This started as a embarassingly dumb question, but now that I've read similar topics on the site, I can see it is not a simple issue. Gladly, the Max is not our primary or secondary ride and is off-duty till I can resolve the dead speedometer problem. I've had it to two our our good local mechanics, and a new replacement part is not reasonable for our budget at this time. The second mechanic suggested replacing the panel of guages as a whole with a used part. This would be ok, but he's of the opinion he should find one exactly like what's there, which boils down to getting one with white instead of black. He doesn't know if they are interchangeable, nor do I. All the yards he checked have black panels, but he couldn't find a white one. I offered to take on the search.

Question: is this part interchangeable among the different models? I couldn't care less if it's black or white, so long as it fits and works.

Also, is there anything I might be able to do to fix the speedo myself? I'm comfortable building computers, repairing our antique tractor and my 1990 pickup, but I've never done any work on the Max except replacing the battery. I can follow directions, but I can't spare the time to study Max systems at this time. I haven't worked on any vehicle with electronic "stuff." The car still runs well, and I'd like to enjoy the gas mileage that's better than our other two vehicles. My husband's dealing with serious health issues, so this is on me to fix. Any info is appreciated, and I don't mind if the panel color thing strikes you as funny...it did me. We had a family biz of auto repair, and I think my dear departed Dad is probably laughing about this from the Great Beyond.

 

Could be vehicle speed sensor. Located on the transmission. Or the cluster. The black and white are interchangeable. Black is a gxe model white is SE. 89-91 SE speedometer reads up to 125mph the 92-94 SE reads up to 145mph. The speedometer is interchangeable. But on the 92-94 SE tach reads higher red line. I am using a 92 SE Speedo in my 91. Make a post on the classified section. Sure someone will have the parts you need.

 

This is from the Nissan FSM on how to check the VSS.

 

does cruise control and the odometer still work? or are they broken as well (at the same time as the speedo failing)? If they still work, it's the cluster. If they broke at the same time, then it's probably the VSS.

The odometer is removable from the rest, so you can keep your mileage accurate. After you take out the speedometer and unplug the odometer's connector, there's a few screws on the back to take it out.

I freely admit that i no longer have any idea why one of the screws has 2 circles... but it MIGHT be to keep the thing together after it's out of the unit. You'll figure it out.

 

I'm experiencing the same issue. Just replaced my speed sensor and still no cruise or speedometer working. I'm gonna go with a different cluster and see what that does. I'll post results if it fixes the problem