Temp gauge sits very low when car is off (after replacing odometer gears)

[fuscob]

The odometer in my 1987 325i recently stopped working after a little over 205,000 miles of reliable service. I ordered a set of Garagistic gears and successfully replaced them today; the odometer is working fine again.

However, after reinstalling the cluster, the temperature gauge has shifted its display to the left a bit - it reads really low when the car is off, and it only gets to the slash between the blue and middle slash (about the 25% mark) when the car is warm. It seems like somehow I broke or moved the gauge's lower limit while I was working on the cluster. I suppose it's not the biggest deal in the world as I can just compensate for that when reading it, but I'd prefer to have it the way it was before if it's possible to fix.

Any ideas? Here's a photo of the gauge when the car is off so you can see how far it falls down:

[jeffnhiscars]

I'd try moving it all the way to the right until you get resistance then push it a bit further to see if it will position.

at your own risk of course :)

[fuscob]

I'd try moving it all the way to the right until you get resistance then push it a bit further to see if it will position.

at your own risk of course :)

Not a bad idea. A replacement MotoMeter temp gauge on eBay is around $30 so if things went really badly I could go that route too. Thanks!

Other suggestions welcome too before I get around to ripping the cluster apart again tomorrow :)

[IceWhite]

Turn your key to the second position (Don't start the car), and see where the needle points. I noticed that on mine it points exactly at the first white line which is located just before the start of the blue block (Cold Mark). That should clue you on how far off the needle is.

[fuscob]

Turn your key to the second position (Don't start the car), and see where the needle points. I noticed that on mine it points exactly at the first white line which is located just before the start of the blue block (Cold Mark). That should clue you on how far off the needle is.

I did this and also took a look at some cluster photos online. Pulled the cluster again today and ever so slightly pushed the needle right until it rested just about where you describe when I let it fall back to its minimum. Took it for a test drive and it's working well again, sitting just short of halfway at typical operating temperature.


Thanks again all!