2002 nautique teleflex speedo guage is not working

[grantcs]

Hello everyone. Does anyone know where to get the original LCD speedo guage by Teleflex repaired on my 2002 ski nautique 196 or is it a wast of time? I understand that the tach will eventually go as well and wonder what the best replacment solution is if it cannot be repaired. Greatly appreciate anyones help with this. If replacment is in order does anyone have any photos re replacement guages you have installed.

Grant

[NautiqueJeff]

RE: 2002 nautique teleflex speedo guage is not working

Send a PM to forum member richard. He's in Hong Kong, but he has had some success repairing these gauges, and has offered to repair them for other forum members in the past.

See this thread for more information.

[cdrymalla]

I checked out Richard's thread and have a couple of questions:

1) Does nautique have any simple way to replace these through them...i.e., direct replacements or substitute gauges (even analog) that can be put in place of the digital ones (plug and play so there would not be much work involved.

2) Is there anyway to have someone verify the engine hours before the switch...i.e., since I can still barely read the hour meter, I would like to have a local dealer or someone sign off that it displayed XXX hours on XXX date before being replaced....I hate the idea of not being able to give at least some verification of hours if I went to sell it down the road.

3) No offense to Richard, but before sending this part overseas, has anyone had personal experience with getting them fixed, and any associated cost and turn-around time...Also, can he maintain the hours meter, or does this get reset?

My tach is starting to fade and I anticipate my Speedo will do the same at some point, but not as concerned b/c I can just look at perfect pass for now.

[dbell]

I have struggled with the teleflex guages on my 2001 Air Natique. There have been more and more missing segments on the displays every summer and was unusable this summer. I have been using the PP for rpm for a few years now. Not wanting to do a complete guage changeout I decided to take a shot at repairing the guages. I was able to take the guages apart very easily without damage. The guages were in perfect condition inside with no signs of moisture or corrosion. I simply added a strip of sticky back dense foam material between the metal bezel and the LCD. The foam came in a roll from a hardware store and is about 1/8" thick- I cut it 1/8" wide and stuck it on the inside of the metal bezel then re-assembled. Essentially what this does is push the wide flat ribbon cable against the LCD display improving the connection. Both guages work perfect now!!

[cdrymalla]

Dbell, that sounds promising. My gauges aren't gone yet, but it seems like the LCD fades in an out in different places to verying degrees, which would be explained by your experience.

Any tricks for getting them apart, and any more detail/pics relating to what you used and how you used it. My boat is in the shop but I hope to try this next week when I get it back.

If they have to be replaced it sounds like it will cost a few hundred dollars, so I am thinking of just swapping over to stargazer PP for $600 instead and using it for both speed and rpms.

[jeclarke]

Dbell - I am very interested in your fix for the gauges. My gauges are still working - just a little hard to read. This is my first year with the boat ( model year 2001) so I don't know how much brighter the displays were when new.

How did you determine that you needed to put pressure against the flat ribbon cable to get the displays to work better?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[dbell]

Hi Guys, sorry for the tardy reply. I have put the guages back in the boat and didn't think of taking pictures. OOPS! PM me if you need more info

The RPM was the harder of the two guages to get apart. The bezel RING is sonic welded but it basically the bezel ring comes off and then there is some silicone type stuff to cut through to take the front of the guage apart. Run a sharp exacto type knife carefully around the seam at the bezel ring- this is the part of the bezel on the side of the instrument where there is a lip. It looks like it won't come apart but it does without damaging the bezel ring at all! Keep going around carefully and gradually the bezel ring will come off. Some minor prying out of the lip helps. The rest is easy... just separate the front lens off which will expose the guts of the guage. The electronics have three little clips at the bottom of the inside that hold it in - you can't see these or gt at them! Carefully pry the electronics out. The next step is to separate the two PC boards and then bending the tabs on the metal part to take it off. The ribbon cable where it attaches to the LCD is where the problem is. I have no idea what is supposed to hold the ribbon onto the LCD and make an electrical connection but it isn't doing a good job. As I said in my earlier post I used some dense sticky back foam in a 1/8 X 1/8 strip. What the foam does is press the ribbon cable to the LCD. Mount the metel peice back on and twist the tabs. I tested it before putting the guage back together with some aviation silicone and ALL the segments worked!! My speedo was easy to get apart as the bezel is clipped on and if you look closely you can see the little plastic clips around the bezel ring. Just pry the bexel ring out a little at each clip to release them. There is a rubber seal between the lens and the instrument case that can be re-used. I'll go take the speedo out and take some pics if you want - let me know!

[dbell]

jeclark, I have an electronics background and since my segements would come and go I knew it was probably just a bad connection. After I took it apart I hooked up the guage and ran my finger nail along the ribbon cable and the segemnts would come back one at a time so I knew there was a solution

I am soooo happy that I didn't have to go through the grief and $ of having to put new guages in! Give this a try and let me know if I can help!

[cdrymalla]

dbell, thanks! I will give this a try on the speedo first and maybe move over to the tach too. Do you have any pcitures of where to cut on the tach or will it be obvious? I am hesitant to guess and be wrong.

Is the 1/8x1/8 strip really a tiny 1/8" by 1/8" inch strip? Any thickness I should look for?

Also, where can a person get aviation silicone, is it common? Is there a selant I could pick up at a local auto-parts store that would work?

Sorry for the questions, I just want to pick up supplies so I can do it all at once without having to make a trip back to the store if possible.

[dbell]

The 1/8 X 1/8 strip is about 2 inches long. the silicone is rtv - GE silicone will work fine.
dbell

[tisnyler]

any luck?

has anyone else done this and been successful? anyone have pics they could send or post?

thanks

tyler

[dbell]

I have run into a lot of guys with older Natiques lately that have the same issue with missing digits. Here is where I put the sticky back foam strip... Works great.