What would cause that all gauges temp gas mileage etc stopped working on a 1997 Pontiac grand am?

Answer 1

I have the exact same vehicle, and let me tell you, it's not fun to check out. So start with the easy part first, check the fuses. If they're alright then the next part won't be fun. There are a total of 4 screw that hold the center molding around the instrament panel together, two that are visable, two in the lower area by the radio. Take those out, put the car in on position, put in neutral, lower the steering wheel all the way down. Now you can remove that piece. Take it out, unplug it (should be 3 plugins on it. One for foglights, one for the cig lighter, one for the dimmer), now put the car back into park, turn it off. you'll need a set of torx bits for the next part. Remove the cluster (using the torx bits), and check for: Loose connections, burnt circuit board. If you can't find anything wrong with it, you're looking at two options. First, have GM fix it (costs about $450, I checked into it because I had to rebuild my car after it flooded). Second would be to goto a junk yard and get one. There are only Two years and two models of that particular instrament panel. 97-98 Pontiac Grand Am SE and GT. So good luck finding one, took me about a week worth of junkyard hunting, should cost about $50 for the replacement at a junkyard. Plug it in and hope for the best.