trip computer - i think mines toast...

so i took the dash apart to see why the trip in my 88 doesnt work. i found it unplugged, and some wires terminated to the wrong place. i wired it up they way it should be, and plugged it in. it lit up, but it was all jibberish. so i took it apart to clean it. inside, on the display, is a big black burn mark. now, the display still works, but the mark is pretty bad. so i reassemble after cleaning the contacts. now, it stays on. all the time. no matter what. even with the key off.

now, im SURE the wiring is correct, so am i looking at a bad part?

-J0N

Sounds like it is time to visit the JY and get another one, assuming you are 100% sure the wiring is correct (are both grounds hooked up?) Any unit from any mid-late 80s Ford will work. Only differences is the display color... some are green, some are blue.

If you find a grey lense unit, just swap the green lense out of your old unit.
+1 on what Jeff said. Check out he wiring throroughly.

i checked it twice. whats odd though, is the lense has the pot mark on it from heat, looks like a weld arc, but it works fine. all the sections of light light up, it just says like 638.89 on the top and something illegible on the bottom, and none of the buttons work.

is there a link to a list of known cars that have this thing so i can look for it?

-J0N

I always check every foxbody cougar/bird, and the grand marquis (up to 89? I believe). Come to think of it, I check damn near every ford from about 79 until 90.