# Speedometer, Tachometer, Temp Guage



## Curtis Carson (Oct 5, 2004)

Hi folks,
I have a 2000 Altima GXE with an intermittent problem with the Speedometer, Tachometer, and Temp Guage. The needle on all three of them occassionaly drops to 0 and stays there for an undetermined time until they spring back to life for a while. They all drop at once. Has anyone seen this/know the cure?????


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

sounds like a loose main plug on the back of the instrument panel. maybe its dirty or for some reason has a bit of corrosion on it... hard to say. you could try pulling the cluster out and cleaning and reinstalling all of the connectors.


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## shhaz87 (Mar 20, 2005)

Curtis Carson said:


> Hi folks,
> I have a 2000 Altima GXE with an intermittent problem with the Speedometer, Tachometer, and Temp Guage. The needle on all three of them occassionaly drops to 0 and stays there for an undetermined time until they spring back to life for a while. They all drop at once. Has anyone seen this/know the cure?????


HI, I too have a 2000 Nissan Altima GXE with an intermittent problem with the instrument panel gauges, particularly the speedometer, tachometer, odometer, and temperature gauge. The gauges will drop off for a few minutes (sometimes longer) and then mysteriously come back to life. I have had it at a local dealer two times to date. Both times I got my Altima back with the same problem. They say that it could be one of many things. Any ideas?


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## shhaz87 (Mar 20, 2005)

shhaz87 said:


> HI, I too have a 2000 Nissan Altima GXE with an intermittent problem with the instrument panel gauges, particularly the speedometer, tachometer, odometer, and temperature gauge. The gauges will drop off for a few minutes (sometimes longer) and then mysteriously come back to life. I have had it at a local dealer two times to date. Both times I got my Altima back with the same problem. They say that it could be one of many things. Any ideas?


I just got my Altima back from the dealership after having the same problem that you did. The gauges haven't stopped working yet. I had the dash plate unit replaced. I hope that this will also fix ur problem.


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## altimamike (Apr 5, 2005)

Hhhhmmmm . . . . I had an '89 240SX with similar problems - except it was only the speedometer. SOld it before I did anything about it, though; even when it wasn't working the tach was still fine so I just gauged my speed by that.


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## SerDaRat93 (Apr 25, 2005)

*guess what same problem*

okay i was having that problem and then sometimes when the guages shut off the check engine light would come on so i had that checked and it said my speed sensor was bad... so i replaced it, ( $30 do it yourself fix) and since then everything is peachy. but i want to check the main harness to that sounds like an easy fixer to if that is the problem.


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## Chitc (Apr 28, 2005)

*Help for Odometer/Speedometer prob*

Hi,
I'm having the same prob (sentra '01 ) with the odometer and speedometer....the gauge drops off to zero .Generally it comes back up after I have shut off the engine for some time or justs comes back on while driving for couple of more miles.I took it to the dealer, but the guage was functioning properly at that time...so he found no problem in it. It happening really frequently now.Any ideas what to do? I'm not under warrenty so a trip to the dealer is gonna be really expensive!!


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## portia (May 7, 2005)

*Same Problem Sentra 2000*

I am having the same problem now with my 2000 Sentra. The dealer and others say that they cannot do much with an intermittent problem. When I turn the car off and restart, the gauges go back. Has anyone solved this problem? I have seen may posts and actual complaints filed with the NTSA on this matter and I know it is happening to many others.


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## SerDaRat93 (Apr 25, 2005)

SerDaRat93 said:


> my speed sensor was bad... so i replaced it,


For everyone that took heart in my post about the speed sensor i need to update everything was good untill now. lets see it's been a few months since then but now the guages will shut off quite frequently. Does someone know where we can complain to nissan about this problem. because it deffinatly has to be a saftey issue.


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## Chitc (Apr 28, 2005)

*Checking the dash did n't help!!!*

Hi,
I did get the dash removed to clean the contacts and check for any loose wires. For about a week it was good...but problem has started occuring again.I also feel a kind of kicking from the floorboard whenever the guages shutoff.Any other suggestions?


