I recently got a car this last december in Tacoma. My dad spent $3000 on a Pontiac Grand Am 1999. We tested it out when we first went up to see it and everything worked fine except for the steroe and the lighter thing. That was all easily fixed though. About 3 weeks ago while being picked upi from school by my dad we were on out way to get gas. As we pulled into the gas station all the gauges (the spedometer, gas tank level, RPM gauge, and the other two things) all just turned off. Along with that the heater/AC went off as well. My car didn’t turn off though, it was fine. While driving home all the gauges and the heater jsut randomly turned back on. This has been happening ever since, sometimes when I turn my car on the gauges dont turn on but ill wait a few seconds and they’ll eventually flick on.
Also another two weird things is when the car is completely on (engine running/ while driving) I’m able to remove my car key from the ignition key hole.
Also when my gauges DO decide to turn on when I turn on the ignition the little arrow/needle things flick ALL the way up then back to the beggining then slowly raise to whatever rate im going and to however much gas I have.
Is this an ignition problem?
Does it have somthing to do with my heater/AC system??
If you need more clarification please ask me.
Thank You,
Alexi.
Definitely an odd electrical problem. I would guess something like a bad/loose ground would cause it but you need to take it someplace for a diagnosis.
A lot of circuits are completed by the ignition switch when you turn the key on. I would look at the possibility that the switch is faulty before digging any deeper. The next time the gauges go out you might try wiggling the key or gently turning it back and forward (not enough to turn the car off or engage the starter) and see if it has any effect.