one has. This is the latest issue: I tried to start the car one cold morning and the battery was completely dead (but don't think it was bad). Anyway, it took an excessive jump time from another car to get going and everytime I cranked it all the instrument panel gauges would go crazy. Finally, the speedo one simply pegged all the way over to the right and won't come back. Obviously now I have no idea what speed I am--it says 160 :) I guess it could have been worse--if it was the fuel gauge....

Any idea what to do/how much to fix this? I've hear that needles are incredibly fragile and entire assembly probably needs replacement.
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Comments

  • dtownfbdtownfb Member Posts: 2,918
    If you need a new instrument cluster, you can buy one off of Ebay and have a local garage install it if you're not handy.
  • nbnernbner Member Posts: 15
    Remove the instrument cluster from the dash. Two screws, one above the tach, one above the speedometer. Remove the snap on cover (black). It pulls straight out and up. There are snaps at the bottom so make sure you pull upward while you pull out. It WILL fight you, but don't worry.
    Next, there are four screws holding the gauges in, unscrew them, two at the top, two at the bottom. When you do that, the gauges come out easily, when you get them out far enough; disconnect the plug in the back of the gauges.
    Remove the gauges and orient them on their side and begin tapping the side of the gauges until the fuel gauge comes down to about the halfway mark.
    Plug the gauges back in and turn the ignition on to see if it works. If not, unplug and tap it down more and try again.
    Once it's fixed, re-install in the opposite order. The odometer button on the left side needs to be plugged back in, but you'll see that while you do this.
  • smuhlbaiersmuhlbaier Member Posts: 5
    I will try this--or maybe let my mechanic try this. I can't believe all the "incidentals" going one after another while the car itself still runs very strong still. I've told people that once the STEREO goes (the older [better] Bose), that's when I'll dump it :)
  • 01intrigue01intrigue Member Posts: 92
    Has anyone found a solution to getting a cassette adaptor to stay in the stock Olds cassette player? :mad: After several tries (and a return to Monster) I got one of theirs to stay in most of the time. I just bought another 2001 GX for my son, and the cheap adaptor we bought gets ejected after bouncing from one side to the other, with the error code displayed. I had reseached this earlier and found a mention that the player senses too much tension on the tape wheels. Am I the only one with this problem? I doubt it since this is the second Trig with it, and could use any help.
  • samova1samova1 Member Posts: 3
    Did you clean the battery terminals? A resistance builds up in time between the battery terminal and the cable terminal. Clean them once a year at least to avoid problems.
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