Anyone have a flakey speedometer? If so, I might have the fix.
10-10-2009, 12:40 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 87
Anyone have a flakey speedometer? If so, I might have the fix.
Hey guys -
My '89 max developed a flakey speedometer over the last 2-3 years. Sometimes it would work, other times it would drop to the low extreme, and other times it would drop the other direction (past the highest speed!). It also wouldn't always read correctly, sometimes, would read way faster than I was actually going. In short... the speedometer seemed to develop a mind of it's own.
The automatic tranny still shifted right, and even the cruise control still worked perfectly, even in the middle of the speedometer malfunctioning.
I believe I found the problem with the flakey speedometer: bad ground, which for the speedometer, is located behind the driver's side kick panel. (Just below the hood release ****.) You remove the trim piece below the hood release **** using phillips screwdriver, then pry away the trim piece, and the ground lug for the speedo (and one other ground lug also) is located behind a piece of glued on foam.
I fixed the unreliable grounds by removing the ground lug, and "shined" up the sheetmetal behind it with sandpaper. (The factory metal was totally covered with paint - so relied on only the fastening screw to conduct electricity, which I don't think was very wise of nissan.) I also shined up the copper ground lug surfaces (front and back) with sandpaper, added a thin layer of dielectric grease to prevent oxidation, and put it all back.
Now I seem to have a reliable speedometer again! And as a side bonus, I think my coolant temperature gauge is reading more higher, and more reliably now. (The temperature gauge also used to drop out of operation intermittently, but I dismissed it as just a loose connection at the sending unit.)
I hope this info helps some other maxima owner (as I have been reading here a while and have not seen this info posted before.)
My '89 max developed a flakey speedometer over the last 2-3 years. Sometimes it would work, other times it would drop to the low extreme, and other times it would drop the other direction (past the highest speed!). It also wouldn't always read correctly, sometimes, would read way faster than I was actually going. In short... the speedometer seemed to develop a mind of it's own.
The automatic tranny still shifted right, and even the cruise control still worked perfectly, even in the middle of the speedometer malfunctioning.
I believe I found the problem with the flakey speedometer: bad ground, which for the speedometer, is located behind the driver's side kick panel. (Just below the hood release ****.) You remove the trim piece below the hood release **** using phillips screwdriver, then pry away the trim piece, and the ground lug for the speedo (and one other ground lug also) is located behind a piece of glued on foam.
I fixed the unreliable grounds by removing the ground lug, and "shined" up the sheetmetal behind it with sandpaper. (The factory metal was totally covered with paint - so relied on only the fastening screw to conduct electricity, which I don't think was very wise of nissan.) I also shined up the copper ground lug surfaces (front and back) with sandpaper, added a thin layer of dielectric grease to prevent oxidation, and put it all back.
Now I seem to have a reliable speedometer again! And as a side bonus, I think my coolant temperature gauge is reading more higher, and more reliably now. (The temperature gauge also used to drop out of operation intermittently, but I dismissed it as just a loose connection at the sending unit.)
I hope this info helps some other maxima owner (as I have been reading here a while and have not seen this info posted before.)
Last edited by jakeru; 10-10-2009 at 12:45 AM.
10-10-2009, 07:07 AM
#2
think its the same thing for RPM? My RPM quit working almost a year ago, it will cut in for a minute or two a day and show the right RPM but the rest of the time it thrashes from 0 to past redline or just stays limp at 0/past redline. Ive got a GXE too so i dont really need RPM but i wouldnt mind having it back
10-10-2009, 11:55 AM
#3
Sorry to burst your bubble but I doubt the ground point you are talking about has anything to do with your faulty speedometer. Unless you tracked N15 through the SMJ to that point, my guess is you're just going through one of the phases where the speedo works correctly. "Bad grounds" are rare. People want an easy fix, they fool themselves into thinking ground points might solve their problems, usually they don't. It's most likely your speed sensor or the speedometer itself. If it was a bad ground connection, it wouldn't make your speedometer jump all over the place, it would simply not work or work intermittently.
10-10-2009, 08:24 PM
#5
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 87
Hectic - well I drove it again today, and you are right! The speedo is on the fritz again. It was reading 0-5mph when I was doing ~25. Then it abruptly jumped up to 25mph. Then back down to 0-5mph. Apparently the ground wasn't the problem... Or at least, it wasn't the entire problem.
Do you think that since my cruise control works reliably, even when the speedometer is jumping around, then my problem is likely with the speedometer itself?
