....and I didn't mark the position of the needle before I touched it. mind you I didn't remove ANY needles at all. I was just looking at how I can access the blue film on the back of the gauges without removing the needles. strange how the needles of the speedo,tach and temp all seem to be spring loaded inside and just return back to their normal position (0), but the fuel one can be moved to wherever you want .
so what happens now?
is our fuel gauge electrical and will the needle just return back to its position upon receiving a signal from the fuel level sender in the tank or do I need to recalibrate the gauge?

 

I dont know the answer to your question, but IMO you should just go fill up the tank and then move the needle to full. If it has to be properly calibrated you will have just done that, and if it doesnt then everything should be ok either way.

 

^ as far as i know that is your best chance. More precisely would be if you could empty your tank, then you could rest the needle on the base.

Why are you trying to remove the blue film anyways? If you are wanting white or some other colors then leds are the way to go.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...one-works.html

That link is the best for LEDs for our gauges.

 

I am pretty sure that there is a way to realign ALL your needles whether they're toasted or not running the diagnostic test within these postings will point you in the right direction. Run the test with your plastic piece off and align the needle as shown in the pictures.
https://maxima.org/showthread.php?t=664420&styleid=5

 

It should go back to normal once you plug everything back in. I removed the plastic cover to clean the inside and I was using the compressed air can to blow out the dust and dead bugs and the needles was swiping all over. Work fine once you power it up.