Removing The Meter Cluster

[Killer-B]

Hey guys, thought of removing my meter cluster and cleaning it up a bit. Meter cluster illuminate really bad now, guess it haven't been removed ever before. It's not my kinda thing and haven't had any experience with these jobs before so it would really help if you people could give me a slight idea about this.

Cheers!

jdnet, any thoughts mate?

Edited December 10, 2010 by Killer-B

[jdnet]

it would help you you let us know the make/model/year of your car.

[jdnet]

BTW Replace the light bulbs in the meter with new ones. Over time they tend to lose their brightness. You can even install leds, but it may cause problems in lighting up the meter depending on how your instrument cluster is setup. Not sure of your car but usually the job calls for the removal of the trim around the instrument cluster (It may come out with the a/c vents and the radio surroundings.). You May have two screws above the cluster holding the trim down. Usually you would have to remove those screws and then using a screw driver carefully pry the entire trim off.

It would be nice if you clean the cover of the instrument cluster. I have used both rubbing compound and polish and they both do the job fine. If you are cleaning the guage faces take care not to mess around with the needles. You would not want to know then out of calibaration.

Once again it would be a lot easier knowing the make, model and year of your car.

[jdnet]

...

Edited December 10, 2010 by jdnet

[Killer-B]

it would help you you let us know the make/model/year of your car.

Toyota Starlet EP91 YOM1998

Thanks, but its the wiring and stuff I'm mostly worried about. Will I have to pull everything out?

Edited December 10, 2010 by Killer-B

[jdnet]

Toyota Starlet EP91 YOM1998

Thanks, but its the wiring and stuff I'm mostly worried about. Will I have to pull everything out?

It's simply a matter of unplugging the connectors. Once you pull the trim out you just have to unplug the connectors of all the accessories on the panel. After that you would have to remove the screws holding the speedometer and then unplud the cable/cables going into the speedometer. It's a pretty simple process and I wouldn't worry about mixing up connectors because they vary in sizes so can't really be mixed up.

[Sumiya]

Toyota Starlet EP91 YOM1998

Thanks, but its the wiring and stuff I'm mostly worried about. Will I have to pull everything out?

Hi Killer B

If you are not much confident about harness connectors, it is advisable to label

them before you take them out, wrong connections and electrical short may ruin whole your

dash so should be done with good care and patient ...

good luck

thanks

regards

sumith

[Killer-B]

Thanks for the tips both of you, didn't find time yet, will try tomorrow morning.

[Killer-B]

Thanks for the tips both of you, didn't find time yet, will try tomorrow morning.

Took out the meter and found that quite a few of the bulbs were burnt, can I get direct fit LED or something brighter than the existing bulbs?

[jdnet]

Well I installed the direct fit LEDs on my cluster and have problems lighting up the gauge needles. They cost something like 350 each. They do light up the fact and the odometer really well but the only problem is the needles. Thinking of a mod to get the light to pass into the needles, will let you know what I come up with. Oh btw You could also put in the good lEDs and take a cheap ones to light up just the gauge needles. Basically you would be using a really small wire to tap into the socket holding the primary LED then move a secondary LED right onto the plastic thats used to deliver the light into the needles. This sounds more complicated than it is. HAven't had a chance to try it out yet as I got a few issues of greater priority to sort out before I move back into working on the instrument cluster.

[Killer-B]

Well I installed the direct fit LEDs on my cluster and have problems lighting up the gauge needles. They cost something like 350 each. They do light up the fact and the odometer really well but the only problem is the needles. Thinking of a mod to get the light to pass into the needles, will let you know what I come up with. Oh btw You could also put in the good lEDs and take a cheap ones to light up just the gauge needles. Basically you would be using a really small wire to tap into the socket holding the primary LED then move a secondary LED right onto the plastic thats used to deliver the light into the needles. This sounds more complicated than it is. HAven't had a chance to try it out yet as I got a few issues of greater priority to sort out before I move back into working on the instrument cluster.

Thanks a lot, but my needles aren't illuminated anyway and THE NEEDLE ISN'T MOVING AT ALL!!!!!!! What can I do now?

[jdnet]

Thanks a lot, but my needles aren't illuminated anyway and THE NEEDLE ISN'T MOVING AT ALL!!!!!!! What can I do now?

