PRND321 display/sensor issues

[plantone]

So the last couple days my PRND321 indicators have been goofy.

the display comes on, but during gear changes sometimes the indicator doesnt display anything (ie: no gear is highlighted) or the wrong gear will be displayed (showing 3 when i'm in D, or R or 3 when i'm in P)

most of the time it self corrects after a seemingly random short interval, other times it continues for hours at a time.


what really irking me about it - its messing with my auto door unlock/lock as thats triggered by the gear position. If i put the truck in park, and then shut off, and turn the key back on the PRND321 highlights Park correctly and the door unlocks.



is my cluster going wonky? or is this like a sensor in the steering column going bad?

[roadrunner]

Sounds like a ground problem but before digging into that have you verified BOTH of your battery cables are tight and making good contact? Also that they are not only tight but the inserts they screw into on the battery are not loose in the battery even though the cables are tight in them? I've had both problems and they'll do some really wonky things to the cluster and gauges and sensors. This is a common s-10 problem.

[plantone]

i'll check the battery connections in the morning.

[plantone]

ok so quick update - i checked the battery connections. they seemed reasonably tight, but snugged them down a 1/4 turn or so and things have gotten dramatically better! had one hiccup later in the day after i touched them up and been fine since.

i did replace the battery recently (first of the year, in the brutal cold, like first day or three of january) so its possible i didnt just get it tight enough, but i never had an issue until recently. i was also in the for a front hub and rear wheel bearing, seal and axel. i dont think they would have had to mess with disconnecting the battery for either operation, but its possible (do you have to do that to do ABS sensor connections?) - and suspect since this started within a day or so of being out of the shop.

i'm gonna pull the terminals off, give them a good solid brushing to clean up the contacts, and replace the stud in the ground wire. i've got a fresh gold plated one left over from my stero install that i can put in



thanks for the tip! learn something new every day!

[roadrunner]

Make sure you have adequate length on both cables as well because the mfr is pretty stingy with batt cables. The torque and movement of the engine can raise hell with an otherwise good connection particularly if the motor mounts are getting bad. Lengthen them if needed. You won't be sorry for doing so.

[plantone]

the MM's should still be in good shape. i replaced two of them last year i think it was. one was broken and they said the other needed some love so yea.. do them both kind of thing while you're in there.

I'm sure it was just me not getting the cables 100% when i reattached them - single digit temps with windchill around -15F in the parking lot at autozone will do that to you. i was freezing my giblets off that day.

and the day the dash started going goofy i was playing slushbuster after a big snowstorm, so i was driving over all kinds of s### and rocking the truck around pretty good, so no shock they loosened up then on me just enough.


i love the winter, and a good snowstorm turns me into a big kid when it comes to driving around. I'll splash thru every slop pile i can, drift around corners in 4x4, etc. basically when everyone else is trying to stay in the two tracks beat into the road, i'm driving in the piles and flattening them down lol