So I have an 81 monte that the temp, oil pressure gauges will stop working. If I push on the panel they come back to life but some times for a short time only. So I know its a problem with the connection behind the panel and what I have unsuccessfully tried is to clean the connection, bend up the connector terminal to provide more tension(did not help), shim the connector in the dash(made all gauges stop working) so it does not push back so far and shim the printed circuit board connection by putting paper behind it. (made all gauges stop working)
So my ideas are not getting me where I want to be, if I just put it back together like the factory I can get them to work by pushing on the dash but I want it to just work all the time. Has anyone came up with a "fix" for this?

 

Ok got it fixed - I ended up putting a shim between the plastic dash ear that support the instrument cluster connector and the steel frame of the dash. It prevented the ear from flexing back when the dash was pushed in then I drilled two small holes in the panel and used leg bolts to draw in the connector to the dash. Kinda like I have seen with how harness connectors connect to a pcm. So far no matter how much I shake the dash the gauges continue to work which they never did before in the 34 years I have lived with this problem.

You can see the two short leg bolts in this pic that I used to draw in the connector.

 

what type of shim did you use? Can you show pictures of material and what size bolts did you use? Did you drill tru the connector too?
Have an 86 with the same issue.

Thanks

 

Sorry this was like a 1000 repairs ago and only partially remember doing it. The shim could be anything, I used a piece of plastic tray I had laying in the garbage. Do not remember the bolt sizes, just that I screwed them though the panel like in the picture drawing the panel and plug together.

 

Thanks! It worked but now I have a speedometer that the needle just bounces? Any thoughts?

 

I do not know if my 81 and your 86 uses the same split cable system but on mine when it bounces it means its past time to lube the cable. I disconnect both ends and slide the cable out of the cable housing and apply grease to the whole cable.

 

Yes they are the same, s o I greased it and still had the issue, so I changed the cable and now it still will not register but it is not bouncing like crazy anymore. You think it could be the gears in the speedometer itself?

Thanks for all your help!

 

I would see if the cable is spinning smoothly first as it could be the plastic gears in the transmission by unhooking the cable from the speedo head and jacking up the rear of the vehicle and driving the car in place. Might also be able to unhook the cable from below and hook up a drill to see if the speedo now reads steady.