Originally Posted by getto

1990..not sure what engine/version..as the car was given to me for a winter beater!!..lol..but I have wanted this car since I was in HS..(except I wanted a manual..but hey, beggers cannot be choosers).

I joined the forum to figure out to remove my damn key from the ingnition..now that that is solved!!(forum vet, so I can search like a champ..haha)..rofl...I may have to look around.

Car is actually great...Faster than my 2004 impala.....and runs amazing....I will post some pictures, though, it's not a whole lot to see, but its a max..what can I say?..

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

hey congrats on getting your dream car, and welcome to the forum!

here's how to tell which trim model you have:

if you got chrome trim around the windows/grille, black speedo, and bodycolor mirrors, and keypad on the door handle, it's a GXE (base/semiluxury)

if you got black mirrors and window trim, bodycolor grille, white speedo, spoiler, foglights, and plain door handles it's an SE (sport model). either way you have the 160hp/182tq VG30E if it's a 1990

Originally Posted by Phidol

yeap...CapedCadaver is right...mine is 1990 and have VG30E power...i change the stack gauge cluster with the a white faced that i dug in the yard...but the speedo of a 93 is some what different from the 90 model...so i just took the white face of the speedo and put in in my stack...and i think its better if the back lights will be changed to bright leds coz its kindda dim...now im lukin for a carbon fiber sticker to pimp my gauge cluster.

repainting is almost done...it just needs to be buffed...then i'll post pic of my car

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

All VG speedometers (whether SE- White face, or GXE- Black face) go up to 125, and redline around 6000rpms IIRC. All VE speedometers (Only white face and SE from 1992-1994) go up to 145 and redline at 6600rpms- so in theory, if you just swapped the white pieces from the 1993 cluster over to yours, the speed and rpm's will be off significantly- or vice versa. I suggest you put the 1993 Cluster back to how it was, and put the whole thing in, it is calibrated to work/spin with what is shown on the gauge faces, and will work in all 1989-1994 Maxima's (excluding digital dash).

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

actually the VE stuff works fine on a VG car. it just sweeps at a narrower angle... but the sensor output of the tach and the speed sensor is the same on any car. You can put a VG speedo/tach on a VE also. The only thing that will be wrong is your redline... the VG rev limiter is lower than the VE redline but the rpm will still display properly.

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

So you're saying if you take just the white faced gauge papers from a VE cluster and put them into a VG cluster it will read right? Or did I read what the OP did originally wrong...

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

yea the clusters are totally compatible. the electronics on the VE speedo make it swing less degrees per MPH, compared to the VG speedo, that way you can cram more MPH into the same sweep.

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

I get what you're saying, but I still don't see how swapping over JUST the white faced papers from a VE speedo to a VG speedo will cause it not to be inaccurate-

example: The VG needles move at a certain pace that is calibrated to what is shown on the speedo gauge, correct? So when putting in a VE speedo gauge, the numbers will be at different places than the VG gauges.

So, for reference, if the gauge needle on a VG is straight up, you'll be going 64ish mph:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v455/tylerdurdenx2/Cars/DSC00606.jpg[IMG]

And if you JUST swapped over the white gauge piece from the VE to the VG calibrated cluster:

[IMG]http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/2/web/2630000-2630999/2630242_113_full.jpg[IMG]http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generation-maxima-1989-1994/

You'd be doing 73ish mph- so the only way to account for that would be to swap the entire cluster with gauges/needles/calibration right?

Or am I just being dense?......

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

I get what you're saying, but I still don't see how swapping over JUST the white faced papers from a VE speedo to a VG speedo will cause it not to be inaccurate-

example: The VG needles move at a certain pace that is calibrated to what is shown on the speedo gauge, correct? So when putting in a VE speedo gauge, the numbers will be at different places than the VG gauges.

So, for reference, if the gauge needle on a VG is straight up, you'll be going 64ish mph:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v455/tylerdurdenx2/Cars/DSC00606.jpg[/IM/G]

And if you JUST swapped over the white gauge piece from the VE to the VG calibrated cluster:

[IMG]http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/2/web/2630000-2630999/2630242_113_full.jpg[/IM/G]

You'd be doing 73ish mph- so the only way to account for that would be to swap the entire cluster with gauges/needles/calibration right?

Or am I just being dense?......

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

right, I thought that's what you meant- but doesn't this post sound misleading if he actually swapped over the actual speedo?

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

you don't just switch papers... here look

http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u...uster%20stuff/

note how the gauges are modular. you can make a black-white-black cluster if you wanted (of course fuel/temp are combined). You can swap an odometer, and nothing else. You can swap a tachometer, and nothing else. If i wanted a 145mph cluster, i'd keep my white VG tach, and just put only the 145mph speedo in there so the redline would still be right. But for the speedo itself, there's 4 screws in the middle, another up top where that yellow wire is, then the little tiny harness where the odometer plugs into the back of the speedo circuit.

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

missed this post before, thanks for the clarification! I know with several other cars you can swap just the faces, so this is good to know. I should tear apart my spare VE cluster sitting over at my dad's house one day.

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

these posts need to be split into their own thread......... where's the old Green one when you need him?

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

Out shopping for BMW's

Originally Posted by Greeny

Actually, i'm sitting by the window watching it snow

Originally Posted by Greeny

Actually, i'm sitting by the window watching it snow

Originally Posted by Greeny

Actually, i'm sitting by the window watching it snow

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

we are lubba j00 greeny!

nohomo

Originally Posted by BenStoked

I was outside sweating; its over 51* here....
.
.
.
I want snow.

Originally Posted by Pearl93VE

ohic Snow huh?... My mom and I might be relocating to somewhere in Tennessee here soon; Two seasons FTL

Originally Posted by jakeru

Anyone know how to cure a speedometer that intermittently drops to zero mph when the car is moving, but later starts working again with an accurate speed reading? And then it repeats the cycle of working / not working in a random manner?

All the while the odometer / trip meter always keeps working (not affected by the speedometer crapping out.)

Thanks!

Originally Posted by jakeru

Anyone know how to cure a speedometer that intermittently drops to zero mph when the car is moving, but later starts working again with an accurate speed reading? And then it repeats the cycle of working / not working in a random manner?

All the while the odometer / trip meter always keeps working (not affected by the speedometer crapping out.)

Thanks!

Originally Posted by CapedCadaver

same thing as before... use cruise control or a properly fuctional a/t (if you are a/t) to rule out a bad VSS. if the VSS is good, then it's the cluster. you can't really 'fix' the gauge... unless you are an electrical engineer and know how to fix needle gauges. but you can replace the gauge with a working one.