Swapping Needles on the Cluster

[1993GMCSierra]

Hi all,

Went to Circle Auto Recycling today (you guys nearby need to hit that up, 4 Suburbans, and 2-3 C/K's) and raided a '93 Suburban.

I got (among many things) the correct 1993 cluster with the yellow paint between the 4000-4500 RPM range, and yellow paint near the "E" on the fuel gauge. It's in great shape, but the yellow needles are somewhat faded.

My 1994 cluster has the orange gauges with no fading, I want to know if I can swap them to the new cluster without screwing something up.

Can I just pry the old ones off gently, and swap them by jut popping them on, or will I damage the little motors that move the needles by doing this?

Thanks all.

 

[frito-bandito]

I've never did it but I've wanted to, I know by reading other threads about this that its tough to get the needles back in the right position

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[TylerZ281500]

they just pop off. i took a really big screwdriver wrapped in some cloth(so you dont scratch the face of the guages) and pry on the front, then move to the back and give a turning twist to that side also. should just pop off. dont wrench on it but be firm about it and its almost effortless. i dont know if you have to put them on the same way they came off though.

 

[1low95GMC]

they come off easy using a fork. before you remove the needles you take a picture of the cluster with the truck runing so you can replace the needles in the same place they were before

 

[frito-bandito]

You'll have to use GPS or something similar to get the speedo right though

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[1993GMCSierra]

Thanks for the heads up all.


I thought as long as I matched where they are now (take a pic of it out of the truck, and put the gauges back in the exact same places) that it will work just fine. The gauges will read differently when the truck is running from when it is off (obviously).

 

[frito-bandito]

I'm not positive on that, which is what's stopping me from removing mine to paint them

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[98dieselburb]

Make sure the engine is at normal operating temp also before you reinstall the needles...Too much chance of movement otherwise. As for the speedo, when I do these, I simply set it by the gps on the dash...works fine for me..

Shawn