# 98 Frontier Speedometer troubles



## Andy_Biloxi (Nov 30, 2005)

I have a 98 frontier I just bought. My speedometer is doing crazy things. Doesn't seem to work, just act crazy. It doesn't do anything until your up in speed, 45 or so and then it jumps to 50, 60 or 80. then when you start slowing it goes all the way to 0. I was told that it has a electronic sending unit on the tranny. I found that and took it off, looked good. None of the teeth were broken on the gear that spins with it. I just hate to spend $140 on a new sending unit at nissan and that not be the problem. Anyone with any ideas would be great. Thanks.


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

sounds more like the ICs inside rather than the gear. electronics may look good on the outside but dead on the inside. just a thought I hate spend on 140 bucks too, maybe try a junk yard 1, might make out for 10 or 20 and if that fixes it your done. 

all said though it does sound like the sending unit.


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

i just notice your other thread, is your whole cluster having problems?


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## Alfajagdflieger (Oct 3, 2005)

Wow finally someone with the same problem I have. I also thought that the speed controller on the transmission was messed up but according to other people I have talked to that module is monitored by the ECU. Therefore if it was bad the computer should detect the fault and show the check engine light. This leads me to believe that my instrument cluster is bad. Anybody else have any ideas??


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## Andy_Biloxi (Nov 30, 2005)

dvdswanson said:


> i just notice your other thread, is your whole cluster having problems?



Yes my whole instrument panel is having problems. My fuel gauge acts funny too. It usually acts somewhat correct but seems to jump around alot when moving. My temp gauge seems to work but sometimes when I turn the truck off and crank it back up it goes all the way to hot and then back down to normal after it runs for awhile. I'm thinking about taking it to Nissan and let them deal with it. At least find out what's the problem and fix it myself. Hope it's something simple.


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## pir8 (Dec 1, 2005)

Just out of curiostiy, how many miles / km do you have on your truck?

M


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

check your electrical connection to the inst. cluster or the grounds for it.


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## Andy_Biloxi (Nov 30, 2005)

pir8 said:


> Just out of curiostiy, how many miles / km do you have on your truck?
> 
> 132K


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## BORNGEARHEAD (Apr 30, 2002)

Unified meter(part of the gaugecluster).


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## bigern45 (Oct 25, 2005)

Andy_Biloxi said:


> Yes my whole instrument panel is having problems. My fuel gauge acts funny too. It usually acts somewhat correct but seems to jump around alot when moving. My temp gauge seems to work but sometimes when I turn the truck off and crank it back up it goes all the way to hot and then back down to normal after it runs for awhile. I'm thinking about taking it to Nissan and let them deal with it. At least find out what's the problem and fix it myself. Hope it's something simple.


you probably need a new instrument cluster circuit board. they are a problem. i had a customer that had one and everything would be fine and then the crap would hit the fan. if it set in sun all day it wouldnt work, then i took it apart and held the circuit board with wires connected in front of a/c and turned it on full blast, within one minute the gauges were working again. and the way the speed sensor works is signal from output speed sensor to instrument cluster then to the computer. if you hook up obd11 with data capability you will see the computer states vehicle speed is same as what dash says, but if you labscope sensor output the frequency increases as does speed.


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## FNG (Dec 31, 2005)

BORNGEARHEAD said:


> Unified meter(part of the gaugecluster).



What is a unified meter?


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## mmgearhead80 (May 30, 2011)

Andy I had the same exact problem you have. The digital odometer would read close to double the actual miles, or it would read "Trip 238934.2", or "999,999" and when that happened the other gauges would malfuction. The Tach would double the RPM and the speedo would half the MPH, the fuel gauge would read incorrect, along with the temp gauge. I have 133K miles on my 1998 Frontier SE 4X4 , best vehicle I've ever owned, I love it. I liked the advice from "dvdswanson". I got under the dash with a mini maglite and poked around at all the wiring to and from the I/P. Really moved around the harnesses, plus I pulled a Fonz on top of the dash above the gauges. That did it, gauges, odometer all back to normal. Woo-hoo!


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## mrwhizard (Mar 5, 2008)

*1998,99 Nissan Frontier Instrument Cluster repair*

Common problem with these instrument clusters. We repair these and many other instrument clusters at a very reasonable price. Visit Mr. Whizard Technical Services for more information.


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## mmgearhead80 (May 30, 2011)

Thanks for the advice. I considered sending my cluster in to you, but fixed it myself by replacing my speedometer/odometer instead. Brand new part, pre-programmed with my mileage, $185 total w/ shipping from parts.com. Gauges all good as new again.


