1989 240SX Digital Speedometer not working. HUD froze at 188

[Rowdyone]

1989 240SX Digital Speedometer not working. HUD froze at 188 - pretty much says it all. Got the car cheap since the previous owner could not figure out the fuel pump was bad and that broken connectors on the battery terminal was a bad thing.

Anyway, I fixed it in the parking lot where it sat when I bought it and drove it home. Of course the wife instantly claimed it for hers... lol...

The digital speedometer worked for about a day after I got the car running, but the HUD was froze at 188 even then. The the digital speedometer went dark and has stayed dark.

I saw an article on one of the websites about repairing the speedometer by replacing a capacitor that often goes out. Electronics are easy for me so that is a cinch but I didn't see mention of the HUD froze at 188 in that article so I figured I would check here before I took the cluster out.

Any help?

[danielsan]

dont know about the HUD sticking at 188 but they are known to crap out.

i need to replace the capacitor on my 91, though i have been driving without a speedometer for 2 months. it feels weird now when the digi speedo turns all of a sudden and i see my speed.

[Rowdyone]

Well, time permitting I will be working on my digital speedometer on sunday. I'll advise if the repair also fixes the HUD stuck at 188

[2FoetySx]

dont know about the HUD sticking at 188 but they are known to crap out.

i need to replace the capacitor on my 91, though i have been driving without a speedometer for 2 months. it feels weird now when the digi speedo turns all of a sudden and i see my speed.

that made me laugh haha My hud and speedo have gone and Imo starting to think it will be a big project. Where can i find these capacitor ect pages?

[SBC 240Z]

It's not as easy as everyone thinks, or rather it's not as easy as I thought it would be. When I took it apart I was expect your typical green PCB where I could pull the old capacitor out and stick the new one in and solder away. This on is on a ceramic circuit board where everything is pressed on, nothing goes all the way through. You pull the old capacitor off and rip the pads up with it, well from what I gather you're screwed for the most part unless you are exceptional at soldering.

Being that every single digital speedo will have this problem sooner or later I don't understand why some company doesn't make the little board by itself so you replace the entire thing and solder it at the joint where it flexes. Mine acts all kinds of weird, the speedo will work sometimes and then it'll display random speeds, the hud will light up with "IF" quite often and I think "yeah what IF i burn this mother*$()@(". I have debated time and again about going analog but I think it would hurt the resale value for when I do decide to sell

[2FoetySx]

what do you think will be easier? changing the capacitor, replaceing the speedo and hud or going analog?

[SBC 240Z]

Depends on how good you are at electronics, if you totally suck at electronics then I would suggest going analog, you will need the entire analog cluster as well as the sub harness. FYI there is a write up somewhere about how to splice your hud into the analog cluster harness.

[2FoetySx]

that would be awesome.