I took apart the instrument cluster and when I went to take the needles off the face,the mph needle came off,but the metal pin stayed inside. The rpm needle,it pulled off with the entire pin.

Is it supposed to pop off the pin or take the pin out with it?

Anyways,the rpms wont work right anymore.It moves slow and wont rev correctly.Not really a big deal right now,since I am ordering another used cluster for parts,but I need to know if the pin or shaft for the needle was supposed to come out or not.

I had already experienced a broken one,My water temp gauge needle,on removal,the pin broke off,so now I have a needle with a small metal pin sticking out,but I cant put it back in.

Anyways,back to the rpm,if the shaft pin was not supposed to come out,is it broke now?

Any info is appreciated.I need to know if the needles themselves should come off without the pins or shafts attached.

 

Why are you removing the needles?

 

Your question does not answer mine.If you do not know the answers to my question,that's cool,just say the word.I can also read between the lines,I know one can take the dash apart,replace lights,remove speedo cluster/circuit board/gauges from the rear,repair it,etc,without touching the needles.Maybe you are hoping to avoid someone getting confused and if that's the case,just say so.I have no ego to bruise here.

Now back to why you need to know,its cosmetic.The black paint on the front face of the speedo and rpm have peeled and bubbled off to a point,its nearly impossible to paint around it.

 

There is no need for a lecture. Your question is rare, and I wanted to make sure before I searched for an answer.

In short, you still shouldn't remove the needle. Here are some videos on how to install a face plate over the needle. I am not sure if the OEM can slide over the needle like in this video on the 5th generation accord..

 

Thank you.Did not realize it may have sounded a bit lecturing when I wrote that last night and just read it now.Meant no offense.


I was able to fix the rpm by cycling the key on and off a turning the needle around a few times.I put the cluster back in without the clear cover in front so I could power it up and do so.

After a test drive,power off and back on,the rpm works great again.

On this cluster,as far as I can see,you cant change out the faceplates without removing the needle from it.Theres no way to slip it off around the needle,should one wants to take it apart like I did.

Swapping the speedos out with faceplate still attached is easy to do from one cluster to another.The faceplates themselves,not so much.

I do believe some aftermarket companies sell white faceplates that can slip around the needle and stick to the original faceplate cover,to help avoid or forcing a customer to have to take it apart and risk breaking it off.

I also have a theory,the speedo and rpm needles move around alot.Those seem to be able to come off easier without breaking.The gas needle and the water temp needle,they tend to snap at the shaft inside when trying to pop them off,if one needs to go that far.I think its in there tighter from lack of movement,since it only travels up and down in one direction,not around or back and forth everyday.

 

Although, it is not recommended to remove the needles, the construction and types of electrical devices are different for those gauges. This would probably attribute to why needles came off easier on the tachometer and speedometer vs. the engine coolant temperature gauge and fuel gauges.

The speedometer and tachometer are solid state devices.

Whereas, the engine coolant temperature (ECT) gauge has two intersecting coils wound around a permanent magnet rotor. Voltage applied to the coils generates a magnetic field. The magnetic field, controlled by the engine coolant temperature (ECT) sending unit, causes the rotor to rotate and the gauge needle to move. As the resistance in the sending unit varies, current through the gauge coils changes, pulling the gauge needle toward the coil with the stronger magnetic field. The fuel gauge works the same way.

 

Thank you all,it was very helpful and learned something new!