Digital Dash,Good or Bad ?

[t-typinator]

I'm looking at a tr with a digital dash.
I'm just wondering if there is any problems associated with them,
are they reliable,or trouble prone ?
Is it a plus or should i stear clear of it ?
I had one decades ago,wih the digital dash + don't remember having any problems but the car would have only been a few yrs old then ,now that they are 24 yrs old are they holding up well ? It's a reasonably low mile well cared for car.

 

[TurboDave]

I'm looking at a tr with a digital dash.
I'm just wondering if there is any problems associated with them,
are they reliable,or trouble prone ?
Is it a plus or should i stear clear of it ?
I had one decades ago,wih the digital dash + don't remember having any problems but the car would have only been a few yrs old then ,now that they are 24 yrs old are they holding up well ? It's a reasonably low mile well cared for car.

Mine is now 25 years old, and still going strong. The only thing I did to it about 12+ years ago was to have Caspers add the 200mph chip so it would read beyond 85 mph.

 

[Red Regal T]

I'm looking at a tr with a digital dash.
I'm just wondering if there is any problems associated with them,
are they reliable,or trouble prone ?
Is it a plus or should i stear clear of it ?
I had one decades ago,wih the digital dash + don't remember having any problems but the car would have only been a few yrs old then ,now that they are 24 yrs old are they holding up well ? It's a reasonably low mile well cared for car.

Not enough to use it as the deciding factor when trying to buy a nice TR.

 

[GNVenom]

The digital dash cars have a chronic problem with the power supplies; they die. It's the most common problem with them. We repair them and upgrade to 199MPH chips so it's not a real problem.

With the analog cars, they have a chronic problem with the Tach/Boost modules; they die too.

Again, repairable as well.

Don't let the dash be a deciding factor when you buy the car. You can always convert it to the GNX cluster, either digital or analog.

 

[injdinjn]

Those 85 mph speedos were a joke.

I figured if I ever got pulled over going 100+ and the cop asks if I know how fast I was going I could honestly say "85 sir". LOL

How bad was that law, a friend had a older BMW with a 150 speedo that broke, the dealer could only sell him a 85mph speedo. He passed on the new one.

 

[t-typinator]

The digital dash cars have a chronic problem with the power supplies; they die. It's the most common problem with them. We repair them and upgrade to 199MPH chips so it's not a real problem.

With the analog cars, they have a chronic problem with the Tach/Boost modules; they die too.

Again, repairable as well.

Don't let the dash be a deciding factor when you buy the car. You can always convert it to the GNX cluster, either digital or analog.

If i buy a mint low mile gn,i would never switch to a gnx dash.

what is the cost of fixing the power supplies,+ would i have to remove the dash + ship it to you?
The rediculous stock boost guage + tach on the analogs are easy to live without + are not that noticable ,so if they go bad it may not even be worth fixing if the dash has to come out, but if you have no speedo + a big dead digital dash in front of you then it's pretty much a must fix situation. If its a case where the dash has to come out + i'm weeks without a dash + its also super expensive then that is a big problem.
Just wondering what would be involved + the cost,also what is the likeliness its going to die,when the word chronic is used in describing the problem,it leads me to believe its something i would definetly be doing in the future.
The other question would be how long does the fix last ,can it just die again in a yr or so.
I would probably still buy the car with it,but just trying to get an idea of potential problems,+ costs,there are enough of these cars around ,that if this one would be a potential pain because of the digital dash then i can just get a different one.

Thanks for any + all info.

 

[GNVenom]

Cost is around $300 for a dead dash, and that includes the 199 upgrade chip. Yes, it will eventually happen to any and all digital dash cars - genetic design flaw.

Removal of the dash cluster takes ten minutes:

How do I get my DIGITAL DASH out?

 

[krom]

Both of my digital dashes failed, Caspers fixed and returned them very quickly.

 

[t-typinator]

Cost is around $300 for a dead dash, and that includes the 199 upgrade chip. Yes, it will eventually happen to any and all digital dash cars - genetic design flaw.

Removal of the dash cluster takes ten minutes:

How do I get my DIGITAL DASH out?

A few more questions.

** can car be driven while dash is out?

** I'm assuming dash is shipped to you once it is out,is that correct or do you just ship parts to the cutomer?

** If dash is sent,what is the turn around time? + general shipping costs.

** Can this be done without the $199 chip upgrade?



At this point, it's all just for general info,because if i really want the car + the price is right ,i wouldn't skip the car because i might have to fix the dash at some point, unless people had said absolutely avoid digital dash cars at all costs + then gave a bunch of good reasons why,Like9major problems + costs associated with it, it does sound like it could be some chance of headache's in the futures but not overwhelming.Stuff like headliners + cracked exhaust manifolds bother me more I think. By the way i think this 45k mile car has a cracked manifold or manifolds.+ It is also skipping,so its got some problems already before i even get to the dash.
Thanks again for the info

 

[87gninpa]

Both of my current TRs have the digital dash and I actually prefer them. Ive had analog dashes as well but I hate the needles and the 85 mph speedo. Sure, you can put a 140 overlay on the analog, but that looks so cheap. Neither of them are great (still dont know why GM didnt even include a temp gauge, let alone an oil pressure gauge as every other G body had), but Id stick with the digital.

 

[t-typinator]

Both of my current TRs have the digital dash and I actually prefer them. Ive had analog dashes as well but I hate the needles and the 85 mph speedo. Sure, you can put a 140 overlay on the analog, but that looks so cheap. Neither of them are great (still dont know why GM didnt even include a temp gauge, let alone an oil pressure gauge as every other G body had), but Id stick with the digital.

You are right ,i don't like those 140 overlays either.

I like the digital dash,it makes the car seem a little more modern,or upscale,+ just adds to the car.
Just hadn't heard before if there was a downside to them,but it's a 80's gm so i should have known before i asked ,that there would be some problems with it.

 

[Phoneguy]

Digital dash here, also had the 199mph upgrade done by John at Caspers, nice to see it go past 85mph. Digital dash was a requirement when I started looking to purchase my car. As others have said dont let that be a deciding factor on the purchase of a good deal on the right car.

Bryan

 

[buickman69]

A few more questions ** can car be driven while dash is out?

Depends on how far you drive it. I drove one about MAYBE-10 miles one time and it died. It restarted with a boost long enough for me to move it and died again.
NOT a battery problem, the charging system on these cars runs through the dash cluster.
When the cluster came back, put it all back together and NEVER had a problem with it again.

 

[t-typinator]

Depends on how far you drive it. I drove one about MAYBE-10 miles one time and it died. It restarted with a boost long enough for me to move it and died again.
NOT a battery problem, the charging system on these cars runs through the dash cluster.
When the cluster came back, put it all back together and NEVER had a problem with it again.

Wow,I wonder if they set it up like that so people wouldn't just unhook them to keep the mileage low on their car.

 

[buickman69]

Wow,I wonder if they set it up like that so people wouldn't just unhook them to keep the mileage low on their car.

I dunno... but I asked a GM tech about it and that's what he told me was they had to be plugged in for the charging system to operate correctly.

If you ever pull a cluster out, you'll see what I mean, there is an electronic male/female plug in the back of the cluster so it has to snap in and make that connection.

This was 12 years ago, I was working on a friends GN, he wanted to do the 145 overlay via Kirban so I pulled it out and sent it off for him.