Bent instrument needles.

[ajh]

Hi All,

Our SV21 has bent instrument needles - all of them: tacho, speedo, fuel, temp.

Toyota have told me there is a needle kit available for $75.00, as it was a common problem with the white needles.

Does anyone know if there is an aftermarket option (hopefully cheaper)???

And if so, anywhere in QLD ???

Thanks,

Andrew.

[skiddz]

short of going after market, which will be VERY expensive, i dont beleive there is, 75 bucks aint that much but if it means not getting a speeding ticket for 2 or 3 times that, i think its worth it

[Vios-GT_07]

for 75 bucks u can get a half decent 75% accurate water temp / oil temp gauge.. or a 3 3/4" tacho.. that might be accurate..

yea i know wat u're talking about.. the speedos on those things i reckon are caused by heat... parking under the hot sun in bright and sunny queensland eh? but yea 75 bucks is a good price

the only other thing i can sugges is to go to a wrecker, find a good condition one and yank it off, get it professionally wound to the mileage on your car... it might be cheaper than 75 bucks..

that ur just fix the needle yourself.. hehehe.. use a bit of imagination i guess

["Z" UTE]

Moderate heat from either a heat gun, or a hair dryer, then bend the neddle back. Of course this does involve removing the guage. But you are going to have to do that which ever way you proceed.

cheers Chuck.

[chris davey]

Mine has the same thing. I think all the cars in the wreckers will as well. I like it actually, gives the car some character.

Just look at the base of the needle as that is always facing the right way

[1337_86]

It might be worthwhile taking the instument cluster to a repair shop. I had my temp gauge and speedo fixed for $80 at a place in melb.

[SilverGhost]

my mates old camry wagon had some shocking speedo/tacho cables....it used to hit the perspex at about 70ks and stick there....so we figured out if you thrash it over 120 the needles will flick over to the other side of the dial and when u slow down they stay there hehehe....120+ never felt so slow and have never heard a 5500rpm idle so quiet hahaha

[jonra23]

If they are plastic same as Celica ones you can straighten them but putting them in Hot water to soften then hold them bent the other way as they cool, took a few goes to get mine straight, then painted them with model paint as daughter didn't have any fingernail polish i liked.

regards
jon

[broken22]

Any decent instrument shop will be able to replace the needles.
A mate of mine does this stuff for a living.
I remember him saying that he weighs the original needle them removes material from the aftermarket needle to get them to the same weight. Apparantley this cam be a problem on some mechanical guages.

[Darola]

Hey there, by memory toyota dont sell them anymore..... also be carefull if trying to heat them up and bend them back as they easily snap...

have found a fair few decent ones from part places, but most r bent


Ed

[ajh]

Thanks for the advice.

I think the heat up here would have something to do with it, as the red paint on our camry has a slight orange tinge, and the dashboard is cracked. (a carpet mat fixed that one)

I'll try the wreckers first, as I've been to one in Brisbane before that has heaps of camrys.

Failing that, off to an instrument repair shop I go......

Thanks again,

Andrew.

[Thraxeh]

my SV21 wagon has the bent needles as well

i dont plan to fix it though, its not that much of a bend

[ajh]

Mine look a bit like white bananas!!!

Yes, they're bad!

[Hash_ra23]

If they are plastic same as Celica ones you can straighten them but putting them in Hot water to soften then hold them bent the other way as they cool, took a few goes to get mine straight, then painted them with model paint as daughter didn't have any fingernail polish i liked.

regards
jon

good idea i'll try this. just wondering if it would produce enough heat. My ra23 ones are bent too. Do you think it'll be an issue for passing rego?

[NeoNasty]

My missus SV21 has the same problem, it came from northen vic.

Humm, looks like common problem. I know Im going to have to pull out the cluster, but I really dont want to...