I messed up my guages really bad, Need advice fast:

Hi Guys,

Well I had one of my friends install the rev glow guages and he really f**cked them up. :roll: They are all out of wack. I heard that if you recaliberate the guages they will never be the same unless Mitsubishi does them? I don't want to bring them back to Mitsubishi b/c I am almost 99% sure they will void my warranty. I plan on having a custom shop finishing installing my guages and recaliberating everything back to the correct settings. What would you guys do take it back to Mitsubishi or have the custom shop do it? And also is what I am hearing right about it never being the same again? Also does anybody know what the guages void on the warraty? Do they void the whole warranty?

Also the custom shop is a pretty well known shop in the area.

Thanks,
Kristy

I dunno about the voiding warranty deal sorry. My dealership didn't want to mess with identifying aftermarket troubles so they just voided the whole thing during an oil change. Not sure about my powertrain warranty though. As for calibration...what's wrong exactly? If the needles are registering the wrong levels sometimes you can fix it by bottoming them out first, then plugging them back in.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ToigerFoighter)</div><div class='quotemain'>I dunno about the voiding warranty deal sorry. My dealership didn't want to mess with identifying aftermarket troubles so they just voided the whole thing during an oil change. Not sure about my powertrain warranty though. As for calibration...what's wrong exactly? If the needles are registering the wrong levels sometimes you can fix it by bottoming them out first, then plugging them back in.</div>

For starters they are all reading wrong. Ex: reading that I have half a tank of gas when I just fill it up. As for speed have no idea how fast I am going b/c I think it's off by 10MPH b/c it doesn't go to 0. The needle sticks and jumps around. I am on 20 then all of a sudden on 50. I feel the guages have caused more problems then they are really worth. They look really nice though.

Be sure you aren't pressing the needles down too hard. Fill the tank then put the gauge on full. Run the car for a little while then put temp on half way. Speed setting is trickier. Get on a long, flat section of highway and set the cruise around what you think is 60. Reset your trip meter at the same time you reset a stopwatch. When one minute is up, if you have not yet gone a mile up the speed a little. If you passed a mile already, lower the speed. If a mile and 60 seconds pass about the same time, put the needle on 60. Mine, done this way, agrees 98-100% of the time I pass radar emplacements with the speed they display. Tach I don't really care about as I have an auto, I just put it against the needle rest when the car was off.

Ken,

I plan on taking it to a shop. But wanted to see how accurate the guages were. Thanks for the advice on how to do it though. The speed is a good way to double check the shop's work.

Thanks,
Kristy

Kristy,

Don't panic, it doesn't sound that bad. It sounds like the gauges just may not be seated all the way, so the needles are touching them. The speedo is really hard to mess up and the symptoms you're describing sound like a clearance problem not a calibration problem. Some super glue or double sided tape to hold the indiglows down against the stock faces will probably fix your problem.

The needles and calibration become screwed up uusually when the needles are removed or the installer gets real rough with them when slipping the guages over. I think you're OK. Just make sure you or the shop don't over tighten the screws that hold the indiglows down. That will also make the guages not lay flat and will eventually crack the dielectric, making the guages burn out. Hope this helps.

yeah, i remember when i first got my gauges, i was informed to make sure the needles cleared the gauges. chip, if you have the screws too tight, the gauges will burn out? interesting, cuz i had mine for like 2 months and they burnt out. maybe thats why, i'll hafta make sure i don't tighten them too much when i get my next set.

I feel you.. mine did the sorta the same thing..

I filled up and reseated the needle to full.. the same for the temp... as for speed set it to 0 when it is of and ensure it stays there when idling (reseat if needed)

If your guages are THAT fucked up.. return to stock and goto the dealer and play stupid.. "They just started reading funny.. WTF!! Fix it!!"

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ThaTwistedGTZ)</div><div class='quotemain'>yeah, i remember when i first got my gauges, i was informed to make sure the needles cleared the gauges. Â*chip, if you have the screws too tight, the gauges will burn out? Â*interesting, cuz i had mine for like 2 months and they burnt out. Â*maybe thats why, i'll hafta make sure i don't tighten them too much when i get my next set.</div>

yes, the screws can be to tight. If your screws are to tight it may cause the gauges to ground out and short, or burn out.

if you do feel that ur guages are miscalibrated, there is a page on the tutorials page found on the main page of tgc that will tell u how to calibrate them pretty accurately.

as for voiding the warranty, well they won't void your whole warranty. or should i say they're not supposed to. they should only void what's been affected by the aftermarket parts and aftermarket installs...

i had the exact same problems with mine. the fuel gauge can get really screwed up, and ur friend did just that. the speedometer is easy, my tach has the same probmels past 4K. the gauges are lifting off the originals a little bit, and the needle is catching. just make sure that new gauges are pushed down enough. put some super glue behind them and stick them down. as for the gas gauge, it reads that i have 3/4 when i have a full tank. i have to use the tripometer and fill up every time when i reach 200 or so. u have to resent the fuel gauge. go to a mechanic shop to fix that for sure.

Thanks guys for all the advice. I just had them fixed by a shop. Everything is pretty accurate. The fuel is off by a little bit and he says get it filled when it reaches a quarter. But I always do that anyway b/c I don't want my galant riding on the sludge. :wink: And I notice the temp guage is a little off not by much though. I got a little nervous that I really messed something up. I was thinking of going to the dealer and playing dumb saying ET must of been in my car b/c all the guages started moving fast and I have no idea what happened to them. :wink: And pray that they would have bought the story. But I fixed and thanks again guys for the advice.

Kristy