Speedometer is off after installing
04-25-2002, 08:41 AM
#1
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Speedometer is off after installing
a new temp/fuel guage. When the car is off the speedo needle is down at zero, when the car is on the needle rests at 10 mph. I was really careful when replacing the guage, what could have happened and what can I do about it? Its a 89 GXE. Anyways the temp guage works now! Hope I don't have to get it recalibrated, because the temp guage wasn't cheap.
04-29-2002, 05:59 PM
#4
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Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
Recheck all of you connections on your dash. You may have a loose one. Also, confirm the gauges you put in are for your model Maxima.
Brent.
Recheck all of you connections on your dash. You may have a loose one. Also, confirm the gauges you put in are for your model Maxima.
Brent.
05-01-2002, 03:00 AM
#5
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Posts: 313
Originally posted by CMD89
Thanks for responding. I checked all the connections multiple times and am sure that the temp/fuel guage is the correst model. When the care is off the needle rests down at zero, however when it is started the guage pops up to 10 mph. I'm all out of ideas any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
Thanks for responding. I checked all the connections multiple times and am sure that the temp/fuel guage is the correst model. When the care is off the needle rests down at zero, however when it is started the guage pops up to 10 mph. I'm all out of ideas any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
Try disconnecting the harness that feeds the fuel and temp gauges. Is the problem still there? Yes? Try disconnecting another harness to the tacho. And so on.
If you end up with all the harnesses disconnected (bar the speedo one) then you have narrowed down the problem (somewhat).
Post back what you find.
Brent.
05-01-2002, 05:38 PM
#6
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Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
It sounds like the speedo unit is getting a signal from somewhere. The circuit gets no power until the car is switched on (hence at zero when the car is off). Either a poor ground on a connection, or the circuit function has been changed as a result of adding in the fuel and temp gauges (change in resistance etc).
Try disconnecting the harness that feeds the fuel and temp gauges. Is the problem still there? Yes? Try disconnecting another harness to the tacho. And so on.
If you end up with all the harnesses disconnected (bar the speedo one) then you have narrowed down the problem (somewhat).
Post back what you find.
Brent.
It sounds like the speedo unit is getting a signal from somewhere. The circuit gets no power until the car is switched on (hence at zero when the car is off). Either a poor ground on a connection, or the circuit function has been changed as a result of adding in the fuel and temp gauges (change in resistance etc).
Try disconnecting the harness that feeds the fuel and temp gauges. Is the problem still there? Yes? Try disconnecting another harness to the tacho. And so on.
If you end up with all the harnesses disconnected (bar the speedo one) then you have narrowed down the problem (somewhat).
Post back what you find.
Brent.
Brent,
Thanks for the response. When I was changing the temp/fuel guage I had the cluster upside down and the speedo needle went all the way around to 125 mph. Maybe I hit it and bent it backwards clockwise past 125 a little bit. Could that have misclibrated the speedo? I'm just trying to narrow down all the possibilities. I'll try your ideas about the connections tomorrow after work. Thanks for all your help.
Chris
05-02-2002, 12:48 AM
#7
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Posts: 313
It is unlikely that you have bent the needle just from it moving on its own motion. You would have to physically bend the needle, and they are pretty big needles! I can't recall off the top of my head if the speedo has a physical stop for a zero speed reading. If it does then check that the needle rests on the stop when the car is switched off. If it doesn't, then the needle is bent.
Brent.
Brent.
05-02-2002, 12:04 PM
#8
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Brent,
When the car is off the speedo needle rests at zero on the needle stop. Only when the key is turned to the ACC (I think) does it jump up to 10 mph. I tried to push the needle back to zero with the clear cover off while the car was running and it just bounces back up to 10 mph. I'm baffled. Thanks.
Chris
When the car is off the speedo needle rests at zero on the needle stop. Only when the key is turned to the ACC (I think) does it jump up to 10 mph. I tried to push the needle back to zero with the clear cover off while the car was running and it just bounces back up to 10 mph. I'm baffled. Thanks.
Chris
05-05-2002, 04:53 PM
#10
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Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
OK, well that means you have got an electrical fault somewhere in your cluster. Try the things I have described previously.
Brent.
OK, well that means you have got an electrical fault somewhere in your cluster. Try the things I have described previously.
Brent.
Brent,
Thanks for all the help. I'm going to try those things that you previously mentioned as soon as I get some free time. I don't understand how simply changing the temp/fuel guage could have caused this problem. Hope that I didn't mess anything up in the process. Thanks again for the help.