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## portia (May 7, 2005)

*Where to report*

If you want to report this as a safety problem, go to http://www.dot.gov/index.cfm  which is the Department of Transportation.
Go to *report a vehicle safety problem*. I have seen this problem reported for various Nissans including Altimas, Sentras, Pathfinders, others.
Maybe if we all would report it, they would do a recall on it and they would actually fix it.
If you want to contact Nissan USA call 1(800) 647-7261. I will be doing this Monday when they reopen (only open during business hours M-F).


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## SerDaRat93 (Apr 25, 2005)

portia said:


> If you want to report this as a safety problem, go to http://www.dot.gov/index.cfm  which is the Department of Transportation.
> .


well i am of course one man but i reported the issue there i spent about a half an hour sitting there typing my issue and then had to give my vin and all the info but hey maybe when i am like 50 it'll have been worth it right. if anyone is still hanging on to this thread that has that problem jump on the band wagon and we can get it fixed. :fluffy:


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## Lambo (May 11, 2005)

*Great information, finally!*



SerDaRat93 said:


> well i am of course one man but i reported the issue there i spent about a half an hour sitting there typing my issue and then had to give my vin and all the info but hey maybe when i am like 50 it'll have been worth it right. if anyone is still hanging on to this thread that has that problem jump on the band wagon and we can get it fixed. :fluffy:


I have this problem with my 2000 Frontier! By reading everyone's posts, it appears that this is a common problem around the 2000 year model. Thanks for the link to the NTSB website, I posted my complaint. Hopefully we can prevent someone from getting hurt by this.

From reading the posts, it seems also that the only fix for this is to replace the instrument cluster. No doubt this is an expensive fix. Can anyone tell me if SHHAZ87 has had the problem return? I suppose only they can tell, i hope they post again soon.


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## michele (Jun 1, 2005)

I'm having the same problem with my 2000 Altima. Does anyone know how much it costs to replace the instrument panel? Does that actually fix the problem?


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## Lambo (May 11, 2005)

michele said:


> I'm having the same problem with my 2000 Altima. Does anyone know how much it costs to replace the instrument panel? Does that actually fix the problem?


I checked with the Nissan Dealer where I live, and they told me they have to order it.  Because the odometer is programmed into the cluster, I have to take it to them to get the odometer reading, then they will order it. I was told it's $184 for my cluster; however, it may be different for you. I have not fixed the problem yet. If you are in any way mechanical savvy, it should be easy for you to replace yourself.


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## shhaz87 (Mar 20, 2005)

I had my dash plate unit replaced about two months ago. I haven't had any problems with it since then. The unit was $73.81, but if you have your dealer install it, it will cost more than that. However, it will be worth it.


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## skinnyd (Jun 8, 2005)

Great post, and great site.
Ive been having the quages in my Pathfinder going on and off for over two years now. The dealer hasnt been been able to fix it yet. Replaced a circuit board before and that didnt solve it. They now say the speedo head is bad. Any one have that replaced yet? Not sure I want to give them anymore $$$ to try and fix this.


Thanks


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## portia (May 7, 2005)

skinnyd said:


> Great post, and great site.
> Ive been having the quages in my Pathfinder going on and off for over two years now. The dealer hasnt been been able to fix it yet. Replaced a circuit board before and that didnt solve it. They now say the speedo head is bad. Any one have that replaced yet? Not sure I want to give them anymore $$$ to try and fix this.
> 
> 
> Thanks


Thank you for posting this to help others avoid paying out more money. My mechanic said that it was probably the circuit board too. 
The only advantage to this problem is that I have probably shaved a few hundred miles off of my speedometer! Someone that I know suggested that we could report this as a potential odometer fraud, which is illegal.
I just wish that they would figure this out and call a recall on the part that is causing all the problems.


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## skinnyd (Jun 8, 2005)

The odometer in my situation still accrues miles it just doesnt display when the guages stop working. I have to try to talk to the tech today to find out if the speedo head can effect the rest of the guages. I dont want to spend anymore money fixing this thing unless they tell me this is whats wrong. Seems like others in this thread have had similar problems but have different fixes.


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## Lambo (May 11, 2005)

*Intermixing terminology?*

Which circuit board? Are you talking about the car's computer? I am guessing that "speedo head" means the actual guage. Is that correct? The cluster unit, which includes the speedometer, odometer, and tachometer, comes as one piece and can be removed easily. I dissasembled mine as far as i felt comfortable, but i didn't see any obvious problems with it. It did, however, work properly for two days after i reinstalled it. It then went back to being intermittent.


