Did I F-up my gauges?

I have no idea what is wrong...I did a GLE to SE face swap this weekend and the Speedo needle rubbed at first. I took it apart and looked at it again, noticing that the cap that covers the center looked to be rubbing. I switched it out for another one and all seemed to be working...

When I would sweep the needle manually, it swept back smoothly, as opposed the the jerky sweep that it had made when the cap was rubbing. I checked it visually and noticed no rubbing, then I did more sweep tests. It looked like the "tail" of the needle was close, but no contact, plus it moved fluidly and smoothly.

I re-installed it and went for a test drive. Since I live in a residental area, I kept it below 40 MPH, no sticking, no problems. Previously it had stuck as low as 20 MPH.

On the way home from work, I noticed that it was sticking again, starting around 45 and then jumping to 60, with a sticking at 60 that dropped to 40-45 upon decelleration.

I think that it MAY be the tail of the needle, but before I do any more dash work, I really want some input.

In the install instructions from maximadriver and several other sites, it basically says that you can "f$&^" up your gauges if you do not pull upwards as you turn to remove the needle. THese are the words of the person who wrote the tutorial, not my own words.

So the question is, if I DID F$&^ up my gauges, what would the symptoms be? Would it be this sticking? Would I have ruined some tiny gears inside the gauge? Or am I most likely just dealing with rubbing?

Remember, these are OEM gauges, not stickers or overlays, so it is NOT that there is some error like bubbling or warping.

Thanks in advance, guys!

 

I'm really sorry bro, that I do not have have any advice/solution for you, but maybe you can help me. I'm trying to remove everything so that I can install the intelliglow LED lights, and I am stuck. I have the bottom piece off, and the metal piece underneath, but now I am lost. I don't know what to do, what screws to take out...etc. I read the Maximadriver instructions, and I am still hopefully lost.

 

There are 2 12MM bolts up under the dash that hold the steering wheel up. Get an extension and remove those. Lower the wheel. Remove 2 screws in the top of the "visir" to the gauge pod. Pull firmly but gently toward you, holding it by the area nead the cruise/dimmer/security panels. It will pop apart. Don't lose the clips.
Undo the wiring, then undo the 3 screws that hold the cluster into the dash. Remove THE wiring and take the whole cluster inside.

 

Bump-
Please Help, they are STILL F'ed up...

 

reinstall is my advise....
i had same problem...

 

Did that fix it?

 

yeah... first time i didn't use anything except for some thick double sided tape from homedeopt(let me tell ya those are the ones that holds up to 2lbs.)and i only taped it little bit on the outer side of gauges not near the holes for needle. and it worked for week and it started sticking. i was driving it like that for 3 months and finally took it out. and i had stock gauges for 2 months before i got reverse indiglo. taping it is kinda tricky. this time i bought thin double sided tape instead of heavy duty ones(the ones just like scotch tape). and i basically taped the whole back of gauge. except for the holes for the needle. and then make sure you sweep the needles manually 10 times and leave it for 10 min. and try sweeping it again. cause it might not stick at first. and your all good to go~~~
oh by the way i still have my SE oem gauge under my reverse indiglo and still no problem at all~~ hope this will answer your question or help you out...

thanks,
Tae

 

He does not have indiglos.

I added white overlays to my GLE gauges so I also had to remove the needles. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PUSH VERY HARD TO PUT THE NEEDLES BACK ON. Just reposition them gently on the plastic pin in the center of your gauge. If they are rubbing you have them either pushed in way too far or you somehow damaged the spring which sits below the pin and controls needle movement.

You would have to really be rough with these to damage them. It is important to line them up properly and push straight down on the needle to mount it properly.

Good luck! I have taken these apart twice now, once on a Maxima and once on a 2001 Mustang.

Dave

 

indiglo and stock gauge is basically same... ya know~
and i don't think removing the needles is good idea at all.

 

Basically, they are the same, BUT it should be more fool-proof to do what I did...I mean, what I put on there REPLACES the OEM, so it is no thicker, meaning that I either messed up the spring or put the needle on there too far. I hope that it was just the needle on there too far.

 

I think that I just pushed them down too hard, but here is the really weird part:

They work FINE from 0-80 MPH (have not gone faster than that lately) when the car first is on...as the car warms up, the sticking point is lower and lower, until, after an hour or so, the full sweep of the needle sticks. I am thinking that I prob have it pushed in too far and as the car warms and things expand from heat it rubs more and more. Tonight, assuming it is not raining, I plan to try it all AGAIN...THe bad part is that I won't knowo if it works until the morning commute. Even worse, I have to take a long trip this weekend, so I need to have it fixed before friday when I leave for work. It has been so dark by the end of work that I have not wanted to try to work on it, but at this point I have no choice...

Wish me luck...

 

good luck...... and if it don't work out you could always go to junkyard and get new cluster for like $50 bucks..

Tae

 

I think that i fixed it (again).

The GLE sprrdo (and tach) have 2 small black screws that hold the 3 components to the gauge together. From front to back, there is the face, a clear plastic "frame," and the actual mechanism to the gauge.

On the SE gauges, there were no screws. The gauges were held together by something else. (I don't know what it was because I was not about to pull the tach apart to check- It was working!!!) I did not have the SE speedo (it was broken, hence the reason I was forced to swap faces to begin with), so I did not think abou tthis. Whern I put the face on the GLE cluster I was so excited I did not think about the fact that there was some "play," even with the cover in place. To hold it all together, I took my SE and GLE face and put the GLE face over the SE one. I lined up the holes and carefully drilled holes fo rthe screws in the SE face in the same location where the GLE face had them. This let me put it all together much tighter, and the head of the screw covered any non-uniformity in the face caused by slow drill speed.

When I reinstalled the needle, I used only the slightest of pressure. I see now now delicate you can be and still get it on there. On the way to work, I saw no sticking. Normally, by the time I get to work there is definate sticking. I even drove with the lights on to create as much heat as possible. So far so good.

I will watch again on the way home. Hopefully, this will be the end of my sticking problem.

Cross your fingers...

 

That sounds like the fix. Without the screws, it would not seat properly and even a few millimeters will cause problems.

dave

 

wow that sounds really hairy

 

 

Well, just an update:

So far so good. Almost 2 weeks and no sticking in almost 1500 miles of driving. The screws did the trick, or maybe it was the fact that the needlt was on there too tight. Either way, it works now, and even if the drilling and use of the GLE screws was unnecessary, all is well that ends well, so I am happy.

The gauges look great, in daytime or night. As you can see from the pics below, I swapped the bulbs for red. It looks pinkish in the pics, but in reality it is a deep red.