fgxmfmq

I did the most coveted pixel repair and it works!!!!!! 100% temperature restored, however upon reconnection my gas guage does not work. it was flickering and now has moved beyond full and touching engine temp needle, I tried filling the car up to perhaps give some movement and nothing, I'm wondering if I have to purchase the new instrument cluster after all ?????? please help.

RobertG

Double check and make sure that when you were putting the instrument panel back together that they snapped in all the way, it happened to me when I did my fix, it turned out to be that the area around the fuel gauge was nor snapped all the way in and it interfered with the gauge operation.

fgxmfmq

I finally took the instrument cluster out again and snapped it back in the housing I heard a click!!!!!! when the key is removed from the ignition the gauge will drop down below the o fuel level and when the key is put back in and turned on the gauge pops up to just below a quarter tank, at least we have the proper behavior of the gauge at this point but calibration is way off......do I at this point pull the sender unit and check for proper voltage and possibly shift the neck for calibration or do I pull the cluster out and place the needle where it should be and reconnect everything ??????

RobertG

How much fuel do you think you have?
with the key off it should go to 0 , try moving the needle to the 0 position.

fgxmfmq

if I disassemble the unit again and physically move the needle to the zero before connection do you think it will make a difference?

RobertG

Give it a shot, can't hurt now now that you are almost an expert at taking it appart ( like me)

fgxmfmq

i pulled the cluster back out and checked everything and everything is ok. I went and filled up to see if it would adjust itself out and still nothing, I also tried to place the needle at the 0 mark on fuel gauge and when plugged up it immediately goes back to minus zero. I am now considering doing the cleaning of the fuel sender unit. The thing is i dont want to start investing money in these parts only to have to turn around and purchase a new instrument cluster. what do you guys think ?????????

Quadcammer

I doubt your fuel sender all of a sudden would have gone bad at this precise moment.

You may have internally damaged the cluster or somehow screwed up the gauge.

If you can't figure it out when you have it apart, you may need to send it to a speedo shop to have it looked at. Still cheaper than buying a replacement.

fgxmfmq

i noticed when the ic is broken down that all gauges other than the fuel gauge have some type of stop for example if you try to move engine temp/ tach, or speedo past the lowest point it wont budge, however the fuel has no stop.

fgxmfmq

PROBLEMS SOLVED !!!!! FIX!!! the needle can be calibrated.... I removed the IC and broke in in half, after I filled up 21 gallons and put it back in the car. when turned on I forced the needle to full. and turned key off, needle fell back, I pushed the needle all the way to the 0 marker, it got tight, turned off key reassembled unit and put in car and all is good......

uberwgn

I'd love to hear more about this.

Thanks.

Musikmann

It's only a temporary band-aid fix but you can read all about it on the other MB forum in the W210 section.