1990 Maxima Low mileage (60k). Daughter has car at college, so Ihave not personally examined this yet; She reports odometer has failed. Trip odometer too. It is a mechanical odometer. She states that speedometer is fully operable. Any ideas? No fuse involved here, is there? Thanks.

 

i think these things are a common failure. i just got some new gauges so i have an extra odometer. if you want it i can send it to you. its at 153k miles so i'm not sure how to turn it back if you did install it.

 

Hey guys...I have had speedometer/odometer problems also. I took the dash apart, and removed the speedo unit. You can replace the trip reset and odometer seperately, as they are 2 parts. Just make sure you have the small mast that extends from the trip reset over to the odometer itself. There are about 8 screws in the back of the spedo unit, and the odometer/trip reset just come out.

I bought a used speedo unit and just took it apart and switched the components. It may help you to take the other apart first just to see what you are working with..Most of your time will be taking the dash apart. Otherwise, everything else goes pretty quickly.

Good luck

 

I have a 4th Gen with a similar problem. However it happened as i was driving to the airport to travel outside the country. the odometer stopped at exactly 140,000 miles and the trip meter as well. I am currently out of the country and have not done anything about it. I am not too concerned with the odometer but more with the trip meter since i use that a lot. I will get to that as soon as i get back and keep you informed

 

Wrong section, you want to be in the 4th forum
http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...a-1995-1999-6/

 

New member here, sorry about breaking the 15-rule. Bought my daughter a '90 max with approx 215k on it, temp sensor works when the fuel guage doesn't, fuel when the temp doesn't. That is when tapping on the cluster cover with the end of a screwdriver. Also, odometer quit, along with the trip-meter. Took apart the dash, unplugged the cluster, plugged back in, fuel and temp worked for a minute. Not the miles (actual or trip) Do I need to get a new instrument panel (if I can) or is there something in common with all of the problems? Thanks for any help, not a mechanic and frustrated. Just want the guages to work for the kid.

 

My odometer quit working a few times, and all I did was reset the trip meter back to zero, and both started working again! Now all of a sudden, my speedometer wants to go nuts. I am wondering if the speedometer has anything to do with how the tranny shifts if its not working properly?

 

my 91 se odometer counts miles only every now and then

sometimes it wont count miles for months at a time

 

for both of you , it could have something to do with the gearing within the speedo. the gears are plastic, and over time they can get weak and split open and spin outside the shaft instead of spinning with the shaft like they're supposed to. also the motor can mess up after a while; mine had a rough spot in its rotation that it would get stuck at for a while, get past it, count some miles, then get stuck again.

if it's just the motor, you can replace just the motor. if it's the whole odometer, you can replace that too but will have to carefully take the new odometer and click the numbers into the position you need them in to match up with whats on your odometer already...

 

yeah probably just the cluster, just get a new one and roll the odometer/swap them around if your current one works.

SE and GXE clusters are interchangeable, but IIRC VE SE have a higher speed limit, so if youre going really fast a VE SE cluster will read wrong at around 200km/h. you can swap speed sensors to change this but thats alot of work for how often you go that fast

 

where is the speedometer sensor, my speedo every so often quits and goes to "0" it really sucks when using the cruise control cause the light starts to flash and you have to turn it off...ive did the SE cluster swap and its the same with both,so i figured its the sensor. its not a cheap part even with my discount.

 

Speed sensor is located on the edge of the transmission. Look down where the fuel filter is.



As for the speedometer going to 0, it could be that the gear in the speed sensor has warped and is not grabbing the differential. Pull out the speed sensor and see if it's warped, which is a $30 part at the dealer. Better than $80+ for a replacement.

 

i finally got around to swapping in an odometer from some ve gauges i had.
the bad odometer counted here and there ever since the reset stick felt crunchy one day years ago
it showed like 186k so the new one will
start counting again at 198k which is probaly close but im not sure
but this works since i did the timing belt and 3 front seals a few years ago and now
i have like 41,500 miles till i do it again around 240k

 

Awesome! thank you,ill look into this this weekend.hopefully its a gear. thanks again!

 

My Odometer, and trip do not work, I can hear it clicking, but I am not sure what to do to fix it, all other gauges on the cluster work fine. A mechanic said that the gears may have slipped out of place, and that I might could just push them back in there place. I attempted once to take out the speedcluster but stopped when I thought I could break the vent inserts. Would love any suggestions.

 

i havent removed a cluster on a 3rd gen in years, but last time i remember removing one i think i just removed the plastic trim around the cluster itself, then got access to the bolts holding the cluster itself down and unplugged the cluster. dont remember any vent inserts being involved

 

The vent inserts are on the plastic trim. I got scared thinking I was going to break them, and put it all back.