Stock Gauge Cluster Needle Reset.

Hello all,

I replaced my gauge faces on my '99 Legacy GT Limited the other day and I can't seem to get my needles to perform the way they previously did. I'm not 100% sure if my fuel gauge is accurate (yet) but my temperature gauge doesn't seem to drop down to 0 anymore (when the car is off or cold.) The tach and speedo gauges also seem to struggle to drop quickly and rarely drop all the way down to where they should be (0 for the speedo when I'm stopped and roughly 740 RPM at idle on the tach). If I leave the clear, plastic gauge cover off and play with the gauges while I drive, it seems they're somewhat sticky once they've wound up and fall back down. Simply pulling the needle(s) out a bit helps, but they go right back to slow/sticky when they wind back up again.

The gauge faces came with directions specific for my car but they don't seem to be very specific and certainly don't mention anything about being sticky or slow. So, I suppose my question is, has anyone else done this and experienced the same issues at all? Any information someone can point me to in order to reset my gauges properly? Any help, of course, is greatly appreciated.

-Janketh

Okay. My fuel and speedo gauges seem to be working fine. The temp gauge also /SEEMS/ to be working but I won't know for a little bit until the car cools all the way down. The tach, however, remains a mystery for me. It very well may be that I need to replace my tachometer. However, it worked fine until I pulled the needle out and I can't imagine putting the needle back in would cause it harm. I just don't know how to set it back to its original placement I suppose. A bit more tinkering and hopefully I get it. If and when I do, I'll post the method I used so others with the issue in the future can stuggle less (hopefully).

-Janky Jay

I replaced the gauge faces and pulled the needles on my '01 Accord. Quite frankly I'd never do it again and it was stupid to do in the first place... live and learn...

The first issue to tackle was the new faces themselves. They must be perfectly flat to not interfere. Initial install had the needles sticking in various places where the faces were slightly bulged. I used a small amount of super glue to help keep them flat.

Second issue was that there was a "sweet spot" for how far to insert the needle shafts. Too far and they would stick, just like you noticed with the tac and speedo. They would climb (slowly) then either fall slowly or fail to fall at all. I had to pull the needles out just a tiny bit so they would rotate freely.

Yeah. You aren't kidding. I've had to do this one other time in the past and it was also a nightmare. I have yet to get the tach and temp gauges working 100% but they do seem to work a bit. I've noticed the same thing about pulling the needles out just slightly does seem to work. I just need to find that one perfect spot that the pin needs to be inserted in order to get it working perfectly again.

Thanks for the reply!

-Janky