Chris
05-06-2002, 01:15 AM
#11
hmm
Make ceratin that all the srews on the board are tighten.. and that all the bulbz are connected securely. My be try to take a look behind the gauge face it self.. when you changed the tem gauge did you take the whole cluster appart. the tach and the speedo..?? just wondering.. make certain that all the wires that you moved is properly attached.. well i am out of ideals.. when you dirve lets say no gas and just let it roll.. that should be a speed of 5-10mph.. what does that speedo say when you are rolling.. try putting the car in first gear.. around 3500 4000 rpms the car should read aprox. 25-30 mph see if that speedo is giving you a false reading still.. if i am correct and its off by 10 mph.. when you hit 3500 4000 rpm then the ba speedo should read 40+.. if so i suugest getting a new cluster or take it to a techniction and get it checked out.. the whle cluster should be fine, but deff change the speedo if its giving you problems
05-07-2002, 09:50 PM
#13
OK I HAVE BEEN OWNED
I just installed se guages in my gxe vg.. yes the cluster is vg compatiable.. But seems like when i turned on the car the guage on the speedo went right up to 10mph... and the tach was slow to register the rpms... Even when i tried to red line it went past 7500rpms 
VG POWER... seriosuly now that i have this problem how can i calibrate it.. if it cannot be fix i am taking it back to the person i got them from.. HOw much to calibrate it..?
VG POWER... seriosuly now that i have this problem how can i calibrate it.. if it cannot be fix i am taking it back to the person i got them from.. HOw much to calibrate it..?
05-08-2002, 03:21 AM
#14
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Posts: 313
Sounds similar to CMD89's problem. It is not something you would expect to occur as these gauges are interchangeable.
Calibration is simple, but you need a rolling speed unit (I have no idea as to its correct name) that shows the actual speed at the rollers so you can compare against what your gauges read.
All that the technician does is adjusts a trimpot on the cluster (assuming there is no other fault with the cluster).
Any good automotive instrument specialist should be able to do it. Can't give you prices as it varies but $100 would be my guess.
Brent.
Calibration is simple, but you need a rolling speed unit (I have no idea as to its correct name) that shows the actual speed at the rollers so you can compare against what your gauges read.
All that the technician does is adjusts a trimpot on the cluster (assuming there is no other fault with the cluster).
Any good automotive instrument specialist should be able to do it. Can't give you prices as it varies but $100 would be my guess.
Brent.
05-12-2002, 08:10 PM
#15
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 75
Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
Sounds similar to CMD89's problem. It is not something you would expect to occur as these gauges are interchangeable.
Calibration is simple, but you need a rolling speed unit (I have no idea as to its correct name) that shows the actual speed at the rollers so you can compare against what your gauges read.
All that the technician does is adjusts a trimpot on the cluster (assuming there is no other fault with the cluster).
Any good automotive instrument specialist should be able to do it. Can't give you prices as it varies but $100 would be my guess.
Brent.
Sounds similar to CMD89's problem. It is not something you would expect to occur as these gauges are interchangeable.
Calibration is simple, but you need a rolling speed unit (I have no idea as to its correct name) that shows the actual speed at the rollers so you can compare against what your gauges read.
All that the technician does is adjusts a trimpot on the cluster (assuming there is no other fault with the cluster).
Any good automotive instrument specialist should be able to do it. Can't give you prices as it varies but $100 would be my guess.
Brent.
Brent,
I tried those suggestions this weekend and with both the temp/fuel and the tach disconnected the speedo still read 10 mph at a standstill. I even put the old temp/fuel guage back in to see if that would put it back to normal; but the speedo still popped up to 10 mph when started. I'm all out of ideas about this one. Any more suggestions or help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Chris
05-13-2002, 12:19 AM
#16
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 313
When you put in the new gauges, did you only remove the fuel and temp ones?
If you drive the car, is it 10 mph out across the range of the speedo? i.e. if you follow a friend at set speeds, does your speedo read 10 mph more.
If so, you might be able to recalibrate the speedo. I don't know how much you can adjust these units so it might be outside the range of normal adjustment.
It really does sound like there is an electrical fault somewhere in the cluster and it is hard to diagnose over the net. It might mean getting a second hand speedo unit or perhaps an entire cluster.
If you want to try recalibrating you can do it yourself or get a shop to do it for you. I can give you some instructions but I accept no responsibility for any consequences.
Brent.
If you drive the car, is it 10 mph out across the range of the speedo? i.e. if you follow a friend at set speeds, does your speedo read 10 mph more.
