The felicia I've just bought has 2 problems with the clocks, they maybe related...

The rev counter is a bit mad. At tickover it does nothing, when your driving at speed it appears to work, but at 60mph in 5th, it shows well over 4000rpm, surely that isn't right! Also when you put the lights on, the sidelight and dipped beam lights should appear on the clocks. When I first got it, the sidelight light on the clocks would flicker then go out, taking out the background illumination on the clocks with it. The headlight light still works though. Now the sidelight light and dash clock illumination don't work at all, which is very frustrating at night! Are the clocks dead or can these faults be fixed?

Sounds like at best dodgy connections - I've had a couple which were erratic because of a bit of corrosion caused by the car being damp inside (this was on "donor" cars, as it were). However, I've also had a couple of sets where the rev counter didn't work, one just nothing, the other one crazy a bit like you describe. I guess see if the connections are OK, and if they are, it's eBay time...

Indeed, I'd suggest the dash connectors too - the sidelight and dash illumination bulbs are all powered from the interior light feed, which just so happens to be on the same connector as the tacho signal too. I'd also agree on damp connectors being a likely culprit - I had a similar issue in a Mondeo after a thorough interior valet. In that case simply unplugging and reconnecting them did the trick, but it's definitely worth checking and giving them a clean if necessary.

thanks for that guys, driving at night (or after 4.30pm) is made difficult cuz I can't see any of it. Its funny you mention they're all wired to the interior light as that seems to play up too, when the door is open it illuminates for around 3 seconds then goes off unless I hit it! Then it only lights up for another few seconds. Earlier it refused to work on the permantly on position too. I'm gonna have a go (with my trusty LED light) at whipping the clocks out now to assess these connections, will report back my findings!

Well the connections are OK, had the clocks apart and I can't see any broken bits on the circuit board, but my interior light is still playing up, it doesn't work as it should and the beep when you leave the lights on is a bit crazy, almost like a tune. Something just isn't right. Theres a set of clocks from a 2000 model felicia on ebay, will they work on my 95 felicia? And more importantly are they going to cure the problem? Or are my dodgy lit clocks with a wappy tacho down to the interior light?

Well the connections are OK, had the clocks apart and I can't see any broken bits on the circuit board, but my interior light is still playing up, it doesn't work as it should and the beep when you leave the lights on is a bit crazy, almost like a tune. Something just isn't right. Theres a set of clocks from a 2000 model felicia on ebay, will they work on my 95 felicia? And more importantly are they going to cure the problem? Or are my dodgy lit clocks with a wappy tacho down to the interior light?

Oddly I had my cluster and surround out the other day. Whilst testing various bits I noticed that the lights-left-on buzzer didn't work..........until the rear fog-light switch was connected back up. Odd place to wire it through :-S

Alex

Do the other switches/radio/etc. light up OK with the lights on? If not it may be that your sidelight switch is on the way out (fairly common failure but cheap to replace). However if everything except the clocks lights up then there must be a dodgy connection somewhere between the interior light feed off the back of the sidelight switch and the clock unit. I don't know offhand which of the 3 connectors it is, but one of them will have a grey/green wire at position 3 and a brown wire at position 10 - if you see a good 12V across these two with the lights switched on then the fault must be somewhere within the clock unit.

The courtesy light shouldn't affect the dash lighting - they're on different circuits, but the fact that they share the same earth point (E5, next to the steering column) makes me think it's well worth checking that has a good connection too. I'd also whip the A-pillar kick trims off and check that all the connectors under there are good and not full of water and crusted up, as can happen if you've had a leaky bulkhead/windscreen.

There may be some minor differences between clock units of different ages - '00 clocks in a '95 car should work but there's a possibility the temperature gauge might read wrong. I'll have to see if there's an easy way of checking if the tacho signal is OK, cause if it isn't then changing the clocks won't help with that.

The dash lights (switches and heater controls etc.) do work with the sidelights on, and with fiddling around swapping bulbs on the clocks (robbed them from the unused ABS light, airbag light, choke) I've managed to get the back of the (useless) tacho and the fuel guage illuminated. The other background lights won't work though, even though I removed the circuit board and plugged it into the car so I could switch the sidelights on and physically wiggle the bulbs, which look to be in good condition. This all leads me to beliee theres a fault in the clocks themselves as only one background bulb works and the rest including the sidelight symbol light don't work.

There doesn't seem to be any signs inside the car or behind the dash of there being a previous water leakages, also I'm not overly fussed about the rev counter it would just be nice to have everything working as it should, my main priority is being able to see my coolant guage and speedo at night!

Them clocks on ebay aren't too expensive so I might just bid on them anyway.

Also any tips on how to get them stupid clips on top of the clocks back on? What a stupid idea!

Also any tips on how to get them stupid clips on top of the clocks back on? What a stupid idea!

Just done mine no problem. What won't they do for you? Are you talking about the metal clips on the housing?

Alex

Just done mine no problem. What won't they do for you? Are you talking about the metal clips on the housing?

Alex

yea the 2 metal clips at the top. It might just be more awkward for me as my right hand is in cast with a broken bone.

yea the 2 metal clips at the top. It might just be more awkward for me as my right hand is in cast with a broken bone.

Ah, that might pose a little problem there then.

I had the cluster and the black surround section out (cleaning out the oil from the gearbox problem).

Slipped the clips back in to the white mountings with the loop in the mounting and the "claw" facing downwards. Then put the cluster back into the big black bit, clipped the claws back into place. The with the drivers door open, the whole thing slipped back into the main dash, with a bit of wiggling. Clipped the speedo cable and cluster connections back into place, then all the switches. Then a bit of a wiggle and the whole thing was back in place. Was suprised that the assembled cluster / srround fitted back in so easily. However, having two good hands will mak eht ejob far easier, especially plugging the cluster and speedo back in.

I have the spare cluster sitting here if you want any reference pics.

Alex

thanks for that, d'ya know if 2000 clocks will work in my 1995 felicia OK? they look the same, but I don't know if the plugs are the same

thanks for that, d'ya know if 2000 clocks will work in my 1995 felicia OK? they look the same, but I don't know if the plugs are the same

Sorry, I don't know. However, when I changed the speedo over I had to change the temp gauge too, as the lighting guides are different between the two. (1 was from a V reg the other from an X reg, both Funs).

Alex

what would happen if you didn't do that? would the back illumination not work?

what would happen if you didn't do that? would the back illumination not work?

No. The physical makeup of the 2 dials is different, so the speedo didn't fit with the temp gauge, so I had clean the original temp gauge as well as the speedo. I didn't take any photos sadly as I didn't think to at the time. Essentially the mouldings are different so they needed to be a matched pair.

It's more of a heads-up kinda thing than a show-stopper.

Alex

well I bought them 2000 clocks off ebay for a fiver, so we'l find out today if they work (thats if my battery hasn't died again)

well they work fine, and the rev counter now works, but as said the coolant temp guage works backwards. I can live with this, as once I know what it shows under normal running, if it goes too low then I know theres a problem. Is there any way I can make it work correctly?