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## MaGuares62 (Mar 16, 2012)

Hey mmgearhead80 when you ordered from parts.com, did you order the entire instrument cluster. My entire cluster doesn't work at all and i'm not sure if i just need to replace a few things, or the entire thing.


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## mmgearhead80 (May 30, 2011)

No, just bought the speedometer only. Whenever the speedo would glitch out, it cause the rest of the gauges to do the same. Replaced the speedo and everything has been good as new. If you have any problems changing it out, let me know.


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## MaGuares62 (Mar 16, 2012)

Ok i'm about to order Speedometer head. should i get it with the tachometer or without? how did you get them to preprogram your miles?
thanks!


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## mmgearhead80 (May 30, 2011)

It doesn't come with a tach. They are asking if your truck has a tach or not, probably because the speedo is a different size if you don't/do. Also, after I ordered mine, a rep from parts.com called me and asked what my mileage was a couple days after I ordered. Good luck, let me know how it goes. There's a plastic piece covering where the ribbon of wires plugs into the speedo that you have to remove in order to fully plug the ribbon in. Any problems let me know.


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## Patxi (Nov 11, 2014)

*97 Nissan Fromtier 4X4 5 speed speedometer/odometer abruptly stopped*

The thread referres to your post for a 98. But I have the same problem with my 1997. Immediately after a dealer performed brake work on this vehicle the speedometer.stopped doing anything but the engine lite came on and coded a malfunctioning speedometer problem. 
how do I determine what the problem is. The Nissan dealer said they would need to perform a $100 computer analysis AS A START. My vehicle has actual 33432 original miles. I was told that it will not pass Vermont inspection next year (Dec2015) with an engine light ON. Thanks, Patxi


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## csagenlee (Oct 18, 2010)

I had the same problem I sent mine to myairbags.com and they referbed mine $107 and they take the entire thing apart and made sure everything was good on it, replaced bulbs and all that and they did a fantastic job. Bad part is they only do '98 and up for Nissan.


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## iamedelmann (Sep 2, 2009)

Hello everyone, I recently purchased a 98 frontier with the normal dash cluster problems. Mine would work 15% of the time, and the other 85% i had no gauges, a blank odometer, no fuel, no temp, etc. 

I researched this problem online to see what I could find. There were plenty of threads about it but no certain definite answer. I see Mr. Whizard and a few other Ebay people fixing this problem for $80-$200. Being a do it yourself type, I knew I've faced problems much more complicated than a glitchy dash. 

I went ahead and pulled my dash apart. had my gauge cluster ready to come out with only the ribbons holding it in. For the test I went ahead and applied pressure to the main top ribbon with my key on to see my cluster come on perfectly. So simple!

So fast forward to the next day, cluster removed. 

Here you can see the back of the cluster with the "unified meter control unit." I have read a few people saying they replaced a few transistors on this board. Some said it worked, others said it didn't. 










Here you can see what I believe people are mistaking for burnt transistors. These markings are normal and nothing on this board needs any replacement!










Here is the speedo with the main circuit board on the back of it. Be very careful when removing the speedo, it can easily come apart. I did not put any weight on the needle or move it any "just in case".










And finally here is your connector where the unified meter control unit connects to the speedo circuit board. This connector is the main cause of the infamous 98+ frontier dash failure. 










And here is the back of the connector with the 18 small solders. These solders are what go bad and form very small cracks breaking the circuit. I looked at mine under a big magnifying glass and still could not see any cracks in the solder.










I called a friend that does small solders and a lot of work with micro electronics and within 15 minutes and with a very steady hand he redid every major solder on the board. This consisted of melting the current solder and dabbing on new solder.

I put the board/cluster back together and plugged it in and put my dash back together. Key in the truck and BOOM, perfectly working dash with all gauges functioning including odometer with proper mileage. 800 Miles later and my dash hasn't stopped working once. My airbag light was also flashing since I bought the truck and I did the reset on the airbag light and it has also been off since. I used the method where you turn the key to on without starting the truck, press the driver door close button once a second for 5 seconds, turn key off and repeat, and the light put itself through diagnostic mode, shut off, and hasn't been back on since.

This was a long post but I saw so many people looking for an answer I wanted to get this DEFINITE FIX out there. 

For bonus points here's another fun picture that was taken when replacing heater core, and "refurbishing" my a/c system. 










Stop paying people to fix your dash unless you do not have the skill to solder small electronics and are handy enough to work on a vehicle safely.


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## Roader (Nov 9, 2014)

Excellent, informative post! Bad solder joints are a PITA but once they're reflowed they should be good for another 10 years.


