Help recalibrating the speedmeter and tachometer?

[JFratzke]

Today I replaced the 4 main green lights in my 87 LE's cluster with blue LEDs, following instructions found in this thread:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...=9789#post9789

It worked great. Nice blue LED lights now glowing BUT after driving it tonight I noticed that my speedo and my tach are now both off by a little. I did take the plastic lens cover off the cluster itself and I cleaned the cluster pretty good with a rag (I figured as long as I had it apart) I remember bumping the needles. Did I do something as simple as bump the needles out of correct position? It was VERY easy to take the dash apart and get down to the cluster itself. I had an easy time disconnecting everything on the back too. Both needles still move as they should as I speed up/slow down. Rats! As far as getting the speedo correct, is it going to take driving it with the lens off, GPS in hand, and moving the needle by hand to match up with the GPS? Am I even on the right track here?

Both worked perfect before. I hate it when I mess something up while I am trying to make something else better!

[timsrv]

I've had these cluster's all apart before (needles off the speedo & tach too). I never really worried about anything, I just pushed the needles back on to the zero position when I was done & never noticed anything was off (not sure if I was supposed to do that or not, but I've never had an issue). Do the needles sit at zero when the key is off? If not, then it's easy. Just pop them off (careful not to move the shaft), then push them back on to the zero position. I have a miniature flat bar that puts pressure in the exact spot while removing (would be harder if you're trying to do it with your fingers). Fingers are okay when putting back on.......just be super careful not to rotate the shaft. If they show zero already (when the key is off), then there is something else going on. Tim

[Burntboot]

When I installed my frankenpack, I ended up disassembling the whole thing as I had to swap in another speedo, the donor pack had a broken base, I failed to note how much fuel was in the tank and it was obvious that when I finally started it up that I was WAY off on the fuel reading. (my fuel gauge doesn't return to the zero position when the key is off)
I left the pack disassembled (lens off, pack installed) and drove to the gas station, filled it up and installed the needle where I knew "full" was (slightly above the "F"), seems to be reasonably accurate now. At the same time, I was driving back and passed one of those "your speed is" signs and realized I was also significantly off on speed, I popped off the needle and drove back through the same speed zone, installed the needle where it should be and did another test run just to make sure I had it right.

All good now, so yes, it is a simple matter to reposition the needles, in order to do the tach, you will need something to verify what actual RPM's are then set the needle to where it should be, as I didn't have a hand held tach I went with the zero position, as Tim suggests, and it seems close enough.
None of the needles are located positively in a specific position, but as long as you have a baseline, you can get close.
BB

[JFratzke]

Thanks guys. I took it apart and reset both needles at zero fairly easily. Speed and tach are back to normal now. BUT my LOCKED/UNLOCKED indicator light managed to burn out in the process, probably as a result of snapping the plastic lens back on. Not a big deal at all but with my kids in there I like the reassurance of that light. It got me thinking that all of those lights in the cluster are probably getting close to crapping out and could be replaced with LEDs if available. Has anybody else just gone ahead and replaced ALL of your dash bulbs?

edit: answered my own question:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...ght=dash+bulbs