I recall I had a problem with the digital clock, which I solved by resoldering an area on the circuit board (I think after reading about that solution on this forum.) It totally worked to solve the problem... I wonder if the speedometer might be having some sort of similar issue.
If anyone else knows how to solve this flakey/jumpey speedo issue, I would be grateful for the knowledge.
Do you think that since my cruise control works reliably, even when the speedometer is jumping around, then my problem is likely with the speedometer itself?
I recall I had a problem with the digital clock, which I solved by resoldering an area on the circuit board (I think after reading about that solution on this forum.) It totally worked to solve the problem... I wonder if the speedometer might be having some sort of similar issue.
If anyone else knows how to solve this flakey/jumpey speedo issue, I would be grateful for the knowledge.
10-12-2009, 06:42 AM
#8
Here you go. Pretty simple to do, just a bit long on the first try.
http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/
It's for fixing the clock, but the process is the same to remove the cluster (got 4 screws on the cluster and it comes out)
Just gotta unplug the old one and plug in the new one.
Since your cruise works when it does this, it means it's the cluster, otherwise it would of probably been your speed sensor.
http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/
It's for fixing the clock, but the process is the same to remove the cluster (got 4 screws on the cluster and it comes out)
Just gotta unplug the old one and plug in the new one.
Since your cruise works when it does this, it means it's the cluster, otherwise it would of probably been your speed sensor.
10-13-2009, 09:15 AM
#9
Hey guys -
My '89 max developed a flakey speedometer over the last 2-3 years. Sometimes it would work, other times it would drop to the low extreme, and other times it would drop the other direction (past the highest speed!). It also wouldn't always read correctly, sometimes, would read way faster than I was actually going. In short... the speedometer seemed to develop a mind of it's own.
The automatic tranny still shifted right, and even the cruise control still worked perfectly, even in the middle of the speedometer malfunctioning.
I believe I found the problem with the flakey speedometer: bad ground, which for the speedometer, is located behind the driver's side kick panel. (Just below the hood release ****.) You remove the trim piece below the hood release **** using phillips screwdriver, then pry away the trim piece, and the ground lug for the speedo (and one other ground lug also) is located behind a piece of glued on foam.
I fixed the unreliable grounds by removing the ground lug, and "shined" up the sheetmetal behind it with sandpaper. (The factory metal was totally covered with paint - so relied on only the fastening screw to conduct electricity, which I don't think was very wise of nissan.) I also shined up the copper ground lug surfaces (front and back) with sandpaper, added a thin layer of dielectric grease to prevent oxidation, and put it all back.
Now I seem to have a reliable speedometer again! And as a side bonus, I think my coolant temperature gauge is reading more higher, and more reliably now. (The temperature gauge also used to drop out of operation intermittently, but I dismissed it as just a loose connection at the sending unit.)
I hope this info helps some other maxima owner (as I have been reading here a while and have not seen this info posted before.)
My '89 max developed a flakey speedometer over the last 2-3 years. Sometimes it would work, other times it would drop to the low extreme, and other times it would drop the other direction (past the highest speed!). It also wouldn't always read correctly, sometimes, would read way faster than I was actually going. In short... the speedometer seemed to develop a mind of it's own.
The automatic tranny still shifted right, and even the cruise control still worked perfectly, even in the middle of the speedometer malfunctioning.
I believe I found the problem with the flakey speedometer: bad ground, which for the speedometer, is located behind the driver's side kick panel. (Just below the hood release ****.) You remove the trim piece below the hood release **** using phillips screwdriver, then pry away the trim piece, and the ground lug for the speedo (and one other ground lug also) is located behind a piece of glued on foam.
I fixed the unreliable grounds by removing the ground lug, and "shined" up the sheetmetal behind it with sandpaper. (The factory metal was totally covered with paint - so relied on only the fastening screw to conduct electricity, which I don't think was very wise of nissan.) I also shined up the copper ground lug surfaces (front and back) with sandpaper, added a thin layer of dielectric grease to prevent oxidation, and put it all back.
Now I seem to have a reliable speedometer again! And as a side bonus, I think my coolant temperature gauge is reading more higher, and more reliably now. (The temperature gauge also used to drop out of operation intermittently, but I dismissed it as just a loose connection at the sending unit.)
I hope this info helps some other maxima owner (as I have been reading here a while and have not seen this info posted before.)
10-31-2009, 10:15 PM
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