frozen dashboard instruments - help

L

lordrama

Hi just bought a v - 2000 slx auto 5 door 1.6 hatchback petrol which i was delighted with but when driving home the petrol gauge went to full even though i only had half a tank, the speedometer stuck at 52 miles an hour even though i hadnt went that fast yet, the rev counter stuck at 3000rpm and the temp gauge was on the red even though i had only been driving for 5 minutes. turning the ignition off a few times didnt fix this but the car drove great for the next 40 miles till i got home. i went out to check it 5 minutes later and everything was ok. can anyone help please
 
Hi, welcome to the AOC. :)

I`ve not heard of this before, but it sounds like either a dodgy connection at the back of the dials, or an ECU glitch.

Someone else will be along soon to give you more detailed help.
 
hope so, i did think of the ecu but a connection at the back of the dials would surely mean 4 connections went bad all at once
 
I think there`s just 1 multi-plug on the back of the N16 dials, but not sure, as I never took them out of my old N16.
 
Do you have a haynes manual? If you get one (They are a very good investment) then it should have instructions on how to remove the dash clocks so you can check :)
 
as the cars a 2000 model i dont lnow if its n15 or 16, any pdf manuals around? and one multiplug? any more information for a newbee who is willing and able???
 
If its a 1.6 then its an N15, N16 are the 'bubble' shape and only came in 1.5 and 1.8 petrol versions.

There are several plugs for an N15 dial set so I'm not sure. Best bet might just be the garage.
 
earth would push all dials to the roof rather than stick.

sounds more like a glitch in the ecu to me

any other things you see?

and you just said now everything is ok!

then the garage will not be able to check whats wrong!
 
i have only had the car for two days and after 5 minutes in it the dials all point upwards, it only zeros back out after 5 minutes with the ignition off then it gets quicker to appear the more i drive it
 
i take that back, the last trip they didnt all point upwards, only the temp was standing proud at danger zone the rest were on zero
 
lordrama said:
As the car`s a 2000 model, I dont know if its n15 or n16, any more information for a newbee who is willing and able???
Click to expand...

Hi again,

Here`s a pic taken when I had both models, to help identify yours. :)

The blue GTi is an N15, the grey 5dr behind is an N16.

GTipics001-1.jpg
 
lordrama said:
i take that back, the last trip they didnt all point upwards, only the temp was standing proud at danger zone the rest were on zero
Click to expand...

It could be that water has got into the ECU (can`t remember exactly where the ECU is on an N16 though), causing it to go nuts (happens alot on Rover 75s, when the ECU gets flooded, after the drain hole gets blocked). :rolleyes:
 
still not fixed or a solution unfortunately. Just noticed that the mileometer is also not updating when the dials freeze. It has just been through an MOT as well and the recorded milage was put down on it. As this wont be the true value does that mean my MOT should really be void ?
 
Just to update the forum, the cars been in and out of the auto electricians who replaced the circuit board behind the instrument cluster (which isnt one unit so i'm told but individual components) but it didnt help & the garage gave up as they were lost. I have now been quoted 800 pounds to replace the entire cluster & housing by a nissan dealer which i cant afford sigh. Does anyone know what i can do if i replace the cluster with one that is second hand with regards to the mileage as this will obviously add thousands of miles on top of my low current mileage. Is it legal to replace it with a used cluster in the first class ? And if anyone knew what my cluster should look like in the first place and/or a part number that would make my life easy as the nissan garage parts dep. says the correct cluster shouldnt have a rev counter yet mine does. He came up with that after checking my chassis number
Nightmare
 
theres no legal issue with swapping the dials, the only issue would be what you mentioned the diffferent mileage.
You still havnt said wether you have an N15 or an N16. Check on the first page of this thread and let us know what type you have, then we will be able to help you some more,

ps

dont buy anything from a main dealer till you have checked around!.
 
have you tried getting in touch with the previous owner? got to be worth a try, chance are it did the same with them, and i bet they got a quote to fix it and decided to sell up instead, at least they might be able to tell you what it was diagnosed as when they got it checked out.

tbh i would be very worried, you mention its very low mileage, does the car back this up? just wondering if its been clocked and someone cocked up and damaged the cluster in the process, unlikely but it makes the car alot easier to sell if its low mileage, and they advertise in the yellow pages etc so easy enough to find someone willing to do it.
 
ok, its an n15 as its a 1.6, cool if its legal to change the cluster but how do i turn e.g. 200,000 miles on a second hand cluster back to the 41,000 that i have at the moment legally. The last MOT 10 months ago showed 35,000 miles. I was dumb and bought the car from a dealer in a respected garage that said he was selling the car as a private sale for a 3rd party who he wouldnt divulge their details. The minute i spotted the problem he arranged a refund of 150 pounds but still refused to give their details as he said he didnt want involved due to my attitude - i was calm but angry as i am involved in this only because it is for my mother in law who is a disabled pensioner - who wouldnt feel fed up and guilty - a bit thick as well
 
well for a start your car would have come with a rev counter, id just get a scrap yard dial set, stick it in and see if it works, as long as you keep the old mots to back the mileage you should be able to get any legitimate garage to wind the clocks back, or you could just go to a back street garage
 
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