All you crackerjack diagnosticians step right up:
Just changed my starter, and headed back down to Advance Auto to get my core charge refunded (and get back home in time for the Colts-Ravens kickoff), but noticed that my speedo, odo, tach and water temp gauges weren't registering at all. But otherwise, the car seemed to start and run just fine. By the time I got back hone, a :30 minute round-trip, the battery was all but dead. Also, there was no CEL.
Thinking my way thru this mystery, although I can't make it compute in my mind, the only thing I can think of is that the MAF plug, although it was on, might have not been completely pushed in (i.e., snapped). I'm guessing that the engine was basically running in closed loop, but don't know if that would negate the need for any signal from the MAF. Anyone have any insight as to why/how this might have cut off the signal to those gauges as well as kept the alternator from charging the battery? There's a connector there by the tranny mount for the VSS, and I'm sure I must have nudged that in the process, but I can't imagine how all of these symptoms could have come from breaking that connection.
Too late to troubleshoot tonight, but there's always tomorrow.

 

Dead batt/alt.

But the battery light should have came on if the alt was dead or the belt came off.

Good game eh

 

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and geuss that you didn't disconnect the battery? Then when you removed the + terminal from the starter you blew a fuse......... check the big ones under the hood first, aka the 'fusible links'.......... don't worry, we've all done it, in fact I've done it more than once........

 

check the METER fuse in the fuse panel.

 

Well, that was a good call (thank you) and explained why those 3 gauges went dead. But I'm still scratching my head over why the battery went dead.

 

Melted fuse indicates a very high current draw. If the battery wasn't new and strong, and the short circuit had just the right amount of resistance, it could drain the battery for a while before the fuse finally melted.

Just a theory, but it is grounded in reason. I would charge the battery overnight and see how it responds.

BTW, a disconnected MAF causes the car to run like total garbage. You would notice the moment you pull away and accelerate.

Dave

 

Well mystery solved, so now to repair it.
I replaced the blown Meter fusible link, and started the car, but it proceeded to pop again. I also got a 0500 CEL code (for the VSS). Since the wires for the VSS are located right down in the vicinity of the longer of the 2 bolts holding the starter in, that's where I began looking. What I found was a harness with four wires in it had been caught behind the large flat washer on that long bolt (kind of hard seeing what you're doing down there, working by Braille - but that's only a lame excuse), so when I torqued that bolt down, one of the wires got crushed and was grounded. Kind of tight quarters to work in, but now that the mystery's been solved, the easy part will be fixing the wire.
Thanx guys,
Curt