What do you mean the needle isnt moving? after you removed it or was it like that before?

[Killer-B]

What do you mean the needle isnt moving? after you removed it or was it like that before?

You know its stuck in O, doesen't move up when I accelarate, if worked fine before I removed. What could be the problem?

[jdnet]

did you connect it right? Never seen that happen to an instrument cluster. Check the connections then the fuse.

[Killer-B]

did you connect it right? Never seen that happen to an instrument cluster. Check the connections then the fuse.

Maybe a loose connection somewhere, I took out 2 blown bulbs but didn't replace them yet, guess it dosen't have any affect on the speedo?

[jdnet]

Maybe a loose connection somewhere, I took out 2 blown bulbs but didn't replace them yet, guess it dosen't have any affect on the speedo?

No the bulb should not be related. Just check the connectors and fuse. Is just one dial not working or all of em? like what guage works and what doesn't?

[Killer-B]

No the bulb should not be related. Just check the connectors and fuse. Is just one dial not working or all of em? like what guage works and what doesn't?

Its only the speedo, temp and fuel gauges work fine.

[jdnet]

sounds like a bad connection. Does your cluster have a rpm gauge? and how many connectors does the cluster have? Try unplugging it and plugging it back. If the connector isn't set right one or more gauges/indicators wont work.

[jaga]

sounds like a bad connection. Does your cluster have a rpm gauge? and how many connectors does the cluster have? Try unplugging it and plugging it back. If the connector isn't set right one or more gauges/indicators wont work.

EP 91 speedo meter is working with a cable I think. May be cable is disconnected.

[Sumiya]

Its only the speedo, temp and fuel gauges work fine.

if the Fuel and temp working fine there is no failure in

dash regulator , means you got powered dash correctly, so as jaga said

could be your physical cable not connected to dash or when you working with

it might have been disconnecting from the gear box side.

thanks

regards

sumith

[harshansenadhir]

EP 91 speedo meter is working with a cable I think. May be cable is disconnected.

yes, when you take the cluster out you would see the needle sort of thing inside the speedo cable. either move the vehicle 10-15 feet to see whether it's rotating. if it's rotating cable is fine. Then take the cluster and see where the needle fixes the spindle of the speedo meter. try to rotate it using a small flat screw driver without damaging it. when you rotate/spin the needle will response. by doing this you would be able to isolate the issue whether it's with cable or speedo cluster. Further, I've had a bad experience where the needle inside the cable wasn't spinning and I assumed it's a bad cable and replaced and yet no response, diagnosed further to see the plastic wheel inside the tranny which rotates the speedo cable had given up. it was a split tranny repair to replace that wheel.

[Killer-B]

if the Fuel and temp working fine there is no failure in

dash regulator , means you got powered dash correctly, so as jaga said

could be your physical cable not connected to dash or when you working with

it might have been disconnecting from the gear box side.

thanks

regards

sumith

Sumiya where exactly near the gear box is the cable? I pulled up a cable near the front passenger seat to plug the cable from the seat.

[Killer-B]

yes, when you take the cluster out you would see the needle sort of thing inside the speedo cable. either move the vehicle 10-15 feet to see whether it's rotating. if it's rotating cable is fine. Then take the cluster and see where the needle fixes the spindle of the speedo meter. try to rotate it using a small flat screw driver without damaging it. when you rotate/spin the needle will response. by doing this you would be able to isolate the issue whether it's with cable or speedo cluster. Further, I've had a bad experience where the needle inside the cable wasn't spinning and I assumed it's a bad cable and replaced and yet no response, diagnosed further to see the plastic wheel inside the tranny which rotates the speedo cable had given up. it was a split tranny repair to replace that wheel.

Thanks harshan, will try now.

[Killer-B]

All right, problem solved guys! The cable wasn't connected, thats all. Thanks to all you people.

[harshansenadhir]

All right, problem solved guys! The cable wasn't connected, thats all. Thanks to all you people.

great, so this car really has "low mileage" in it.. isn't it ?

[Killer-B]

great, so this car really has "low mileage" in it.. isn't it ?

Saved myself about 30kms , now there is a way of "low mileaging a car"