My cluster has been like this for a while. There doesn't seem to be any difference in illumination in that area versus the rest of the cluster. Anyone know what this is and how to fix it?


...Or would it be better to forget about repairing this and upgrade to an se cluster?

 

looks like the bulb homie. if you are going to change the bulb i would change the whole thing at this point if ur gonna open it anyway.

 

Is the bulb hard to replace?

I have the service manual and after a quick glance it doesn't mention how to disassemble the cluster. However looking at how to get the guage cluster out, does the steering wheel need to come off?

 

You do not need to take the steering wheel off, it will drop just far enough to give you clearance when you remove the plastic housing below the steering wheel. I have not seen many how to's on Cluster dismantle, but look into how to s on members did gauge covers or indiglo gauges.

 

http://car-part.com

Get yourself a 2001 SE cluster and call it a day. Very easy to do the swap, since you're going to have everything apart anyway. You just gotta swap the circuit boards to keep your mileage, and while you're at it you can fix your bulb (take it off of the SE cluster you get). There are some differences between early 2001 and the rest of the 2001 models though. You might want to make sure your circuitboard isn't soldered onto the cluster like some of them are first.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the suggestions. The service manager at my local nissan dealer is really cool, so I asked him to take a look at this. He said most likely some paint has come off inside. To me, that makes more sense since the illumination doesn't seem any differnt than before. I'm just going to leave it for now.

 

LOL!!!! This is possibly the WORST advice EVER given on here!!!! Dude, it's a bayonet-type bulb that is used in the instrumen cluster. It simply needs to be dissasembled and either (a) screwed in tighter OR (b) The bulb replaced, which will cost you all of $3.

 

How is that the worst advice here ever? He asked if he should just replace the whole thing with an SE cluster ... He didn't say he wanted to spend no more than $3. Hell if he has it apart anyway to replace the bulb, why the hell not? SE clusters look awesome anyway.

 

Alright, price out the cluster and then come back to me.

 

I did - I bought one for my own GXE for $85 a little over a year ago, and it was quite easy to put in. For that price, it's worth going to the SE's. But hey, if you're just looking to keep the black gauges, sure, spend the $3 bucks and replace the bulb. Unrealii never said he was trying to do this on the cheap, so for a little more money, I made a suggestion. Anything wrong with that? Seriously, dude ...

 

Anyone know where I can get the bulb for the cluster mine is dying I think.