Fixing a Stuck Tach in a Nissan Quest

1999 Nissan Quests tend to have sticky tachs where the needle showing RPMs doesn't move like it should. It may jump around or just not move at all.  This guide will show you one way to fix a sticky tach yourself.

You will need a T15 Torx and #2 Phillips screwdriver, and about 30 to 90 minutes to do it, depending on how slow you are (I was slow). A few photos are attached at the bottom to give you some idea of how the repair goes.
 
1) If you are nervous about the electricity, consider disconnecting the battery before you start. There is a slight possibility of a hot plug touching ground and frying something, so take appropriate precautions. I didn't see any air bag wiring in the area of my '99 Quest's dashboard, but it's a bit nerve wracking working on wiring so close to the air bag in the steering wheel. You may decide it's worth it to remove the battery connections and then wait for any residual power to deplete.

2) Take out the ashtray/cupholder (there are little release buttons on either side just inside the ashtray track). Unscrew the 2 Phillips screws that are exposed when you take out the ashtray. Pull off the center-console trim piece that surrounds the radio, ashtray, and has the 3 vents at the top. This thing is just friction-fitted, so just pry it off. See Fascia Removed photo.

3) Pry off the sort-of-triangular trim piece on the left side of the instrument panel that holds the headlight switch. When you take it out, there will be 2 sets of wires that plug into the switches. Unplug them.  See the Headlight Switch photo.

4) Unscrew the Phillips screw exposed when you took off the headlight switch trim piece.

5) There are two Phillips screws on the underside of the arched instrument panel - dashboard. Remove them. See Panel Screws photo.

6) Loosen the large plastic trim piece that was held on by these screws above. This still has the 4 or so switches attached on the right of the instruments.

7) Remove each of these 4 switch/plug combinations. I found that it was easier to pop each switch off the plastic surround and then remove the plug. Take your time & don't break anything here like I almost did. You may have to maneuver the steering wheel & gear shift lever around to get it out. (You may have trouble moving the gear lever if you've disconnected the battery thereby cutting power to the shift interlock, so you may want to move the indicator to D or L before disconnecting the battery.) See Switch Removal photo.

8) The clear plastic face of the instrument cluster should be exposed now. There are 4 Phillips screws that hold it in place. Remove them. See Cluster Exposed and Cluster Removal photos.

9) Carefully pull the instrument cluster away from its mounting location. There are 4 plugs that go into it that power everything, including the stiff wire that is attached to the PRND2L indicator. Remove these plugs. (Now would be a good time to replace any burned-out lights in the panel). See Cluster wiring photo.

10) Take the instrument cluster somewhere you can work on it. Remove the 8 or so Torx screws that hold on the clear plastic face. Remove it & set it aside.

11) Using a pencil or similar instrument, carefully try to move the tachometer needle clockwise a higher reading on the gauge & let go. It has a spring that should make the needle slowly return to zero. More than likely it doesn't move freely, which is the reason you are reading this in the first place. I found that the shaft of the tachometer is being rubbed by the faceplate just enough to make it stick.

12) The plastic face piece that has the tachometer numbers on it is attached to the plastic backing with a mild glue. Carefully & gently use your fingernails to peel it up & reposition it so it doesn't rub against the tachometer shaft. I wanted to make sure it stayed put, so I put just a little dab of hotglue underneath it to secure it.  See Tach Face photo.

13) Once the tachometer moves freely, reassemble the instrument appurtenances in the reverse order in which it was disassembled. I didn't notice any guidemarks to help you line up the face piece with the tach needle - chances are your tach reading will be a bit off after doing this fix if you shift the face plate a bit while moving it away from the needle shaft. (I haven't checked yet, but my tach seems about 150 rpm higher at idle now, but maybe it's just that my idle is off).

Most of this Guide was lifted from ebivens' excellent post in the Nissan Quest Instrument Panel discussion at CarSpace.

Fascia Removed      

Headlight Switch         

Panel Screws    

Switch Removal     

Cluster Exposed    

Cluster removal    

Cluster wiring    

Tach face