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Gear selection on cluster HELP :(

imrhoss

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Hi guys, i have searched the forums for this topic but i have found nothing but dead ends. anyways i recently purchased a 2002 vx calais and the gear indicator on the cluster isnt working. its really frustrating, on numerous occasions i have driven with it in third gear without knowing. (since they have really tall gears hard to notice)

things i have done to diagnose problems:

-removed cluster and checked the globe. globe was replaced.
- found out about police mode (or what ever its called) by pressing the mode/up button then cycling through until you get to the mode where all the needles move to the middle and all the warning lights come on. the PRND321 lights all come on.
- got underneath the car and checked all the plugs to and from the tranny (there's 3 i think)
-removed centre console as well as gear stick to look for any loose plugs or problems with wiring. None were identified.

oh i forgot to mention, they occasionally used to come one when i first bought the car. maybe for about a split second.

I would really love to have this feature (sometimes my silly cousin thinks it would be funny if he puts in in neutral while im at the lights without me noticing). I dont know where else to look. any help at all will be appreciated, then atleast i will have a headstart. :) cheers:surprise:
 

vx_commodore

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Maby you have a faulty gear swich on the left hand side of the gearbox...Does you're reverse light's work?

Usualy, when that fail's you can loose your reverse light's, along with the car having no way to electronicly way to tell what gear you are in, Gear's still work fine but no prn321 light's or reverse light's...

I have seen alot of these fail
 

speediesthouy

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Maby you have a faulty gear swich on the left hand side of the gearbox...Does you're reverse light's work?

Usualy, when that fail's you can loose your reverse light's, along with the car having no way to electronicly way to tell what gear you are in, Gear's still work fine but no prn321 light's or reverse light's...

I have seen alot of these fail

Hi mate thanks for your reply. The reverse lights are in working order. I do notice that sometimes it will come on. When it does come on I switch it from drive to neutral and the light disappears again. You might be right about the switch. I did notice when I was pulling plugs out under the tranny it's like it was sort of melted. Should I go back underneath there and get some contact cleaner onto it? What do you suggest?

Cheers mate :)
 

imrhoss

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sorry i logged into my old account by mistake, this is still me
 
M

mwb235

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Hi guys, i have searched the forums for this topic but i have found nothing but dead ends. anyways i recently purchased a 2002 vx calais and the gear indicator on the cluster isnt working. its really frustrating, on numerous occasions i have driven with it in third gear without knowing. (since they have really tall gears hard to notice)

things i have done to diagnose problems:

-removed cluster and checked the globe. globe was replaced.
- found out about police mode (or what ever its called) by pressing the mode/up button then cycling through until you get to the mode where all the needles move to the middle and all the warning lights come on. the PRND321 lights all come on.
- got underneath the car and checked all the plugs to and from the tranny (there's 3 i think)
-removed centre console as well as gear stick to look for any loose plugs or problems with wiring. None were identified.

oh i forgot to mention, they occasionally used to come one when i first bought the car. maybe for about a split second.

I would really love to have this feature (sometimes my silly cousin thinks it would be funny if he puts in in neutral while im at the lights without me noticing). I dont know where else to look. any help at all will be appreciated, then atleast i will have a headstart. :) cheers:surprise:

My PRND321 lights stoped working once just after i degreased the engine. Worked again the next day, hasn't happened since (i've used degreaser many times since). Maybe yours got wet?

There's a 4-pin plug at the side of the tranny - those 4 wires go to the PCM, and from memory i think the signal is then sent via the data wire to the dash cluster.

It's probably not much use to you, but here's a pic of the wiring plug & some wiring diagram pics i've found (i can't seem to find the full "paper" version of the wiring diagram but, i know i have it somewhere):
 

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vx_commodore

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Hey mate, Yeh i'd say give it a shot at cleaning the connection,(4 pin as above) Because the prnd321 light does rely on that switch for information.

But you say it work's sometime's not other's, Sound's alot like a faulty switch not just a bad connection but it's definitly worth a shot to give it a clean!

when i brought my car my light's wouldent work like your's, But i also had no reverse light, Replaced swich and all good!

But yeh give it a look see, Give it a clean and a lookover and see how you go, If not well i'd say a new swich should do the job
 

imrhoss

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@mwb235 those diagrams helped a lot, at least now i know which plug im looking at. thanks a lot for that. when i first bought the car a few months ago, it was sitting around for a while in an old mans shed so the car had a massive build up of dust. When i gave it a good clean with degreaser in the engine bay i think it never came on again, you're right.

