I'm kind of a newb, so go easy on me please...

I have a 1997 Dakota SLT 3.9L v6. It has very low miles (43k) as it was owned by my wife's late grandfather. When he passed away 6 years ago, we bought it from her grandmother. They used it as a spare vehicle and I use it to drive to work, which is about 2 miles from home.

Anyways, Over the last year, I've had a string of problems rise up. My dash cluster stopped working (Gauges don't work, and all the lights at the bottom stay on). In the process of trying to figure out how to fix this, I discovered that I had a P0123 error. I went to check the voltage on the TPS (after watching some youtube vids to figure out where that is and how to test it), and noticed NO voltage. I went to unplug the harness and noticed the wires had been chewed completely through, flush with the wire cluster.

I am going to try to fix this, but needed some tips. Where do the TPS wires lead to? Is it easier to replace the whole thing, or should I TRY to splice the wires? I don't have much room to work with, so I'm hoping for an "easier" solution (though I'm not holding my breath). Any help in this would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

 

they sell the tps wire and plug on rockauto.com check them out they have great prices.


Posted from Dodgeforum.com App for Android

 

good luck with truck


Posted from Dodgeforum.com App for Android

 

Thanks for the link! So, where does the TPS wire connect to?

 

its controlled by pcm so I would say there. my 2 cents


Posted from Dodgeforum.com App for Android

 

That's what I was worried about... haha.

Also, could these wires being chomped cause the cluster to stop working?

 

you would be shorting something out most likely. my wife got her grandpa's 98 dakota with thirty thousand on the clock. hers needed ball joints, grind and drill!!!

 

the weather turned nice, go to a junk yard and find one to practice on. might even pick up a spare pcm just in case. remember to match yr, motor and tranny

 

If there was a short, would it completely kill the cluster (as in I need to replace it), or if I get the short fixed, will the gauges start working again? Also, is there a good way to test the cluster itself? I ran the voltmeter on the connectors and got readings where I'm supposed to (I think). Just wasn't sure about the cluster itself.

Again, thanks for all your advice!

 

I wouldnt worry about the cluster just yet, get those wires up and then go from there. I have read a lot of posts about clusters freaking out and its usually a grounding issue or the PCM. find a yard yet? ZMAN goes about once a week, hit him up, maybe he can find those parts at his .