Hi guys:

Ford's ingenious entertainment system includes, but is not limited to strobe action of the interior light (switch them off at the dimmer wheel), CD palyers that spit out perfectly fine CDs, VHS system that only works at the correct temperature and humidity and of course: instrument clusters that go haywire!

In my case the tachometer went to "stratospheric" and stayed there. That means the needle went beyond the scale and all the way down to the gear indicator. At my destination I put it into P and the gear indicator bent the tachometer needle.
BTW the temperature indicator went haywire as well but it normalized. With a bit of searching and Youtube information I went ahead and took that cluster out for inspection. I found no obvious damage. I decided to closely inspect the offending tachometer. To remove the stepper motor I had to take off the needle. As soon as it was off I realized that the needle is not keyed to the shaft. I was left with guesswork as to were the needle ought to be. After putting it all together the instruments work again! Except the tachometer reads 2000 with the engine off and adds that much to the actual rpm when it runs.
Here are my questions:
1. Does anyone know how to adjust the tachometer needle correctly?
2. In case I am going to replace the unit with one from the junk yard: will I loose my odometer reading and take on the junk car's odometer?
3. Is it possible to correct the odometer reading if needed?

And her is my speculation on what went wrong in the first place: The stepper motors have 4 pins sticking out of the back and these pins make contact with friction connectors in the printed circuit board. Apparently, there was a little bit of corrosion causing intermittent voltage which made the needles jump. Taking it apart and putting it back together may have cleared the corrosion and fixed the issue.

Any help is appreciated!

 

To correct the tach just note where the needle is at rest. Then remove it again and reposition it to 2000RPM lower.
As far as the odometer is concerned, your motor vehicle dept most likely has a form that you fill out with the current mileage and the corrected mileage. That form usually gets filed with the motor vehicle dept and a copy is kept with the vehicle. A sticker is usually available that is supposed to be placed on the vehicle door showing the mileage change. All states may not be the same, but if there is any inspection program they will pick up the incorrect mileage and "Pandora's Box Opens".
Now they will want to see the sticker or the paperwork indicating the change.

 

Thanks, Hanky.

I thought of the repositioning as well. I think the key is to hold the shaft in place while removing and repositioning the needle. I will try needle nose pliers or a hemostat. This shaft is delicate!

Ahh, the lawyers. I will avoid it if I can.

 

For you , this is a piece of cake!
I have every confidence in your dexterity and craftsmanship.

 

And I have every confidence in his legal ability!

 

I am getting way to much credit! Or do I?

Dexterity: it took a very fine hemostat and I still had to loosen the stepper motor by 3mm to get the hemostat behind the face plate.
Last night, and before correcting the tach I noticed that the lighting for the speedo didn't work.
When I had it apart I checked every lamp for continuity. They were all fine. So i twisted the lampholders by a few degrees.
Everything works now and all I have to do is putting the tools away.

Legal ability: this area is not open to public discourse. but I understand: one can gain a lot of entertainment value in this part of life!



Oops, now I will get a broadside of lawyer jokes shot at me.