Fixing the gauge cluster or replacing it?

[318driver]

Ok, so when i bought the car i knew that the gauge cluster doesnt work fully. The speedometer is busted. But on the ride home, the needle did jump up and down a few times. Is there a way to fix it or do i need to replace it.
Also if you could point in the direction of a writeup thatd be great.
Thanks.

[kowalski]

pull it out and check if the ground nuts on the back are rusted, seems to be a common problem.

[Geez Tech]

Yes, it is a 7mm nut, check the fuel gauge on too.
Before re-assembling everything, stsart the engine and wiggle the plugs on the cluster to make sure you dont have a circuit board problem. Lightly tapping on the cluster housing works too.

[318driver]

ok, so i found 2 7mm nuts , 1 on each side of the cluster, neither are rusted.

Do you guys think i need to change the batteries in the SI board.

[EverWiser]

There's several possibilities but if the SI batteries haven't been changed out, that's a good start. Another possibility is that some of the plastic drive gears in the cluster have broken teeth. Do a search on here and you'll probably find a post about replacing them. There's a company that makes replacements and, if memory serves, it's around $75 for the set. Kinda high but you'd be good for years whereas a used cluster may have or develop the same problem you're having. Good luck...

P.S. Try this thread...http://www.r3vlimited.com/phpBB2/vie...er&t=14713

[screamingbmwe30]

pull the panels off from around the cluster so you can get to the connections on the back. while driving down the road with the cluster plugged in wiggle those connections around. bam source of problem. i had the same prob on my 83 euro e30. also if you do change out the cluster keep the fuel gauge from the euro car and swap with your new cluster. the european cars have a different sender so teh american gauges will read incorrectly.

[Court M3]

got an excellent condition euro cluster if you need it ;)

[318driver]

pull the panels off from around the cluster so you can get to the connections on the back. while driving down the road with the cluster plugged in wiggle those connections around. bam source of problem. i had the same prob on my 83 euro e30. also if you do change out the cluster keep the fuel gauge from the euro car and swap with your new cluster. the european cars have a different sender so teh american gauges will read incorrectly.

Just wiggle around the connections on the back? I did pull them out and put them back in several times and it did nothing. I dont think thats the problem.

Im gonna take it apart and try to test the batteries. we'll see if thats the problem.

Hey court, whats the rpms go up to on your cluster or is it a clock, and whats the millage. Thanks.

[Marvin_Hecht]

Save yourself a lot of pain and just get another used cluster. I did the whole thing where I bought a new SI board, and later learned that SI boards only fix tachometer issues (it did-my tach had gone out too), NOT speedometer issues. Most likely it is the small board that forms part of the speedometer itself. You can try resoldering the joints etc, but yet again..waste of time. You can go buy a new speed sensor for your diff and check that also...most likely a waste of time. Just swap a different cluster in and be DONE. Better yet, buy 2, so that when that one fails, you can swap in the next one. I am on my 3rd cluster- first one broke after the first 5 years, then the next one broke ater the next 12.

[nefarious7907]

Save yourself a lot of pain and just get another used cluster. I did the whole thing where I bought a new SI board, and later learned that SI boards only fix tachometer issues (it did-my tach had gone out too), NOT speedometer issues.

well hell, I was going to replace my si batts too, but my tach works great, well if i am going to swap clusters I guess I will get a 318 one so I can have a 7k tach, I know swap coding plugs.