wow, ive been having a lot of problems recently..

now today while in 4th gear coasting (around 4-5k rpm) and changing lanes on the highway, the gauge cluster looses power and the rpm needle drops to 0 as if i shut the motor off..

(i never lost actual power from the car i dont think, just the gauge cluster freaked out.)


It was a super fast drop to 0rpm... then a 1-1.5 seconds later it jumps back up to where it was at before, and my dsc light is on and the "key" light is on because it cant find the key in my pocket...

its never done this before, but the dsc has randomly turned off on me before.

note that i never pressed the tcs button nor was it illuminated after this happened.

also im getting weird P0111 codes every now and again even though my obd2 reader doesnt record any weird values that would validate the car throwing a p0111...

what is going on here.....

 

i had this happen to me a couple times, seemed to be a mix of both slightly loose battery terminals as well as the obd2 adapter causing issues.

remove the adapter, make sure the battery terminals are nice and snug, and when you put the adapter back on just ensure everything do to with that plug and harness is also nice and snug

 

really weird, ill check the battery terminals now.

come to think of it, my plx obd2 reader didnt turn on when i switched it to the on position before this happened. had to switch it off then back on.

 

my dash was quite literally doing exactly what you are describing, only it was doing it repeatedly in a very short period of time. I opened the hood to make sure everything was okay on that side, then i disconnected the obd2 adapter and attempted to start the car. fired right up and after making sure the harness for the obd2 and the actual socket itself w/pins were alright and snug, i reinserted my obd2 adapter and ran torque to check codes. threw a few i dont remember what exactly however i cleared them and it hasnt happened since...
mind you mine is a 04 AT, however the symptoms are nearly identical so i would imagine if you check those you will be fine afterwards

 

Gauge cluster random wierd activity/flickering/jumping/spazing/and-any-other-adjective-you-can-think-of is ALWAYS a grounding problem, and a grounding problem is ALMOST always at the battery connection. Very rarely it can show up elsewhere.

disconnect negative, then positive, then clean the terminals and the clamps completely. Baking soda and water ... or coke-a-cola ... work well for this (acidic content). Then reconnect positive then negative, making sure that you seat them firmly before you tighten them down.

 

good info riwwp!

thanks! ill make sure to clean the terminals and buy a grounding kit just to be safe.

 

A grounding kit won't do much at this point. The only time a grounding kit will actually do something is when the wires/cables you currently have are far degraded.

Largely, our problem is entirely at the connection between the battery cables and the battery terminals. Corrosion starts and then starts to separate the two from the inside out. Keeping them clean is far more effective than a grounding kit ever will be, and if they are corroded, then no grounding kit will be able to improve it.

 

I've had this happen a butt ton in my street RX8. It turned out to be that there was condensation in the headlight leveling sensor connector. This caused currents to jump around in there, which in turn caused the tachometer to do the same. But, it would turn off traction control and everything else while it was at it.

I fixed this by removing the connectors, draining the fluid out, used an air compressor, connector cleaner, never been an issue since.

This is not for everyone, but I had disconnected the sensors before and then drove around in the rain which caused water to get up in there. So, I would recommend checking any connectors that you may have worked on.