Car turns off on its own.

[mo_ayman]

So today i decided to put on a cluster that has the RPMs.

I have done everything and put it on and got everything to work and tested it out for a short drive. Everything was fine RPMs fuel level water temp battery light ebrake light speed indicator..

After a while, I went for a drive and ta daa~ EML is on.. I didn't know what to do I was on the highway so I kept going as the car sounded fine and nothing was malfunctioning.

I was off the highway and then got to some bumps. As I started to hard brake from 70Km/h to almost 10Km/h, the car suddenly turned off. I started it again and kept going. Another braking to almost a full stop car turns off. This kept happening till I got back home.

I tried to use the diagnostic port and it showed 24 and 32.

24 is speed sensor which I believe is the one at the end of the speedometer cable. I though have the speed showing correctly.

What should be done in this situation? I don't think I have broken the speedo cable.

I though want to mention something. My car has always had its speedometer fluctuate from 20Km/h(the lowest) till 50Km/h and after 50Km/h it moves smoothly. It has been like that since forever. I have bought this car brand new in 95 . I though remember once being at an opel shop and the mechanic said this speedo cable needs to be changed. I was all why. It has been like this since I got it and I had no issues.

The car has done 210k Kms till this day. The cluster I bought had its speedo head at 213k Kms so I didn't bother changing the head.

I am so bummed. I have had this on my list for 2 years and I was so excited putting the cluster on. and now it is failing.

[Robsey]

This is unusual.
I would think that a '95 car ECU would get most of it's speed signals from the ABS sensors.

I think it is a coincidence.
Perhaps you have disturbed a wire to the ECU.
I can run my 1994 Cavalier perfectly without the instruments fitted.

I have also been running a 1987 Astra mk2 GTE (Kadette-E) digital dash speedometer display for 10 years in my Cavalier with no ill effects on running, stopping and starting.

Go through your wiring again...
Did you put in you own wire from the coil to the rev counter?

Perhaps there is an intermittent shorting of the coil green wire to earth.
It is the green wire that goes to the rev counter.
Shorting the coil to earth could make the engine stop.

So in simple terms - check your wires, and check your insulation.

[Robsey]

As for why change the speedo cable...
It could be that the cable is not spinning freely inside it's outer sheath.

Fluctuations of the speed needle is usually a faulty cable or lubricating grease forming hard lumps between the cable and the sheath. This causes the cable to "bounce about" inside the sheath, at times catching and then freeing up again.

As said - the cable is not spinning freely / smoothly inside the outer sheath.

[mo_ayman]

My car doesn't have ABS.

and I haven't messed with the wiring at all. Plug and play both the square connectors. everything clipped in nicely. I don't think that there are any shorts for the RPM signal because it is always working and is indicating the right RPM.

[Robsey]

Hmm - I still cannot see how fitting a speedo head would affect the ECU.

I did think that the speedo should be plug and play.

The engine stopping when the car brakes is usually an issue with a faulty idle control valve. Sometimes a vacuum pipe problem.

So no wires have been touched besides the instruments, glove box light and clock.

Okay code 24 is indeed speed signal.
I suppose it could be a faulty circuit board / foil on the back of the cluster.

Code 32 is fuel pump relay voltage high.
A faulty relay could cause the engine to stop.

[mo_ayman]

Well.

I have checked for a vacuum leak that day and nothing looked suspicious.

It may be an idle control thingy. because sometimes when braking the car doesn't turn off completely. but it goes from sub 1k rpm (normal idle I guess around 800 rpm or so) to 500 rpm and the car shakes then but doesn't shut off.

So no wires have been touched besides the instruments, glove box light and clock.

yes exactly.

I suppose it could be a faulty circuit board / foil on the back of the cluster.

how can I identify such thing?

Code 32 is fuel pump relay voltage high.
A faulty relay could cause the engine to stop.

Yes I know that 32 is a fuel pump relay. But I kinda ignored it because I like to believe that if it is really faulty it would cause the car to bog as I am moving. But the car is smooth while driving. I can go fast and I can accelerate hard and floor it. Today I reached 150 Km/h easily.
Anyways, how can I check the fuel pump relay and where is it located?

I guess I'll be going to a mechanic tomorrow or something. I am so disappointed and sad.

[mo_ayman]

So, I went to my mechanic and he told me that the cluster I bought (which has the RPMs) is a bad one.
He told me that it feeds back to the ECU somehow.

I was in doubt and started investigating.

I took the cluster off and unhooked the battery for a while and tested the car with no cluster whatsoever. It ran perfectly.

I put the old one back it worked perfectly.

As I hooked the RPM cluster back the same crap happened.

So, I started comparing both clusters and I found out that the RPM cluster didn't have some part that is located above the speedo while my old cluster has it. My old cluster had a black block right above the speedo which connects to the circuit via three points. I took off the metal part that holds the connections in and found one to be GND and the other to be SS (speed sensor) and I forgot what the third one was to be honest. I traced the wire and I believe that it goes back to the small square connector. So um I guess it feeds back the speed. The RPM cluster had none.

Anyways, I went back to the guy I bought the cluster from and talked a bit. and got another one which had the same block above the speedo like mine does. having 3 connections. Although they looked a bit different.

I hooked it up and BOOM smooth as hell. Everything worked just fine.

So.. I guess that was it. I don't really know what the first cluster I bought is supposed to work. Maybe it is not compatible with my 1.6 that has no ABS.

Also another thing to note. The RPM cluster that didn't work for me had the temperature gauge saying 110 while the RPM cluster that worked only had 100 which is the same as my old cluster.

This is the new RPM cluster that didn't work:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T9LI6 ... o8aTURbuq6

This is my old cluster (Notice the black block above the speedo cable mounting point):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HiRn7 ... FTDsXRecVi

[Robsey]

Glad you got it sorted.

Hopefully you are lot happier now things are working properly.

[mo_ayman]

Yeah I am happy about having the RPMs now. Love to see em when I go all the way to the red line as well as how good my rev matching is while down shifting.

I though broke one of the heater panel sliders cables. Just to replace that piece of crap tiny bulb that is useless. Took 4 hours and it still look garbage. I though double zip tied that cable to some plasticy part I hope it doesn't fall off by time.

I believe that I will be having mechanical issues soon though. Steering rack ain't happy. The engine isn't sounding healthy too.

It just loves breaking :'). It ballooned the weekend. Gotta stay busy fixing it yeah..

[Robsey]

Hmm - that is the Cavalier way.

You throw love and money at it - and it throws another tantrum and breaks something else.

You will never be struggling to find jobs to do. They like to take all your spare time and money. Even if you have none to spare.

I have a broken bowden cable too. One of many jobs for this summer.