Calibrating the Speedometer Needles
#1
07-16-2012
Calibrating the Speedometer Needles
Since the mail man dropped this off for me.
And i used the search function, but got stonewalled.
who has a definitive how to be all end all way to calibrate the needle. once i change faces.
I looked at the how -to from a while back, something about a AA battery attaching to the solder points of the needles on the backside?
I also read another thing that talked about just measuring the distance between the 10mph and 20mph and setting it that way?
any help would be cool guys.
And i used the search function, but got stonewalled.
who has a definitive how to be all end all way to calibrate the needle. once i change faces.
I looked at the how -to from a while back, something about a AA battery attaching to the solder points of the needles on the backside?
I also read another thing that talked about just measuring the distance between the 10mph and 20mph and setting it that way?
any help would be cool guys.
#2
07-16-2012
This was obtained from an old how to. Is this the right?
Now flip the center section over. Here, you’ll see the electric motor which drives the speedometer needle(silver round thingy towards the bottom right). Circled, are the solder studs which we’ll talk about later…
In order to take the odometer/speedo gauge out, you must remove the needle. BUT in order to make sure you place the needle properly in the correct orientation on the needle, you must first calibrate the speedometer. We do this with a little bit of wire, alligator clips/roach clips, and a new AA battery. Make your wires look like the pic below. You need to pretty much make a ‘ Y ‘ out of them. Top of the ‘ Y ‘ shall have the roach clips, bottom of the ‘ Y ‘ shall be a long stripped section of bare wire. I made the bottom portion of the ‘ Y ‘ long to make it easier to make the vids seen later in this post.
Now….those circled solder studs talked about above…they come into play here. Place an alligator clip on each stud, as following diagram. Make sure the roach clips are not touching each other OR the motor. I like to lean the Tach/Speedo gauge up against the cluster ‘housing’..makes it easy and it stays put. Red = + pos. Black = - Neg.
Now…place the bottom of the ‘ Y ‘s stripped section onto their respective ends of a new AA battery. I did the wires in cooresponding colors…Red = pos. Black = Neg. So it makes it easy. While you do this, watch the speedometer needle. It should move and hold still on a number, in this case, it was approx 70mph.
Go ahead and do the AA test a few times to create an accurate speed reading. Write that reading down or take a mental note. Now you are ready to remove the speedo needle. This is best done I find, by rotating the needle up off the stop, and taking a fork to it. Sometimes though, the needle is set in so far, a fork will not fit. In that case, I like to take my box cutter and pull it up a little bit…enough to get the fork in. Get the fork in there, and pull straight up, strongly yet gently. Now the needle should be removed.
In order to take the odometer/speedo gauge out, you must remove the needle. BUT in order to make sure you place the needle properly in the correct orientation on the needle, you must first calibrate the speedometer. We do this with a little bit of wire, alligator clips/roach clips, and a new AA battery. Make your wires look like the pic below. You need to pretty much make a ‘ Y ‘ out of them. Top of the ‘ Y ‘ shall have the roach clips, bottom of the ‘ Y ‘ shall be a long stripped section of bare wire. I made the bottom portion of the ‘ Y ‘ long to make it easier to make the vids seen later in this post.
Now….those circled solder studs talked about above…they come into play here. Place an alligator clip on each stud, as following diagram. Make sure the roach clips are not touching each other OR the motor. I like to lean the Tach/Speedo gauge up against the cluster ‘housing’..makes it easy and it stays put. Red = + pos. Black = - Neg.
Now…place the bottom of the ‘ Y ‘s stripped section onto their respective ends of a new AA battery. I did the wires in cooresponding colors…Red = pos. Black = Neg. So it makes it easy. While you do this, watch the speedometer needle. It should move and hold still on a number, in this case, it was approx 70mph.
Go ahead and do the AA test a few times to create an accurate speed reading. Write that reading down or take a mental note. Now you are ready to remove the speedo needle. This is best done I find, by rotating the needle up off the stop, and taking a fork to it. Sometimes though, the needle is set in so far, a fork will not fit. In that case, I like to take my box cutter and pull it up a little bit…enough to get the fork in. Get the fork in there, and pull straight up, strongly yet gently. Now the needle should be removed.
#3
07-16-2012
#5
07-16-2012
I was thinking of doing it the battery way.
What is the NGS, i'm afraid i'm not aware of it.
#6
07-16-2012
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#7
07-16-2012
i used the how-to you quoted with the battery/aligator clips on solder points method multiple times. works well. just have to make sure you put the battery to it before you take the needle off to see what speed it calibrates to. my original cluster calibrated to 60. another one i had calibrated to 70.
