Messed with indiglo's, now speedometer is fallen past 0!

[TheTSiGuy]

What do i do? i went to take the indiglo gauges out, and all else works, except for the speedometer...the gauge thing falls past the zero now. when i cruise at 25-30 mph, its not working. What do i do? any fix?

Thanks!
Jim

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by TheTSiGuy
What do i do? i went to take the indiglo gauges out, and all else works, except for the speedometer...the gauge thing falls past the zero now. when i cruise at 25-30 mph, its not working. What do i do? any fix?

Thanks!
Jim

Hi Jim and all:

This is a tough one, without knowing exactly what was and what is now, making diagnosis will be impossible.

Many circuits in the instrument panel are designed to be balanced, i.e. x volts keeps them happy less than, more than, will cause them to deflect. Off the top of my head I'd think that a gound was missing thus it's finding another set of paths to impart electrical flow. This could be as simple and stupid as a bulb making contact in 2 places, it could get more involved with the bulb check circuit. If your take it out and the same condition exists then I'd look for some other major ground/radio connection being wrong.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[TheTSiGuy]

ah, so a set voltage keeps the speedometer needles at 0 mph, even when off? hows that work? Was there nothing to hold the needle up anyways?

Hmm, think if i pull the ECU or something, it will work again? I have no idea what to do..

 

[TheTSiGuy]

hmm. pulling the ecu looks a bit more daunting than i thought. i thought it was some small chip that is easy to remove. Its a hige clunky thing in my center console! ah! the way its mounted, its not so easy to remove. beh. Any ideas?

 

[TheTSiGuy]

ok, i went to mitsu this morning, and they wanted 150 bucks for a speedometer...says its the only way to replace it..

hmm..

 

[Big Bald]

Originally posted by TheTSiGuy
ok, i went to mitsu this morning, and they wanted 150 bucks for a speedometer...says its the only way to replace it..

hmm..

If worse coems to worse i am sure you can find a new cluster on Ebay or the trader and just set the miles accordingly.

 

[TheTSiGuy]

thats what im really close to doing. just about to rip that fvcker out and start like new. Rrrrr

 

[Dieselboy]

Make sure you did not rotate the speedometer needle all the way around when you took the guages off.

 

[TheTSiGuy]

I didnt rotate it at all. I simply slide the indiglo gauge off, ever so slightly. When it came off, the needle slipped below the zero.

 

[TheTSiGuy]

ah, anyone happen to know if you can adjust the miles on a used cluster?

Theres one on ebay, that reads 162,000 miles or something. my car has 132,000.

Any idea?

 

[TSiAWD666]

Um, just put the needle past the little place-holder needle that comes out of the stock speedo gauge-face. If this isn't it, did you lose the needle?

 

[TheTSiGuy]

eh, i dont think i have one of those things that holds the speedo needle up. Otherwise, this wouldnt be a problem.

hmm

 

[Colossus]

Uhhh...dont mostly all cars have a needle that holds ur speedometer needle at 0? All cars ive ever seen have..

 

[TheTSiGuy]

eh, mine doesnt. i can twist my needle all around 360 degrees.

Good news is, that i played with the needle a bit, and now i can get it to stick at 0 mph!! Now whether or not that is accurate, thats yet to be decided. I totally messed up my oil gauge though...how important is that anyways?


Im still thinking of sticking with buying a used gauge cluster. hmm.

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by TheTSiGuy
eh, mine doesnt. i can twist my needle all around 360 degrees.

Good news is, that i played with the needle a bit, and now i can get it to stick at 0 mph!! Now whether or not that is accurate, thats yet to be decided. I totally messed up my oil gauge though...how important is that anyways?
Im still thinking of sticking with buying a used gauge cluster. hmm.

You must have pulled up on the needle when installing the faces. They are usually just a press fit but you need to be gentle. Yes, most cars have a pin stop mounted on the face but if there is no hole then it's not got one and may just use the movement housing. My guess is you might be +5mph fast so you will just have to fiddle. Use tissue when handeling so you don't leave ugly finger prints.

Just remembered, to check the speedo, cut the head off a nail whose tip is a square taper. Use a reversing 110v 1/4" drill which will rotate at _2200_ rpm, set for reverse. Put nail in chuck and press gently against the driven shaft pull trigger, this should give you 60mph, if not reset the needle. Instruments are like watches and clocks, you can't be heavy handed with them.