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## skinnyd (Jun 8, 2005)

Not real sure what circuitboard they replaced before. I think the part was only $15 didnt fix anything anyway. I havent been able to get them to call me back about what they found when it was in the shop earlier this week. Im not to confident that they actually found the problem. With the gauges only going out intermittently I dont have faith they can really diagnose the problem unless its not working at the time. Not sure what the speedo head does. Im trying to talk to the tech to confirm that if it was malfunctioning it would effect the rest of the guages. This has been ongoing for almost 3 years now.


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## sentra2nr (May 26, 2003)

well if all else fails, guess you could always go aftermarket and design your own instrument cluster. Do a little custom work and tap into the existing wire harness.


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## kago (Oct 13, 2005)

Has anybody found a solution to the intermitant instrument cluster problem.
I had the speedo head replaced 3 months ago on my 2000 Altima. The cluster worked fine until today. Now it seems to go blank after driving about 20 minutes or so.


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## portia (May 7, 2005)

Sorry, I have not had it fixed, because I can't get a clear answer on what to fix. It hasn't happened for a few months, but I really haven't done as much long distance driving as I used to.


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## vpstang (Oct 20, 2005)

My 2000 altima just started doing the same thing 2 or 3 days ago. Intermittently, the guages just drop to nothing-speedo, tach, temp, and fuel. The ses light has also come on throwing a p0500 code which is malfunctioning speed sensor.
all other lights on cluster work, inlcuding the backlighting for the guages.
Anyone had any luck??


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## jserrano (Oct 27, 2004)

Hi vpstang,

Got your PM about this problem. It is an old thread but seems like the problems remains for a lot of people.

I actually own a '94 Altima, but I can interpret the electronic diagram for the 2000 Altima as it relates to this problem.

First off, the 2000 Altima has integrated meters and odo/trip meter in a circuit board known as the *Unified Meter Control Unit* (UMCU). This unit controls the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, and water temperature gauge. It also receives the vehicle speed via the Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) and sends "a copy" of it up to the car's computer, the auto transmission controller, and the cruise control controller.

Now you mentioned that the meters suddenly drops out of action instead of it gradually dropping out. This is 90% indicative of either a power or ground problem. And since this happens intermittently it sugguests a problematic terminal connection for the power or ground somewhere that feeds the UMCU. Intermittents are not easy to locate because you have to wait for the item to fail. That is why it is not easy for anyone to locate. Some techs try wiggling the wires or using cold blast spray and it sometimes helps troubleshoot the problem. Another thing I would recommend it to loosen and retighten all the screws on the backside of the instrument cluster. Those screws hold down and also provides electricity for the various electrical components.

The main electrical wires for the UMCU that I would suspect would be the Brown/White, Red/Black, and Black wiring to the UMCU. 

The P0500 code is probably a result of the problem stated above. If you think a sensor is causing the problem then try disconnecting it and see if all the meters drops out. We are talking about the sensor for the thermal transmitter, fuel level, VSS, and tach.

One last thing I'd like to include is that you can do a diagnostic test for the UMCU. It goes like this,

Meter Gauge and Odo/Trip Diagnostics
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1. Turn the ignition key to ON (don't start the engine).
2. Change the odo/trip meter switch to "Trip A"
3. Turn the ignition key to OFF.
4. Push in and hold the odo/trip meter switch.
5. Turn the ignition key to ON (don't start the engine).
6. Release the odo/trip meter switch after one (1) second.
7. Push the odo/trip meter switch in and out three (3) times within five (5) seconds.
Note: All the digital LED segments should turn ON.
8. Push and hold in the odo/trip meter switch for about 15 seconds.
Note: ALL the meter gauges should start to move and hold steady around an imaginary horizontal centerline of the meters.

Good luck to all.


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## portia (May 7, 2005)

*check engine light, can't pass smog!*

Today I took my 2000 Nissan Sentra to be smogged, and first disconnected the battery to turn off the check engine light that keeps turning on when the car is not busy turning off all of the gauges. 

Needless to say, I did not pass smog. The emissions were fine, but the functional check failed.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I'm sure it's related to the same problems.


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