There was a thread about someone throwing off his gauge cluster after a reverse gauge install due to not recalibrating the needles. There have been some different explanations on how to do it. I just installed my custom gauge overlays on Saturday and this is what I did:

First make a mental note or a drawing of how the gauges look after you let the car idle for 10-15 minutes. Then after you have removed the cluster you want to remove the needle rests for each gauge. To do this you need to lift the gauge face up just enough to slip some needle nose pliers in there to push the needle rest out. Don’t worry it pops back in. The recalibration point is where the needle drops after you pop the needle rest out. Mark that point somehow and place the needle back at that spot when you done installing you overlay. Do one gauge at a time. My fuel, speedometer, and RPM gauges turned out great. My temp gauge was off just a little bit. Instead of being below the third line on the gauge face it was a little above it. That did not bother me so I left it that way. I believe this should work for 2000-2003 maximas.
If anyone has any questions let me know.

 

so you took off the needles o put on the gauges? when i put mine on, i didnt take off any needles, it slid right on.

 

To each his own...

 

loll following up on this whole dilemma i created..
I bought a new cluster off of ebay and i sent it to my dealer to set my mileage back to my messed up cluster.. once i get the new cluster back, i'm gonna play around with the old one and see how to put it on WITHOUT taking the needles off and then put it on the new ones..
I'm DONE WITH NEEDLES!!!! ;x

 

If you have 2 clusters you are actually in luck. Calibrate the one cluster, then cut the needles off with a dremel. No possibility of damage to the servos possible. The just rip the needles out of the old cluster and viola, you're done.

 

There was no way to install them by sliping them on unless I cut the face of each overlay. I was not going tho chance messing them up.

 

i'm still gonna try it. i was able to slide off the temp and fuel gauges easily,
speedo and tach. i'm gonna see if that's possible..
i'll follow up on it.

 

This procedure works on virtually all Nissan meters which has a digital trip/odo. If you have the analog/mechanical trip/odo, don't bother reading.

Background:
Nissan meters w/ the digital trip/odo has a built-in diagnostics function that will automatically position the needles at a fixed location for all 4 gauges (tach, speedo, fuel, temp). This location is useful for needle re-calibration.

Here's what you have to do:
Before removing your needles, you need to mark this 'fixed' location by:
a) Turning key to OFF
b) While holding the trip/odo reset button down, turn the key to IGN position & hold the button down for at least 0.8 seconds. (1-2 seconds is perfectly fine - no need to rush).
c) After that, push the button 3 times in the next few seconds (you'll have about 7 seconds to do this).

You will notice that all segments of the trip/odo will be illuminated.

NOW, when you push and hold the button, the needles will move to a fixed (calibration) mode. You can mark this spot, then safely remove the needles. As long as you're in the diagnostics mode, the needles will move to the set location when you hold the button down & return to zero position when you release the button. You can do this over & over until you are comfortable with your markings.

(To leave the diagnostics, you can simply turn the key back to the OFF position).


Now, you can remove the needles by gently prying them off.

To reinstall the needles, simply go back in to the diagnostics using the steps outlined above. Move the needle base to the 'fixed' location by holding the button down and setting the needles to the location you marked. Then, just push the needles in gently.

If you had removed the needles before marking this set location, you're basically screwed.

 

This procedure definitely helped me and fix my calibration, super easy. Worked on my 2010 Nissan Maxima 3.5L