5 replies to this topic

[niccer]

I haven't taken the gauge cluster back out yet, but wanted to go ahead and get some opinions on what the culprit could possibly be. 

 

I noticed on the highway the other week that the speedo was saying I was going ~90mph when I know I was probably only going 75mph.  The needle was fluctuating +/- 5mph while at those speeds and settled down once I was off the highway.  I haven't checked whether it's off at slower speeds, but am pretty sure it's off exponentially which would be pretty minimal at lower MPH's. 

 

Something else to add is that my odometer is 'frozen'.  The trip mileage won't reset when I push the pin and it mileage only rolls over ever so often.  This is a different cluster from an Si that I had to swap into the car after changing the engine and I want to put the odometer from my old DX cluster into it.  I just can't figure out how to remove the speedo needle from the metal pin.  Seems to be glued on and I know how brittle these old parts are.  Anyone have advice there?

 

Back to the jumpy/incorrect speedo.  There aren't many things it can be, so help me eliminate them before I crack into it this weekend.

 

Speedo Needle > Odometer/Speedo Gears > Push-in Connection to Speedo Cable > Speedo Cable > Connection to Transmission > Black Magic inside Transmission.

 

The connection to the transmission is good, so I can rule that out.  I'm thinking it has to be something in the Odo/Speedo connection area.  Maybe one of the gears is a tooth off or something. 

[andrew.rios94]

Yes, I would like to know what this is aswell.

 

At speeds 65+ it starts to read high. It does not fluctuate though.

[niccer]

Maybe I'll get around to taking the cluster back out this weekend and trying to swap odometers again with my old DX one.  Still would like to know how to get the needle off without breaking anything.  Maybe google will yield some results.

[strudel]

Speedo needle just pops off. You need a tool on each side to wedge it up and off or hold onto the rear drum and spin it up and off. But there is no need to remove it to adjust it. The drum in the back has a stop rather than a pin on the front side like other speedos. Hold the drum and rotate the needle to center on zero. Your variation at high speed I can't help you. If the spring inside the back has been damaged in any way that could be the proplem.

The frozen odometer can be removed with a couple of screws. Perhaps it needs to be cleaned or one of the drums/rollers are jammed. They are easily interchanged from another unit. Sometimes the plunger or reset pin gets messed up. There is a way to reset the actual mileage but is a bit tricky as you have to spread something as I recall and then turn the drums to the correct setting. It is a trial and error kind of thing as it has been some time since I tried that. They are all plastic parts so can become brittle and lose a small piece and cause problems. JS

[anjin]

I'd also try lubricating the speedo cable. You could have a friction problem causing the fluctuation.

[niccer]

Thanks for easing my mind strudel.  I'll try to carefully pry the needle off my DX cluster and hope for the best! 

 

Anjin, you could very well be right.  While the cluster's out, I'll lube it up and report back.