Multiple Instrument Guage Malfunctions Simultaneously

[Daniel Key]

Hi, this is Danny in Va. I have a 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser with only 69,900 miles on it. Last Friday, 3 of the instrument gauges began malfunctioning. Simultaneoulsly, the voltage guage pegged to 13+ volts, the Fuel Guage pedded as far below E as possible, (although I had just filled the tank), and the Oil Pressure Guage increased to within 1/8 inch of H. I had the alternator tested by Advance Auto and by a reputable shop. Both reported it was putting out 13.49 volts. I also found an electrical schematic of all fuses and verified that all fuses that appeared to related to guages were good via Ohm meter. Although the guages were malfunctioning and still are, the truck runs fine. The vehicle is currently in a shop being diagnosed at $100/hour and the owner says it may take them days to find the root cause. Has anyone ever had this happen to them and/or does anyone have any ideas what the problem might be? Thank you so much, Danny

 

[ultane]

Welcome to this 2024 Land Cruiser forum Daniel.

Have you read codes yet? Since all three gauges began malfunctioning simultaneously, I would look for a problem upstream from all three of them, that shares the same electrical wiring. Sometimes, carefully tracing the wiring back from the malfunctioning one, gives you the answer.

Good luck!

 

[surf fishing offroader]

Hi, this is Danny in Va. I have a 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser with only 69,900 miles on it. Last Friday, 3 of the instrument gauges began malfunctioning. Simultaneoulsly, the voltage guage pegged to 13+ volts, the Fuel Guage pedded as far below E as possible, (although I had just filled the tank), and the Oil Pressure Guage increased to within 1/8 inch of H. I had the alternator tested by Advance Auto and by a reputable shop. Both reported it was putting out 13.49 volts. I also found an electrical schematic of all fuses and verified that all fuses that appeared to related to guages were good via Ohm meter. Although the guages were malfunctioning and still are, the truck runs fine. The vehicle is currently in a shop being diagnosed at $100/hour and the owner says it may take them days to find the root cause. Has anyone ever had this happen to them and/or does anyone have any ideas what the problem might be? Thank you so much, Danny

With those repair rates, you might be better off just giving up and getting an entire new replacement gauge assembly and install it, or even a nice digital one...

Electrical gremlins like that are hard to chase, and it could be something stupid like potentiometers being out...

 

[Daniel Key]

Thanks, but according to the Toyota place, replacement assemblies are not available