So my neighbor's RX300 is giving him some hell. One of the problems though is the needle flew all the way past 160mph, and is just resting there pointing directly down. I searched this part of the forum but really didn't come up with anything of the sorts. Anyone got any clue what could be wrong? Also his battery has been draining alot recently. I thought it might either be the battery or the alternator, but both check out ok. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

How old is the battery? And are the battery terminals making good contact? It once happened to me with my previous car and battery also checked ok, but still changed it and no more needle problems.

 

So you're needle went all the way on the speedometer, and just stayed there, whether the car was on or off?

 

Only did that when I put the key in the ignition and tried to turn on. It went from 0-160 then came back to 0 after start.

 

Well my neighbors is staying past 160....so i dunno whats going on, i've never seen it, its as if the needle is broken and but why would it go that far?

Can anyone else chime in?

 

Is the scenery blurry when you look out the windows? Has your commute become notably shorter?

 

If its staying at 160, I would say its deffenetly broken. I would try tapping the speedometer cluster with my finger when the car is running. And maybe the needle will come back to 0. And or remove the battery for a few and make sure the battery terminals are making good contact.

 

Har har....i think we have a comedian on our hands here.......

I pretty much figured the same when i looked at it. It would bounce a little when you pushed the bar there that you use to reset the trip meter. I just assumed that maybe someone else has experienced this before, and perhaps could chime in, i appreciate you trying to help YoshRX300.

 

No prob Jewcano, hope you find a solution to your neighbor's RX.

 

That battery drain is probably no coincidence. Your neighbor needs to put an ammeter in the battery circuit to determine if the drain is from an external short or one inside the battery itself. (NOT BETWEEN THE TERMINALS) I would vote for the battery. As they age, plates often collapse, resulting in internal shorts that can pull a battery down dramatically even overnight.

Are there any strange effects going on in the radio stack? RX's are well known for mysterious re-setting clocks, display anomalies, even memory dumps when battery voltage falls below something like 11.2 vdc. You still may be able to crank the engine, but if system voltage is low, all kinds of craziness can appear in the electronics. Clean and replace the terminals - even replace the battery if it is over a couple years old - especially if it has been deeply discharged a time or two.

 

Will tell him to look at that thanks.

However does anyone have a clue about the needle??? I've personally never heard of one just shooting past 160 and just hanging there as if its disconnected.

 

did he have the "D" bulb replaced, or the combination meter out?

 

ANCIENT THREAD REVIVAL:

Well it seems his cluster has done it again. I'm at a complete loss as to why i could be doing this.

Any additional input?

 

Just take the cluster out turn it upside down for 10-20 seconds and slowly turn back clockwise and reinstall. I have seen this and and fixed it this way. It usually happens if the alternator+battery die at 70+ mph or someone just replaced the "D" light or anything on the cluster.

 

Hrmmm, will take a look at this thanks