Xantia Rev Counter

HST · Post by **HST** » 29 Dec 2005, 19:59

I tried starting my 98 2.1TD this morning & the battery gave out. In the course of this the rev counter needle swung round all the way & stayed there.

Am I right that the only way to fix this is to remove the instruments and physically flick the needle back? The Haynes BOL says to remove the steering wheel first to get the instruments out: is this essential?

I've heard a tale of pulling out the trip meter button & poking around with wire, but mine seems pretty well fixed in place (facelift moel with LCD).

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 29 Dec 2005, 20:54

The BOL told me I had to remove the steering wheel on my Escort when taking out the instruments. I didn't fancy that because of the airbag but it turned out not to be necessary. In fact I don't think the presence of the wheel hindered me at all.

I haven't tried on the Xantia yet but I plan to because the ABS light isn't lighting. If the wheel turns out to be in the way, and a quick look has suggested that it won't, I have the cunning plan of unbolting the wheel height adjusting mechanism to allow the wheel to swing down out of the way.

Post by **zxTd** » 29 Dec 2005, 21:23

you can just get away without removing the steering wheel if its the tilt type,

remove the plastic cowling from the ignition top and bottom this should just give you enough room to maneuver the dash out, check if your alternator is giving the correct voltage to the battery im wondering what the needle jumped like that in the first place

HST · Post by **HST** » 29 Dec 2005, 22:00

zxTd wrote:you can just get away without removing the steering wheel if its the tilt type,

remove the plastic cowling from the ignition top and bottom this should just give you enough room to maneuver the dash out, check if your alternator is giving the correct voltage to the battery im wondering what the needle jumped like that in the first place

The needle jumping was during my last attempts at starting with the engine barely turning: the speedo did the same. All is well with a replacement battery. As far as I can tell the old battery was the original - 8.5 years & 140,000 miles - so I can't complain too much.

dnsey · Post by **dnsey** » 29 Dec 2005, 22:05

It might be worth trying to jog the needle with a magnet before doing any dismantling. The needle itself won't be directly affected, of course, but the meter movement will.

JohnT · Post by **JohnT** » 30 Dec 2005, 14:22

I have removed several pods without dropping the steering wheel lower than the lever will allow. You do have to be quite brutal though!

HST · Post by **HST** » 31 Dec 2005, 11:25

Tackled the job this morning, and the BOL lives up to its name. There is no need to remove the steering wheel. You don't even have to fully remove the control panel below the instrument cluster, just remove the three screws and partially unclip it to move it out of the way. Mine didn't want to come fully off anyway. Well, at least without destroying most of the plastic tabs.

The whole job took less than an hour, including going to get a torx screw driver because the driver I had wouldn't reach the steering column shroud screws.

NB This was on a facelift model without a speedo cable - earlier models may differ. Also, I've heard some say the dashboard bulbs are not replaceable on the facelift model. This is wrong as mine certainly are.