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## GuillermoTA (May 25, 2021)

[QUOTE = "iamedelmann, publicación: 1461329, miembro: 96125"]
Hola a todos, recientemente compré un 98 Frontier con los problemas normales del tablero de instrumentos. El mío funcionaría el 15% del tiempo, y el otro 85% no tenía medidores, un odómetro en blanco, sin combustible, sin temperatura, etc. 

Investigué este problema en línea para ver qué podía encontrar. Hubo muchos hilos al respecto, pero no hubo una respuesta definitiva segura. Veo al Sr. Whizard y algunas otras personas de Ebay solucionando este problema por $ 80- $ 200. Siendo del tipo hágalo usted mismo, sabía que me había enfrentado a problemas mucho más complicados que un guión con fallas. 

Seguí adelante y separé mi tablero. Tenía mi grupo de indicadores listo para salir con solo las cintas que lo sujetaban. Para la prueba, seguí adelante y apliqué presión a la cinta superior principal con la llave puesta para ver que mi grupo funcionaba perfectamente. ¡Tan sencillo!

Así que avance rápido al día siguiente, se eliminó el grupo. 

Aquí puede ver la parte posterior del grupo con la "unidad de control de medidor unificada". He leído a algunas personas diciendo que reemplazaron algunos transistores en esta placa. Algunos dijeron que funcionó, otros dijeron que no. 










Aquí puede ver lo que creo que la gente está confundiendo con transistores quemados. ¡Estas marcas son normales y nada en esta placa necesita reemplazo!










Aquí está el velocímetro con la placa de circuito principal en la parte posterior. Tenga mucho cuidado al quitar el velocímetro, puede romperse fácilmente. No puse ningún peso sobre la aguja ni la moví "por si acaso".










Y finalmente aquí está su conector donde la unidad de control del medidor unificado se conecta a la placa de circuito del velocímetro. Este conector es la causa principal de la infame falla del tablero de la frontera 98+. 










Y aquí está la parte posterior del conector con las 18 soldaduras pequeñas. Estas soldaduras son las que se estropean y forman grietas muy pequeñas que rompen el circuito. Miré el mío con una gran lupa y todavía no podía ver ninguna grieta en la soldadura.










Llamé a un amigo que hace pequeñas soldaduras y mucho trabajo con microelectrónica y en 15 minutos y con mano muy firme rehizo todas las soldaduras importantes en la placa. Esto consistió en derretir la soldadura actual y aplicar una nueva soldadura.

Volví a armar el tablero / grupo, lo enchufé y volví a armar mi tablero. Introduzca la camioneta y la PLUMA, el tablero funciona perfectamente con todos los indicadores en funcionamiento, incluido el odómetro, con el kilometraje adecuado. 800 millas más tarde y mi tablero no ha dejado de funcionar ni una vez. La luz de mi bolsa de aire también estaba parpadeando desde que compré la camioneta e hice el reinicio en la luz de la bolsa de aire y también ha estado apagada desde entonces. Utilicé el método en el que se enciende la llave sin encender el camión, se presiona el botón de cierre de la puerta del conductor una vez por segundo durante 5 segundos, se apaga la llave y se repite, y la luz pasa automáticamente al modo de diagnóstico, se apaga y no se detiene. Ha vuelto desde entonces.

Esta fue una publicación larga, pero vi a tanta gente buscando una respuesta que quería publicar este ARREGLO DEFINITIVO. 

Para obtener puntos de bonificación, aquí hay otra foto divertida que se tomó al reemplazar el núcleo del calentador y "restaurar" mi sistema de aire acondicionado. 










Deje de pagarle a la gente para que arregle su tablero a menos que no tenga la habilidad para soldar pequeños dispositivos electrónicos y sea lo suficientemente útil para trabajar en un vehículo de manera segura.
[/ CITA]

Hola !! Soy de Argentina, ¿me pueden escribir al correo? Quiero consultarte para una tabla. gdbarro (arroba) hotmail.com


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## MVCO (1 mo ago)

I'm here to give a second to this cold-solder issue. My 98 Frontier also had the main cluster go bad, with fuel and temp at max, displayed speed at 1/3 actual speed, "bouncing" tach, and ODO of 999999. With emissions testing required this month, I pulled it out and re-touched all main solder points (not the surface-mount caps and resistors), including all ICs.

At my bench, I also use an old xbox supply to give me 12V, so I could power up the cluster and see the results before putting back into the truck. I was very happy to see the ODO come up at 99301 (yes, few miles...all the more of a shame to otherwise not get this thing going to pass emissions).

Note that I didn't need to reprogram my EEPROM to get this resolved. Once the soldering was touched up, things were back to normal, including odometer.

Thanks to the community for the informative posts!


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