Bent instrument needles.

[willwal98]

Had the same issue in my old RA23. Got a gauge repair shop to fix for $80. Do be careful though, some gauges will need to be balanced if you change the needles or even if you pull them off and put them back on.

[Hash_ra23]

Had the same issue in my old RA23. Got a gauge repair shop to fix for $80. Do be careful though, some gauges will need to be balanced if you change the needles or even if you pull them off and put them back on.

Hmmm thats worrying. I've pulled them off and put them back on many a times. maybe i'll just take it to the pros and get it balanced and the needles bent back.

[mideon_696]

THREAD REVIVAL!!

sorry, but how do i remove the instrument cluster, the old SV21's needles be bent and be sticking good and proper to the plastic at 85odd kays, same as above.
been searching, but am over it, so i thought i'd post this, then grab a screw driver and have a go...

so yeah, any advice would be ace!

[vanman]

Just about to do this to my new camry, just did my brothers one, you only need screwdriver and and pair of pliers or something to pull the needles off... very easy as the clear plastic on front of the gauges screws onto the front... only need to remove the front dash fascia including two plugs from switches, and then unscrew clear plastic from front.

I am waiting on new needles from Toyota as they only had one set the other day when my brother got his... $68 for genuine full set of needles, but cheaper than speeding fine from a cop who won't accept bent needles as a reaon why you didn't know how fast you are going...

I'll put up pics if you want when I do mine...

Cheers
Vanman

[Talasas]

Jesus guys, they are just needles, get some from a wreck at U-Pull-It or Pick n Payless and fit them, you could get a whole cluster full of needles for half that price. You can even use needles from another model if they aren't weighted. Stop paying stupid amounts of money for them at any rate. Also, a long pronged fork is a very useful tool for levering needles off without damaging the gauge faces, use it with a thin bit of cloth underneath. Be careful with certain gauges as they need back support as well otherwise you'll pull the whole movement out of the assembly (usually only with voltmeters).

[vanman]

Ordinarily I wouldn't bother paying that much for plastic either, but new needles would look better on gauges that only have 95,000 genuine K's on them, will help resale in this case... rest of the car justifies the cost of the needles to keep it looking good...

plus my brother is paying for them anyway... bargain...

Otherwise, for the ones that stick at 70 kph or so, just remove the front clear lens of the cluster and put the dash back to gether without it... gauges work fine again, but can get dirty real quick...


Cheers
Vanman

[Cuzzo]

Van man's avatar wtf.

[vanman]

'flash' photography - don't worry, it's not my butt - would need wider lens for that

Cheers

Vanman

[vanman]

A few people on different forums have asked (replacing the needles, not about the avatar), so here you go… how to replace the instrument needles in a SV21 series Toyota Camry…

No doubt you’ve currently got something that looks a bit like this at the moment…



Your speedo and/or tacho is probably sticking at around 70 kph or 3000rpm gauge because of this happening to the instrument needles, causing them to jam against the outside plastic…



A set of these from your local Toyota dealer might come in handy… $68 at the moment and comes with packets inside containing needles for speedo, tacho, fuel and temp, clock hour and minute. (which Toyota won’t sell separate…)



For installation, first thing to remove is the outer dashboard fascia… looks like this once it’s off…



It’s held in by screws where circled (above picture) and by push in clips where circled in this picture of the rear…



Unscrew and pull it out carefully, might need some gentle leverage around the outside to get it to this position…



Unplug your hazard switch and rear demister switch, then carefully squeeze the fascia out from under the top of the dashboard hole and over the steering wheel… lowering the steering column will help if you have the adjustment available…

Then you simply have to unscrew the clear plastic covering the gauges, held in by the speedo trip meter button (unscrews) and these screws where circled…



At this point, for accuracy, lift the front of the car and put it on stands so you can drive the wheels. Run the wheels at 40, 60, 80 and 100kph in both 4th and 5th gears and record the tacho readings. This means once you get the new speedo needle on, you can check if you got it on pointing the same direction …

To remove the needles it’s a simple matter of removing the existing needles carefully with a precision engineering tool such as this to get underneath and lever gently up…



Once you’ve got the speedo sorted and pointing at the same speeds it used to for the recorded revs in each gear, do the tacho and check the install the same way… same revs for same speed in gear… at least this way, you’ll have the same speedo and tacho readings as before…

I did the fuel gauge and temp gauge with ignition on and with the engine at normal operating temp to get them as close to accurate as possible for normal everyday running...

Re-install the clear plastic and dash fascia in reverse of removal, cleaning each part before you put it back in – nothing worse than a smudge on the inside you can’t clean…

And voila!...





Of course, for the budget conscious who don't care about looks, simply remove the dash fascia and clear plastic gauge cover, then replace the dash fascia - sure, your old needles will still be bent and look like crap, and your gauges will collect dust and eventually get stuck with the dirt, but your needles no longer will have something to stick against and should work normally... a good interim measure if you get defected for non-working gauges...

Cheers
Vanman