Gauge cluster needle removal

[Legacy777]

Those of you that have swapped the backing for the speedometer or tachometer, how did you go about removing the needles without breaking them?

Thanks

[Alphius]

I've removed and re-positioned my speedometer needle twice.
I simply take two flathead screwdrivers and put them on opposite sides of the round black needle base then twist the screwdrivers equally to provide leverage to gently and evenly force the needle straight up off of the gauge. It's a pretty tight interference fit, I was positive I would break something the first time I did it.

[bmxkelowna]

the metal pins that the needles are pressed onto like to break very very easy

[Legacy777]

Thanks guys. I'll try giving that a shot on my test combination meter.

[BSOD2600]

Josh:
Yup, same steps I used when taking the needles off mine. thread link.

Alphius:
Did the speedo become more inaccurate again? At least in 2009 after fiddling with the needle position, it was within ~1-2mph at 40 mph according to a radar sign and GPS.

[Legacy777]

Thanks BSOD, now I remember that thread and your pictures. If I can get an electronic speedo, the plan is to pop the needle off, swap the faces and drive it via my Link ECU. Hopefully!

[Alphius]

Alphius:
Did the speedo become more inaccurate again? At least in 2009 after fiddling with the needle position, it was within ~1-2mph at 40 mph according to a radar sign and GPS.

About a month after I bought it it was about 10mph off on the slow side. E.g. when driving at an indicated 50mph it was closer to 60mph. I removed the needle and repositioned so it was accurate. This put the needle at about the 0, as shown here:
http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt35 ... 4dc808.jpg

When I did the WRX steering wheel swap, I took the opportunity to fix it again since it had drifted off again and was now indicating too fast, e.g. 60mph indicated was about 55mph. I moved the needle down and it now resides here and is within 1-2mph at all speeds:
http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt35 ... 5d3579.jpg

It seems like the speedometer in this car is experiencing drift issues. I suspect this is from a weakening of the magnetic field from sitting with the speedo cable in one position for a long time before you got it, I experienced a similar problem on my Camaro which sat for about 7 years, and in that car it was 30-40mph off and I had to replace the speedometer to fix it.

[oldscoobyturbo]

I have 3 spare instrument clusters for this reason. I have not needed to adjust my wagons or sedan so far gps says they are very good