#8
07-16-2012
#9
07-16-2012
#10
07-16-2012
#11
07-16-2012
say your speedo calibrates to 60. switch your faces out, then put the juice to the speedo. so your motor will be turned to wherever it turns to. then you plop your needle on 60 with the juice on. when you take power off it will drop to 0. when you put the juice back on it should go to 60.
i hope that makes sense.
i hope that makes sense.
#12
07-16-2012
say your speedo calibrates to 60. switch your faces out, then put the juice to the speedo. so your motor will be turned to wherever it turns to. then you plop your needle on 60 with the juice on. when you take power off it will drop to 0. when you put the juice back on it should go to 60.
i hope that makes sense.
i hope that makes sense.
Thanks.
And Perdo, Just place the needles back where they go at idle, the place them where they go at idle when the truck is off?
#13
07-16-2012
idle when the truck is on for the tach and gas gauge. For the temp one, put it back on the cluster when the truck is cold so that one is really easy. Voltage, place it on when the truck is running right in the middle where it should be, also really easy. the only tricky one is the speedometer.
#14
07-16-2012
Ok, so. let me try and get this all together.
On the speedo, Test it with a Battery and get the reading, (more than once) then place the new on in the same place with the battery connected.
Same for Tach? or just set that at Idle?
Set all other needles to their position that they were in when the truck was on before tear down, both times with truck running?
On the speedo, Test it with a Battery and get the reading, (more than once) then place the new on in the same place with the battery connected.
Same for Tach? or just set that at Idle?
Set all other needles to their position that they were in when the truck was on before tear down, both times with truck running?
#15
07-16-2012
Ok, so. let me try and get this all together.
On the speedo, Test it with a Battery and get the reading, (more than once) then place the new on in the same place with the battery connected.
Same for Tach? or just set that at Idle?
Set all other needles to their position that they were in when the truck was on before tear down, both times with truck running?
On the speedo, Test it with a Battery and get the reading, (more than once) then place the new on in the same place with the battery connected.
Same for Tach? or just set that at Idle?
Set all other needles to their position that they were in when the truck was on before tear down, both times with truck running?
Tachometer- take a picture or remember where it is at idle in park
Gas- Take a picture or remember where it is before removal.
Temp- Replace when its cold so you can't really mess that up
Voltage- place in the middle at idle
Oil- place in middle at idle
Remove all needles with the truck off and the cluster out of the truck. using a fork works best
#16
07-16-2012
#18
07-16-2012
I'm going to be damn good at taking my dash apart soon enough here. Figures. I dropped a U-clip the other day for the very top 3 bolts that are above the gauge cluster. So now i can put it back on.
#19
07-16-2012
#20
09-05-2012
#21
09-05-2012
#22
10-10-2013
Member
This may sound stupid but why not just pull the needless off when the truck is fully off?
IE if you pull the speedo needle off when the truck is off and on a flat surface there is that little peg to stop it from going lower, why not just put it back on that same spot? Wouldn't it be the same or this is for those that are changing to bigger tires and want to adjust the speedo to compensate for the bigger diameter?
I just got a ford ranger cluster that has the silver dials and I plan on changing the red needles to my 01's white needles since I like the white and green look compared to the red/green Christmas look.
Thanks,
-Nigel
IE if you pull the speedo needle off when the truck is off and on a flat surface there is that little peg to stop it from going lower, why not just put it back on that same spot? Wouldn't it be the same or this is for those that are changing to bigger tires and want to adjust the speedo to compensate for the bigger diameter?
I just got a ford ranger cluster that has the silver dials and I plan on changing the red needles to my 01's white needles since I like the white and green look compared to the red/green Christmas look.
Thanks,
-Nigel
#23
10-10-2013
IE if you pull the speedo needle off when the truck is off and on a flat surface there is that little peg to stop it from going lower, why not just put it back on that same spot?
Wouldn't it be the same or this is for those that are changing to bigger tires and want to adjust the speedo to compensate for the bigger diameter?
I just got a ford ranger cluster that has the silver dials and I plan on changing the red needles to my 01's white needles since I like the white and green look compared to the red/green Christmas look.
Thanks,
-Nigel
Thanks,
-Nigel
Click: https://www.ranger-forums.com/interi...s-only-104556/
#24
10-10-2013
Shanes Thread was the one i originally read to get the initial knowledge base.
FWIW.
I'll probably do mine soon. I can do it at work where i have a power supply, which i can set to a constant 1.5V or whatever so i don't have to worry about the battery part and where all my electrical tools are as well.
FWIW.
I'll probably do mine soon. I can do it at work where i have a power supply, which i can set to a constant 1.5V or whatever so i don't have to worry about the battery part and where all my electrical tools are as well.
