97' Nissan Navara D22 Speedo "glitching" HELP?

[Jaco]

97' Nissan Navara D22 Speedo PROBLEM

Hey guys, I've just bought a 97' Nissan Navara D22 QD32 and am new to this forum. I am also just 16yrs of age so don't have to much experience just yet.

Their was a bit of dust behind the dash glass and just wanted to clean it up a bit so it looked nicer so I opened it all up and started cleaning it up. While doing so I accidentally bumped the speedometer needle up to around 60Klm/h. When I was finished cleaning I just pushed it back down to 0klm/h. After putting everything back together and started driving, the speedometer was giving crazy readings like saying I was going 80klm/h when I was only going 5klm/h. It fixed itself somehow and was good for a few days. But then it started getting stuck at around about the place that I bumped it up to when I was cleaning it (60klm/h). Also it started jumping and fooling around when it got up around that area.

Does anyone know what is wrong and how I could fix this problem?
Appriciate the help!

 

[Old.Tony]

Looks like it's an electronic speedo, so my guess is that you've bent the shaft that the needle sits on.

It should be possible to straighten it (gently, carefully). Other than that, the erratic behaviour can only be electrical - perhaps a cable connector has come a little loose?

 

[Jaco]

Alright thanks. So are the shafts normally that touchy because i only barely touched it. And so you think its one of the connectors behind the cluster that could be loose?
Thanks for reply,

 

[Old.Tony]

They are quite delicate. Certainly not designed to be touched - they're usually sealed away, for a good reason. The lighter the component, the more responsive at lower power, so they're not built tough at all.

Any of the connections on the back could be loose, but pay attention to the connector at the top. Pins 8 and 10 go to the vehicle speed sensor.

 

[Jaco]

Ok thanks Old Tony. Really appreciate the help. Will see how I go with that and ill let you know

 

[Jaco]

I had a go at bending it straight but it didnt actually seem bent at all

 

[Old.Tony]

Does it move freely?

 

[Jaco]

Yeah seemed to move freely. Im kinda thinking that the spring might be buggered or out of position because when you turn the needle clockwise and let go it spins back around but stops at 30km/h. Then if you turn the ignition on it comes back to 0. What you think?

 

[Old.Tony]

Something certainly isn't right. When the ignition is turned on, a small amount of power will go into the coil that moves the needle and that's probably what's jogging it back to 0, so there's probably either a small bend in the shaft that's making it catch at the 30km/h point, or it's a bit of dirt doing it. You could try some electrical contact cleaner on it, let it dry for a bit then put some silicone lube into it (just a small amount).

 

[Jaco]

So electrical contact cleaner on the shaft you think?

 

[Old.Tony]

Yeah it's an excellent solvent that dries without leaving any residue, if there's any muck on the shaft it ought to be cleared by that (and the cleaner is good for any other electrical connections you have as well).

 

[Jaco]

Hey Old Tony. I just noticed the other day that when the speedo is mucking up, if i bang on the dash a few times it fixes and goes back to normal. What do you thin?

 

[Old.Tony]

Sounds like a loose connection to me. Most likely earth to the dash. They're questionable in the D40, because Nissan in their wisdom shared the instrument cluster's earth with the sound system. I can't imagine that they were incapable of screwing up the D22 in a similar fashion!

Finding the poor connection may be difficult if it's not the earth (negative). It would be worth trying to earth it somewhere with a solid connection to the body first and see if that fixes it, otherwise it's going to be a removal and cleaning operation on every plug on the instrument cluster.

 

[Jaco]

Ok thanks. So will the earth be just behind the cluster somewhere or will the wire run to the engine bay or chassis?

 

[Old.Tony]

Oh I'd start with something nearby, the vehicle body is supposed to be earthed well and you can make sure by following the battery negative to vehicle body connection too. If that fails, then bringing in a nice heavy (eg 4Ga) cable to the cabin from battery negative will do the trick for that and everything else, forever!