Screwy dash instruments on a GU

[rowlund]

Hi All!

I recently purchased a 2002 GU Body 4.5 liter petrol Patrol. The vehicle was well taken care of by the previous owner, no scratches or dings, and only 78k on the odometer. I really have no complaint about the vehicle outside of the dash instruments. The thing is, sometimes they don't work. I would be motoring on the highway and suddenly my tachometer would fall to 0rpm, my speedometer would either fall to 0 as well or get stuck on a certain speed even if I am going faster, the lcd on odometer would go out, my fuel gauge would suddenly either read empty or full, despite the petrol being somewhere in between. The interesting thing is though, all i have to do is give it a nice tap or flick of the finger and everything goes back to as it should. I consulted the previous owner and he mentioned that this started to happen after he had the dash bulbs changed out. I had been thinking if this was a case of a bad job in returning the dash wiring to what it had been and can be easily fixed by making sure all attachments are fit right, a screwed up job where they broke something while changing the lights, or a symptom of something deeper that even changing the whole dash instrumentation might fix.
Given the work it entails, I though I might get your feedback and experience why this could be happening before I have it fixed to make sure I bring it to the proper garage that can solve the problem. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated

[threedogs]

Check and re-do any/all earth straps

[MEGOMONSTER]

You'll just gave to get in there and check all connections. Most probably something quite simple.


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[Alitis007]

It could be one of the looms arn't connected correctly or there is a dry soldier joint on the circuit panel on the back of the cluster. the installer of the globes might have had a heavy hand or was in a rush to do the job coz of having to remove the steering wheel to remve the cluster hood. On mistubishi lancers the sun heats up the cirsuit boards and cracks the soldier and by tapping it, it re-connects the joints till it heats up again the next time you use the car and separates again.

[my third 256]

need to take the top part of the plastic around steering colum then undo and remove the black trim from around the instruments then undo a couple of screws and thats pretty much it then just move the instrument panel so you can get your hand in behind it

[alien_racing]

what i found when i used to have to fix these thigns at work is, there is a relay that sits at the about location of your right knee when driving. it is not the ones you can see when you open the little fuse panel, but they sit a little higher then that. You have to remove the trim panel and replace it. Can't quite remember which one it is but it cost about $100 from nissan and they should be able to tell you which one it is. It was a fairly common warranty problem at Bunbury nissan when i used to deal with them