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thingstodo · 05-15-2012, 11:53 PM

A co-worker - Jeff - who has owned a couple of S10's and whose brother presently owns three (at once?) went through a few troubleshooting questions with me today:

Jeff - What voltage did you use?

Me - The 12V battery, about 12.8V since it was charged up.

Jeff - Oh, the dash is still in the truck?

Me - Yes. I wanted to do the testing before actually changing anything

Jeff - So NOTHING has changed since the last time it was working?

Me - Well, I DID remove the quarter-ton box and the gas tank. So the fuel gauge and one ground are no longer there, some tubing was disconnected. And the rear lights are not connected - brake lights, signals, that stuff.

Jeff - OK. Did you check any of the pins on the connector? Is there power to the dash?

Me - No, I didn't check. I have not even looked for the connector yet.

Jeff - Do you have a Hanes manual?

Me - Yes.

Jeff - Good. After you get some bolts removed and can see the dash connector, check if there is power. If so, check for a good ground. If all still looks good, disconnect the connector from the truck and connect just the 12V and ground pins to a 12V battery. If you don't have pins that will fit, strip some insulation from the wires - follow the color code - and use alligator clips to power up the dash. The dash should show something. The signals for the gas gauge, the oil pressure and temperature, should show a fault when they are grounded. I'm pretty sure that the speedometer and odometer are connected together and one pulse equals .. there's about 4000 pulses per mile. Look it up in the chart I gave you. The tach could be pulses, could be a 0 - 5V signal. I don't remember.

Me - Yes - those are the kinds of things I was hoping to check and verify. OK. Directions to follow .. I can do that! ... what happens if it just doesn't work?

Jeff - These S10 dashes are pretty rugged. They don't usually just die. Every wrecker should each have at least a dozen of these dashes, so getting a used one should be pretty cheap. I've had parts of my dash stop displaying, but it is usually a bad signal ... you said you checked the fuses?

Me - Yes. My wife suggested that.

Jeff - You've got me interested ... let me know what you find.

Me - Thanks ... this should (hopefully) be a good start. I may bug you about it again, though.

05-15-2012, 11:53 PM	#105 (permalink)
thingstodo Master EcoModder Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Saskatoon, canada Posts: 1,488 Ford Prefect - '18 Ford F150 XLT XTR Tess - '22 Tesla Y LR Thanks: 749 Thanked 565 Times in 447 Posts	Getting under the dash A co-worker - Jeff - who has owned a couple of S10's and whose brother presently owns three (at once?) went through a few troubleshooting questions with me today: Jeff - What voltage did you use? Me - The 12V battery, about 12.8V since it was charged up. Jeff - Oh, the dash is still in the truck? Me - Yes. I wanted to do the testing before actually changing anything Jeff - So NOTHING has changed since the last time it was working? Me - Well, I DID remove the quarter-ton box and the gas tank. So the fuel gauge and one ground are no longer there, some tubing was disconnected. And the rear lights are not connected - brake lights, signals, that stuff. Jeff - OK. Did you check any of the pins on the connector? Is there power to the dash? Me - No, I didn't check. I have not even looked for the connector yet. Jeff - Do you have a Hanes manual? Me - Yes. Jeff - Good. After you get some bolts removed and can see the dash connector, check if there is power. If so, check for a good ground. If all still looks good, disconnect the connector from the truck and connect just the 12V and ground pins to a 12V battery. If you don't have pins that will fit, strip some insulation from the wires - follow the color code - and use alligator clips to power up the dash. The dash should show something. The signals for the gas gauge, the oil pressure and temperature, should show a fault when they are grounded. I'm pretty sure that the speedometer and odometer are connected together and one pulse equals .. there's about 4000 pulses per mile. Look it up in the chart I gave you. The tach could be pulses, could be a 0 - 5V signal. I don't remember. Me - Yes - those are the kinds of things I was hoping to check and verify. OK. Directions to follow .. I can do that! ... what happens if it just doesn't work? Jeff - These S10 dashes are pretty rugged. They don't usually just die. Every wrecker should each have at least a dozen of these dashes, so getting a used one should be pretty cheap. I've had parts of my dash stop displaying, but it is usually a bad signal ... you said you checked the fuses? Me - Yes. My wife suggested that. Jeff - You've got me interested ... let me know what you find. Me - Thanks ... this should (hopefully) be a good start. I may bug you about it again, though.