@vx_commodore

life saver mate :), id never know there was a switch there, ill try and get underneath it today and let you know how i go. As for the switch, if it is faulty, how do i get my hands on one? how much am i looking at $$ and the difficulty of replacing that part (im pretty handy with the DIY stuff)

cheers lads

EDIT. just got underneath the car and took a quick look. i took the plug out and separated it, gave it a nice clean with an ink rubber (the grey side of an eraser) came out shiny, plugged it back in but still no go. must be the switch im guessing. here's a picture of what the plug looked like when i pulled it out

is that black part the whole switch?
 

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vx_commodore

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Hey mate, Yeh sound's like you need a new switch, I got mine around a year ago from a wrecker's, Cost me $50, VT/VX are all the same no matter exec/calais/s/ss so on.

Only thing is, If you get a swich off say a executive one of the plugs will be capped with a plastic cap, This is because executive's and lower end model's dont use this PRND321 function but do have the same switch, So they just cap it so water cant get in ect. It's easy to get the cap off.

Just thought i would mention this because if you go into a wrecker's and say ' i need a swich off a Calais' they will probably charge you twice as much just because it' off a 'calais', But if you ask for one of a exec it would probably be cheaper.

I am unsure of the cost of a new switch, But i would say alot!, Some of the wrecker's i called wanted $100 - $150, After like 10 call's i finally found one for $50, So i ran down and grabbed it before he realised hehehe.

But yeh changing the swich is very easy, Just 3 bolt's (maby 4 <cant remember, Its been a wile hehe) and a bit of wiggling and it's off, You should have no worries changing it over.

Oh yeh, The whole black thing is the switch.

Let us know how you get on with it, But im sure this will fix you're problem...

Good Luck
 
M

mwb235

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Imrhoss in case you need it, i found the other full-page wiring diagram i was referring to in post #4. It's the VT series 2 specific "14E supplement" to the VT workshop manual (part number 92142412). I've split my pic into three pieces due to the size of the original page - they're a little blurry but still readable. I also posted them in this old thread a while back (post #3):

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au...-2002/154729-vt-vx-engine-wiring-harness.html
 

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imrhoss

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Hey mate, Yeh sound's like you need a new switch, I got mine around a year ago from a wrecker's, Cost me $50, VT/VX are all the same no matter exec/calais/s/ss so on.

Only thing is, If you get a swich off say a executive one of the plugs will be capped with a plastic cap, This is because executive's and lower end model's dont use this PRND321 function but do have the same switch, So they just cap it so water cant get in ect. It's easy to get the cap off.

Just thought i would mention this because if you go into a wrecker's and say ' i need a swich off a Calais' they will probably charge you twice as much just because it' off a 'calais', But if you ask for one of a exec it would probably be cheaper.

I am unsure of the cost of a new switch, But i would say alot!, Some of the wrecker's i called wanted $100 - $150, After like 10 call's i finally found one for $50, So i ran down and grabbed it before he realised hehehe.

But yeh changing the swich is very easy, Just 3 bolt's (maby 4 <cant remember, Its been a wile hehe) and a bit of wiggling and it's off, You should have no worries changing it over.

Oh yeh, The whole black thing is the switch.

Let us know how you get on with it, But im sure this will fix you're problem...

Good Luck
@vx_commodore

thank you so much mate, you're a life saver, without ya i wouldnt know where to start. a local place near where i live (melbourne) called jolly's u pull it. i payed them a visit today, ripped one out of a vx berlina and one out of a commo. They didnt have them priced on their system. got them for $4 bux each second hand. at that price i guess i can afford to have them failing every now and then (not that id want them to). i was over the moon. The guy told me they call them selector switches or something. (i hope theyre working haha) also now that you've mentioned it, my reverse lights dont always come on!!! however they still work. ive been testing them for the last 24 hours. ive used reverse about 10 times, reverse lights came on 7 out of 10. i would quickly run outside and take a peek at them :(

@mwb235
these diagrams are going to be so handy, ive saved them. my cousin has a vx commo with a calais cluster and an upgraded bcm, he is trying to figure out the wiring to get the prndl321 lights working. this will indeed help thanks so much for that :) hopefully ill get back underneath there in the next day or two :)
 
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