Jumpin' tach and roundabout speaker

[RustiQ]

Hello all,

I have some strange electrical problems, and I wondered if someone else has had something similar happen and managed to fix it. Let me describe...

The tachometer jumps from 0 to 8000 and bounces back and forth like it's had 100 cups of coffee. The strange thing is, the engine doesn't have to be running for this to happen. When driving, the tach either works fine, or it jumps like crazy, or it acts like it's dead (at 0) or it says I'm redlining (at 8000+).

Problem #2 - Most recently, the audio system goes off every few minutes, and when it comes back on, it's like the speakers have to reboot one at a time. I can hear the speakers come on in a round from front to left rear to right rear, and then it is fully working, until a short time later when the whole thing goes silent again for awhile and then powers up in a round again. Arrgh!

Any clues to what is happening???

The dealer said the tach was dead, but I don't believe them, they just saw it during one of those times when it read zero RPM's. As I said before, it does work at times, seemingly perfectly fine, and then it gets jumpy and weird. This tach problem has been going on for at least a year.

The alternator was replaced recently, and then about a month later, the radio started getting squirrelly.

[elwesso]

welcome to NICO

I would replace the instrument cluster. You can get used ones that work great, thatd be what I'd do first. Most goofy issues like this are related to the instrument cluster.

As far as the bose is concerned they should all 4 be on at one time. I would say the amps are going bad maybe.

[RustiQ]

Thanks for the welcome to NICO. I have got a lot of good information here in the past from reading all I can about various issues. I'm in the category of just trying to keep the car running, as I plan to keep it for as long as possible.

How much trouble is it to replace the instrument cluster? The tach worries me less than the radio though, because to quote LL Cool J, I can't live without my radio. What could be done, do you think, to troubleshoot the possible bad amps? By the way, I am fairly unskilled when it comes to electrical issues with the car. I can see if a fuse is blown, or if a wire is broken, but beyond that, I'm not really skilled with an electrical meter, although I do own one...

[RustiQ]

I found out what the problem was. It was a bad alternator, and after replacement, the stereo works again just fine. The tachometer is still causing problems, but after doing a NICO-wide search, I found many Nissan owners with similar problems, probably related to a bad ground.

[Black stallion]

I noticed you had another post about your speed sensor. I have an acura legend that did what you described with your tach and it ended up being the sensor that mounts on the side of the transmission(on the Acura) and touches fluid.

Maybe you have a loose wire or bad speed sensor on your Q.It's where Wes told you on the Q.

[DrewQ45]

I have a cluster from a 95 if you end up needing one.

$75 shipped.

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