Strange Turbo Gauge Problem

[illuminatu]

Hey guys, my stock er34 1998 gt-t with a neo6 is doing some wierd shit, mainly the turbo gauge in my triple meter (far right in the pic below) , is occasionally bottoming out past 0, and isnt actually doing anything at all when car is running most of the time, it sits at 0 all the time, which i find wierd, isnt a gauge supposed to move as whatever it monitors changes? and yes, i did check, the engine definitely has a turbo attached to it still(a friend of mine asked me"does your car even have a turbo?" )

used to work fine, but the last few thousand k's or so, probably longer, its been doing the aformentioned strange stuff. is that normal? are turbo's meant to occasionally have negative pressure? i havent noticed a change in engine response or lack of power, or even any funny noises, turbo still spools up fine, i can still feel it go vroom when i give it the boot, so maybe the gauge is buggered?

i took it out of the dash, checked the continuity etc of most of the circuitry, it seems fine, almost like the gauge isnt getting any response from a sensor? should i pilfer a vacuum hand pump from my work and test the sensor? or just take it to my mechanic and say go nuts. any ideas? if anyone has had this problem before some info would be great:S havent noticed anything in the forums anywhere, so lets hope im not the first and my search skills are just lame.

Edited September 12, 2011 by illuminatu

[jrm]

Refer to

R34 Factory Boost Gauge Fault

This is a pretty standard fault. The MAP sensor which measures the boost for the factory gauges starts to intermittently fail due to a dry joint. I've had to fix my own and others - it takes care of the problem every time.

The other thing that commonly goes wrong is that - and our cars are getting into 12 years old now - the factory boost line gets brittle and cracks at the bottom of the boost MAP sensor - meaning it's not receiving the boost to sense.

If I were you I'd probably replace the boost line, and re-solder the MAP sensor. details are in the thread above.