I have a 2001 western star and the gauges in the dash stopped working.

I must have, I took it for smart ### comment. My apologies if that was not the case.

 

Did you get this fixed yet? If no, try this. Get a multimeter that measures DC voltage. If you don't know how to use it, do you have a friend that does? Find the fuse for the dash, make sure you have 12 volts on each side of the fuse (key must be on). If yes, the next thing would be to find that pin # F11 on the Electronic Control Center (as Cetane described earlier). That is supposed to be at 5Volts DC from there to ground. I am betting one of these 2 places doesn't have it's power.

 

No still no gauges . I have done every thing that has been suggested. I have power at all fuses and 5v at pin F11. As I stated before the control box has been replaced and I swapped the box on the fire wall with one out of another truck that worked fine in the truck it was in and still no gauges. Any other possibilities maybe some thing from the ECM ?

 

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/posts/4462555/
check this post. good luck.

 

I am reluctant to answer because I an not sure if it was the Star or the T2000 that used to be here. Behind where the wiring harness plugged into the instrument panel all the solder lines on the printed circuit board broke or cracked. Repaired with a small soldering iron.

 

Here's a weird twist if the head light switch is on when I shut the truck down the gauges (oil temp, coolant temp,and voltage ) all work for about 30 seconds then stop.

 

I am trying a couple of posting things, so "bear" with me



It doesnt blow it up as much as it needs to be so I will send you the diagrams in PMs.

 

So I think this is where your problem is, because you stated your DataStar also does not work.

In the top left box,
The DataStar is fed from the "p15" plug Cable 3, wires B793D and B792D twisted together into a plug into the back of your DataStar.


Then it also sends the same Data Bus info to the ECC, in the lower middle box, that then feeds the gauges to show you whats happening.

The Diagnostic port working inside the cab that is fed from the same set if twisted wires from the same splice, lower left box, that you said works.

This leads me to believe that the splice of the Data Bus wires, in the upper left box, is where you should be looking.

Now did you check to see if the power you measured at the ECC was getting to the #6 pin on the speedo?

If the wire has a problem it will never get there.
The next issue could be the DataStar just took a dump. So it is sending me in the wrong direction. It could be The wiring got rubbed, chafed and just needs a little TLC, and all your problems will go away. It is most likely a wire problem. Western Star also liked to use piggy back flat blade spade connectors to connect all the grounds of the gauges together, they usually look like 8+ wires into one electrical taped together block. You need to get your multi meter out, set it to tone on continuity and test pin to pin from plug to plug. That is going to be the worst part about a 15 year old truck.

Good luck!

 

Ok that is very informative and my next step . Thanks and I'll let you know how I make out.

 

Went thru and followed the wiring and checked all voltages, grounds and splice packs found no issues. So now the truck has been at western star dealer for a week and a half and they can not find the problem either. They said they can't help me and I've picked up the truck. (still no gauges) not sure where to turn now. Any one you could suggest in the Maryland area who might be knowledgeable enough to help or repair this problem.