gauges and turn signals out
 

Hi, I'm a new miata owner, I just bought mine and the turn signals and gauges were working, as i was driving it home they all quit. The speedometer and hazard lights do work. Just the tach, oil pressure, gas gauge and turn signals are out, i thought the fuse was out so i changed it. The only thing this fixed is some damn incessant beeping noise, like a seatbelt beeper, but the warning lights dont work so i dont know what the beeper is for. so then i thought it was a bad ground, i cleaned about 5 grounds and managed to make the winshield wipers work but still no gauges and turn signals. Does anyone know where this ground is? I've heard a few stories about different possibilities of what the problem could be. I need help, I just want to drive my beautiful car down the road with my hair flowing in the wind. I dont want to go to a mechanic because i usually do all my work myself. Ive had bad experiences with mechanics messing with things that dont need messed with and breaking more than they fix, charging rediculous prices. Someone point me in right direction to fix my car please.

That doesn't sound like a ground. Check the large white and the large blue connectors under the dashboard.

Make sure they click together firmly.

It makes it harder that you didn't say what year car you have. I believe the instrument clusters are more or less identical up through 97.

There are wiring diagrams available here: http://www.mellens.net/mazda/index.html

The fact that the hazards work but not the turn signals seems like a pretty big clue. The flasher unit itself is always powered so that the hazard lights work even with the ignition switch turned off. The hazard switch just grounds a pin on the flasher unit.

On the other hand, the turn signal switch sends 12V signals to the flasher unit. It gets its power through the room fuse. If the room fuse is blown (or some part of the circuit is open) then the turn signals won't work but the hazards will.

One more thing: you'll get a better response here if your writing is less stream of consciousness and more deliberate. Capitalization and line breaks matter.

you keep popping the 10a gauge fuse. more than likely o2 sensor short... either the wire is touching the exhaust or body somewhere or the internal heater has gone bad causing the short. nuff said

its a 92 mx-5, i checked all the fuses with a fuse checker, all green lights so im still lost on this problem, i checked all the connectors to make sure they are firmly connected, i even took off the piece above the gauges and checked the connection directly to the gauges, still no luck, all the wiring looks fairly new, bright color suggesting they arent that old. hmmm i just keep tinkering and cant find any obvious problem

its has to be something dumb because it just quit while driving down the road, they worked for one turn and the next turn they were out

ahh now we know what year. excuse my last post. has either fuse labeled meter or engine blown?

for them to work and then not work i would be weary of the cluster getting power. there is a black/yellowwire going into the cluster. it comes from the meter fuse. if you dont have power coming into the cluster from that black and yellow wire none of the electrical gauges will work.

I literally just built this circuit on my Miata from scratch. Although I can't remember what parts of the circuit I improved, and what Mazda did, so I might be off a bit.

But let's make sure, are you talking about the actual turn signals not working, or JUST the turn signal indicators on the gauge panel?

I'm willing to bet just the gauge signal indicators do not work. They all share a common ground. I believe this is located on the far passenger side either by the blower or all the way on the passenger side by the door (in front of the door more towards the engine).

There are a bunch of grounds around there. It's very possible one rattled loose.

the mystery continues
 

So the ground you are referring to has been thoroughly cleaned, i checked all fuse with a fuse tester thingy. (excuse the non-technical terms i'm a girl, who knows all mechanic skills from helping dad and doesnt take the time to learn the terms for tools and part, like i can change a timing chain but ccouldnt tell you the name of half the parts im taking off). So the i took a power checker thingy (screw driver that lights up lol) Im getting power to the guages, getting power to all fuse holes except the tailight hole, however the tail-lights work. I wouldnt think it would be the problem because the fuse is labeled tail lights, and the fuse labeled turn signal IS getting power. HMMMMM. Im also getting power to the gauges.. Also getting power to the turn signal in the back of the car. For the life of me I can not ffigure out why the fucking hazards work and the turn signals dont. Its driving me nuts. I also slowly took apart each connector one by one and seen if they were gettting power, then i made sure they were FIRMLY connected back together. OMG im so tempted to drop it off to someone and tell them to fix it. I dont want to take it to a mechanic, i wish i just knew some guy i could give some cash and he would fix it. Anyone near Tallahassee want a side job?

Okay unfortunately you didn't answer my question. Do the actual turn signals not work (on the bumpers)? OR JUST the turn signal indicators on the gauge face do not show up.

Also please note the following:

1. You need a digital multimeter. Throw that shitty test light out (the power checker thingy). They can cause more problems than they solve.

2. You need to check resistance (continuity) from the ground at the gauge, to a known good ground. A simple chassis ground should be sufficient as that is what it's grounded to anyways. Basically unplug the connector at the back of the gauge panel and locate 2J (black wire in-between the BLK-YEL and RED wire). Turn your DMM to ohms and stick one of the leads into the connector where 2J is, place the other lead on the known good ground. If you get a resistance reading it should be good (unless it's very high, you can report back with the number if you get one). If it stays on OFL it means you don't have a good ground, and there is an open circuit somewhere.

3. Going along with the above, if you get OFL, there is a connector that is located above the glove box that connects a bunch of gauge wires, including the ground. If this comes undone you can experience the problem you have.

4. How did you verify you have power to the gauges? Power to the gauges does not mean power at the meter fuse. All that means is power at the meter fuse. You need to check 2K (BLK-YEL- happens to be next to the wire above) on the back of the gauge. Again something you can do with a digital multimeter.

If you have power and ground to the gauges, then have you considered you may have a bad gauge cluster?

neither
 

the turn signals dont work inside or outside the car. the lights on the dash dont light up for the turn signals and they dont work outside the car. The hazards work in the dash and outside

thanks for all the info i will see next time im off work

Okay that changes things a bit.

I'd say something is bad with the BLK-YEL wires from the meter fuse. It basically provides power from the meter fuse to a lot of things, including the cluster, combination switch (the stalk that you use to turn the turn signals on), and a few other things.

You can watch this video for help with DMM, it's the first in a series of 3, I recommend watching them all. Yes they are long, but this is stuff you need to know if you want to diagnose things:

We used to have a couple of forum members in the Tallahassee area, but I don't think we do anymore. I can only wish you luck and stay tuned.

Maybe dumb question, but did you check both fuse blocks? There's one in the engine compartment and another under the dash. The one under the dash has the "room" fuse that powers the turn signals but is not used for the hazards.