306 Dashboard dials don't work

Went over a rather large speed bump at speed recently and all the
dashboard dials dies. Removed the shunt fuse and put back in and all
seemed fine for a few days.

Yesterday the airbag warning light came on. Turned the engine off for
30 seconds and the airbag warning light didn't come back on. Today
going over a speed bump at normal speed (10mph) all the dials died
again, so had to remove and re-insert the shunt fuse.

Before taking it to a garage, has anybody come across this and what
would the solution be?

Thanks in advance.

 

Check the connectors that come down on the drivers side at the right
- just above and to the right of the accelerator pedal, in case any
are loose.

I wouldn't think that it could be a connector that has come loose at
the back of the instrument cluster, as each group are on a different
connector.

The airbag light would have been unrelated to the instrument light
problem I think. You could try checking the connector in the
steering column (it's on top of it under the casing, with an orange
connector). I recently had to replace the rotary connector on mine,
as I broke the old one when removing the steering wheel. Cost me £15
for one from the breakers, but Peugeot wanted £85!

When you say the dials died, do you mean the actual readouts dropped
to zero, or the illumination?

Sometimes dodgy illumination in interior lighting can be related to
faulty brake/headlamp bulbs. I've had it happen on a couple of
vehicles, that the element in say the brake bulb has snapped and
fallen across the earth to the sidelights.
Whenever I put the brakes on, the interior lights came on dimly.

 

Thanks for your reply.

I'll check the connections as you suggest. The dials failing is the actual
needles go to zero. The dial illuminations still work. The car works ok, but
without no speedo and petrol gauge it's a bit dicey!

I've got breakdown cover with RAC, so if it happens again I'll give them a
call, failing that garage time [but don't need that before Xmas].

 

Check the main earth lead from the battery to the gearbox and then on
to the chassis. Give it a pull at the ends. I bet one end is broken or
about to.