Speedometer needle dark?

[Katness]

I drive at night on a fairly regular basis, and the last two nights I've noticed that it's really hard to see the speedo needle.. in fact, if it's not covering any numbers, I pretty much can't see it at all. I've had the Ex for about 3.5 months and never noticed this issue before, which leads me to believe that something has gone wrong. Everything else looks fine, including the dial itself.

I've looked in the manual and didn't find anything, and looking at the needle itself I can't tell how it's supposed to be lighted, "indiglow" style from within, external lighting, etc.

So, are the speedo needles in your Ex's lighted at night, or is this just something I've never realized before? I'll be surprised if this is normal, because it's really stood out as an issue for me the last couple of days.

 

[peterk9]

I drive at night on a fairly regular basis, and the last two nights I've noticed that it's really hard to see the speedo needle.. in fact, if it's not covering any numbers, I pretty much can't see it at all. I've had the Ex for about 3.5 months and never noticed this issue before, which leads me to believe that something has gone wrong. Everything else looks fine, including the dial itself.

I've looked in the manual and didn't find anything, and looking at the needle itself I can't tell how it's supposed to be lighted, "indiglow" style from within, external lighting, etc.

So, are the speedo needles in your Ex's lighted at night, or is this just something I've never realized before? I'll be surprised if this is normal, because it's really stood out as an issue for me the last couple of days.

The needle is always lit up. Have you tried adjusting the brightness of the dash lights?

Peter

 

[VinceL]

Peter, would you be able to turn down the dash brightness so much as to basically turn off the needle?

 

[peterk9]

Peter, would you be able to turn down the dash brightness so much as to basically turn off the needle?

It can be turned down quite a bit but not to the point where it almost becomes invisible. With electronics you sometimes can never really tell what the problem is unless something fails completely. That is why I was wondering if turning up the brightness would do anything for the speedo needle. Just one thing to try to attempt to pinpoint a problem area. Part of my former fault finding training I guess.

Peter

 

[RJT]

Checked mine.... high or low, needle should illuminate.

 

[Katness]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that yes, I did try changing the brightness settings. I also turned my headlight settings from Auto to Manual and Off and back on again, with no change.

If it's possible, could someone take a pic of their needle at night? I think it glows blue from the pics I've seen online.. and of course it's blue in daylight. I believe it's internally lighted.. so it could be a matter of a bad connection.

I hate the thought of having the dealership rip apart my dash, but having the needle be virtually invisible at night is more annoying that I would have ever realized... I'm spending a good chunk of time with my eyes off the road trying to see how fast I'm going. Cruise control is a great thing to have, but it's not practical to use all the time, especially in town.

Sigh.

 

[peterk9]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that yes, I did try changing the brightness settings. I also turned my headlight settings from Auto to Manual and Off and back on again, with no change.

If it's possible, could someone take a pic of their needle at night? I think it glows blue from the pics I've seen online.. and of course it's blue in daylight. I believe it's internally lighted.. so it could be a matter of a bad connection.

I hate the thought of having the dealership rip apart my dash, but having the needle be virtually invisible at night is more annoying that I would have ever realized... I'm spending a good chunk of time with my eyes off the road trying to see how fast I'm going. Cruise control is a great thing to have, but it's not practical to use all the time, especially in town.

Sigh.

When adjusting the brightness of the dash lights, the speedo needle is also affected by your adjustment. In your case I would suggest taking it to the dealer since there is obviously a problem. Yes, the needle is the same colour at night as it is in the day (blue).

Peter

 

[cnsheets]

Here is a picture of mine that I took while driving into work this morning around 7AM.

 

[Katness]

When adjusting the brightness of the dash lights, the speedo needle is also affected by your adjustment. In your case I would suggest taking it to the dealer since there is obviously a problem.

I guess it looks like I'll have to do that.. dangit. I was really hoping it was a setting or something.

Here is a picture of mine that I took while driving into work this morning around 7AM.

Hey.. thanks much for taking that. I'll try and get a shot of mine tonight after it gets dark for you all to see.

(Anyone wanna bet that it works perfectly now that I've started this thread?? )

 

[Katness]

Resurrecting this thread.. because wouldn't you know it, the very next time I drove at night the speedo needle was lit up just like it should be!

It's been working fine until tonight when I was coming home late, but this time I got a picture. I was on the phone, so I blurred my friend's info, but otherwise this is how it looked. You can see that I was driving just shy of 40 mph.

And yes, I'm taking it in next week, along with my photo because I'm sure it will be working just fine when they look at it.

Does ANYONE else have this problem?

 

[chimoman]

Yes, I have had it happen a couple of times. Hasn't happened again in a very long time

 

[Dman618]

Yes, I have had it happen a couple of times. Hasn't happened again in a very long time

Did you ever find out what was causing this issue with the needle not lighting up? I have this same problem.

 

[peterk9]

Did you ever find out what was causing this issue with the needle not lighting up? I have this same problem.

Welcome to the Forum.
Just thought I'd let you know that chimoman's last post was 5 years ago. The blue line through his username indicates he is no longer a member here.
Also please complete your registration by adding the trim level of your Explorer to your profile. That can be useful info to have. Thanks.

Peter