What happened to the Oil pressure gauge?

If the used cluster isn't too pricy go for it. Yes you can set the odometer, take some pictures of it so you can see how it goes together. You will probably need some jewlers screwdrivers to pull it apart. Use a bath towel on your work surface. Keep your fingers off that spring!!! Frequently the odo shaft is set in with a circlip, use a bent bobby pen or a scribe to remove it, keep a rag over so it doesn't launch into never never land. You can use a short piece of tape if the wheels want to fall all over the place, try to keep them in order, though only the end ones will be different for they won't have the tripping cam on both sides. Once seperated enough you can set the numbers you want. Write on the housing what it was and the date, this will keep you out of trouble with the law. Depending on your city there are speedo (instrument shops) who will do this for you so look in the yellow pages or call up the dealer and ask who does their work if you don't want to mess with it. My guess is 15-30 min of work if you walk in with the part, may even be able to wait just depends on how busy the shop is. It's not rocket science, just delecate parts.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[TheTSiGuy]

Thanks for the informative how to GTM. I appreciate it.

With that said, will a 90 turbo gauge work on a 91? I recall someone saying some things are different.

What do you think?

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by TheTSiGuy
Thanks for the informative how to GTM. I appreciate it.

With that said, will a 90 turbo gauge work on a 91? I recall someone saying some things are different.
What do you think?

Ya got me on that one, didn't think they had changed anything... Wouldn't be a bad thing to buy the CD, you just can't take to to the car unless you have a laptop with drive. Other than that a call to a dealer parts dept. I also see Micro-Fisch offered on eBay if you can find the unit in a thrift store for $10.

Anyone else know if there is a difference??

Cheers,
GTM

 

[BISHILVR]

yep there is a difference, the 90 uses a different type of ignition signal buffer so the tach on the 90 cluster will not work on 91 and up....you would have to swap the tach around then everything else will work .....i've done this myself

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by BISHILVR
yep there is a difference, the 90 uses a different type of ignition signal buffer so the tach on the 90 cluster will not work on 91 and up....you would have to swap the tach around then everything else will work .....i've done this myself

Thanks for calling that to my (our) attention... I've an excuse, it's my son's car and I don't have to know these things. Well not until I have to fix it anyway.

Is the signal buffer inside the tach or a separate unit? How can you tell them apart?

Cheers,
GTM

 

[TheTSiGuy]

hmmm..the tach wont work, eh?

So i would have to take my existing tach,and swap it in?

Not that a tach matter much to me. It was useful when i first learned to drive 5 speed, but i hardly look at it now. Plus, ive got the rev monitor on my Apexi S-AFC

Think i'd still be ok, even with a tach working?

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by TheTSiGuy
hmmm..the tach wont work, eh?
...
So i would have to take my existing tach,and swap it in?
...
Think i'd still be ok, even with a tach working?

Let's pedal backwards for a moment. You were asking about the boost gauge, then we got off on the speedo and tach. You might want to clarify what you want to change... whole cluster or individual items. The tach won't have any influence on the boost gauge except for physical mounting so if they are in the same place chances are the boost will fit. I can't help you either way since I've not had a need to pull one or both of these apart.

Perhaps BISHILVR can shed some more light on this.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[TheTSiGuy]

haha.

sorry for the confusion.

At first, it was a quest to make the boost gauge work. Then my speedomter didnt work. but now it sort of does. And now, im being told that the tachometer on a 1990 car would be an issue to swap in.

What im really asking is, would i honestly be ok with a 90 cluster in my 91. thats all.

 

[BISHILVR]

the answer is yes...i currently run a 90 cluster in my 94' talon and it will work just fine...bolts right in.. but like i said if u leave the 90 tach in there it wil sit there and do nothing!! every other gauge will work just fine though!! if u have further questions just shoot....

 

[BISHILVR]

oh btw the reason i went to the 90 cluster is that the speedo goes up to a higher speed on the 90!! added bonus...

 

[TheTSiGuy]

bishilvr, thanks for shedding light on that.

I dont need no stinkin tachometer anyways, ive got pretty good ears to listen for shift points :laugh:

Ive got my old cluster, so i guess i can swap in the tach if i wanted.

Ah, question. EVen though the 90 tach starts at 5 mph, is the speedometer still accurate?

Thanks!