Jcharo

First off, I'm new and not a car guy by any means- I felt accomplished when I unscrewed my engine undercover and then found out what it's called... so be nice.

I won't understand technical jazz, but if anyone can point me in the right direction it'll help.

I've had the car for a year, and bought it with goofy electrical:
Driver Panel: Odometer and Speedometer don't work at all. Fuel gauge works but within 1/4 to 3/4 marks. Trip miles doesn't work. RPMs work. Temp gauge works but shows a little hot (tested- it's not). Panel flickers when I release the foot brake.
Radio/Heat/AC Panel: Flickers when I release the foot brake. Before I got a new battery and alternator, the radio would turn off when I came to a stop, then turn on when I stepped on gas... It works now though.
Driver Headlight: Takes a few times to turn it on- passenger goes right on.

The car has HIDs cause the guy I bought if from was (probably is) half blind. I don't know if they are part of the problem. I've told mechanics but never had it diagnosed. An electrical mechanic told me the 'radio turning off and on thing' baffled him... Imagine how I feel lol. But, it stopped doing that part.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

I vote to fix this yourself. I would start with the basics and make sure there are no short cuts done to the electrical, which is very sensitive on our cars. it is very common for the gauge cluster to become finicky as you described but it sounds like there has been a few subpar electrical work done on top of it, like a poor headunit install and HIDs. typically the backlighting burns out first.

how many miles are on the car?

anpk05

Take all the aftermarket junk off 1st and start from there ?

Jcharo

The odometer reads 129k but it doesn't work so there could be 300k. If the guy I bought it from was honest, there are about 155k. Do you know of a good site to guide me in checking the HIDs and electrical myself? YT videos?