If so, you might be able to recalibrate the speedo. I don't know how much you can adjust these units so it might be outside the range of normal adjustment.
It really does sound like there is an electrical fault somewhere in the cluster and it is hard to diagnose over the net. It might mean getting a second hand speedo unit or perhaps an entire cluster.
If you want to try recalibrating you can do it yourself or get a shop to do it for you. I can give you some instructions but I accept no responsibility for any consequences.
Brent.
05-13-2002, 05:53 PM
#18
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 75
Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
When you put in the new gauges, did you only remove the fuel and temp ones?
If you drive the car, is it 10 mph out across the range of the speedo? i.e. if you follow a friend at set speeds, does your speedo read 10 mph more.
If so, you might be able to recalibrate the speedo. I don't know how much you can adjust these units so it might be outside the range of normal adjustment.
It really does sound like there is an electrical fault somewhere in the cluster and it is hard to diagnose over the net. It might mean getting a second hand speedo unit or perhaps an entire cluster.
If you want to try recalibrating you can do it yourself or get a shop to do it for you. I can give you some instructions but I accept no responsibility for any consequences.
Brent.
When you put in the new gauges, did you only remove the fuel and temp ones?
If you drive the car, is it 10 mph out across the range of the speedo? i.e. if you follow a friend at set speeds, does your speedo read 10 mph more.
If so, you might be able to recalibrate the speedo. I don't know how much you can adjust these units so it might be outside the range of normal adjustment.
It really does sound like there is an electrical fault somewhere in the cluster and it is hard to diagnose over the net. It might mean getting a second hand speedo unit or perhaps an entire cluster.
If you want to try recalibrating you can do it yourself or get a shop to do it for you. I can give you some instructions but I accept no responsibility for any consequences.
Brent.
Thanks for responding, anyways I think that the speedo is approx. 10 mph off across the entire band. I haven't compared it to anyone, however I seem to by keep up with traffic if I just go 10 mph over the speed limit and the rpms seem to be the same as they were with the speedo reading 10 mph over(did that make any sense?). I would like to get it fixed soon, preferably by myself. How would I go about recalibrationg it myself? Is it difficult? Any more help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.
Chris
05-14-2002, 12:07 AM
#19
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 313
OK. On the speedo unit, (on the circuit board side) you will see a blue trimpot (I can email you a picture of a trimpot if you need to know what it looks like). This is what you use to adjust the speedo. Mark a reference point on it before you start so you can return it to its original setting if it doesn't work. Turn the pot either clockwise or anticlockwise to adjust your speedo reading.
Hopefully this will solve your problem.
Brent.
Hopefully this will solve your problem.
Brent.
05-14-2002, 12:08 AM
#20
picsa
Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
OK. On the speedo unit, (on the circuit board side) you will see a blue trimpot (I can email you a picture of a trimpot if you need to know what it looks like). This is what you use to adjust the speedo. Mark a reference point on it before you start so you can return it to its original setting if it doesn't work. Turn the pot either clockwise or anticlockwise to adjust your speedo reading.
Hopefully this will solve your problem.
Brent.
OK. On the speedo unit, (on the circuit board side) you will see a blue trimpot (I can email you a picture of a trimpot if you need to know what it looks like). This is what you use to adjust the speedo. Mark a reference point on it before you start so you can return it to its original setting if it doesn't work. Turn the pot either clockwise or anticlockwise to adjust your speedo reading.
Hopefully this will solve your problem.
Brent.
05-14-2002, 01:19 PM
#21
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 75
Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
OK. On the speedo unit, (on the circuit board side) you will see a blue trimpot (I can email you a picture of a trimpot if you need to know what it looks like). This is what you use to adjust the speedo. Mark a reference point on it before you start so you can return it to its original setting if it doesn't work. Turn the pot either clockwise or anticlockwise to adjust your speedo reading.
Hopefully this will solve your problem.
Brent.
OK. On the speedo unit, (on the circuit board side) you will see a blue trimpot (I can email you a picture of a trimpot if you need to know what it looks like). This is what you use to adjust the speedo. Mark a reference point on it before you start so you can return it to its original setting if it doesn't work. Turn the pot either clockwise or anticlockwise to adjust your speedo reading.
Hopefully this will solve your problem.
Brent.
Chris
05-15-2002, 04:48 AM
#23
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Posts: 75
Originally posted by MadMaxBrent
Send me an email address.
Brent.
Send me an email address.
Brent.
chrisdouglas30@hotmail.com
Thanks
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