Speedometer issue on '02 Sebring

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

It all started when I went to the movies last Saturday night. I accidentally left my headlights on while in the cinema, and when I came out to the car, naturally, the battery was too drained to turn over the engine.



I managed to get a jump and get it started and got home. I put it on a charger all night and the next day it started just fine. Everything’s hunky dory, I think. Wrong…



Sunday morning, while driving to the grocery store, I look down at my speedometer and notice that the needle is not moving, just resting at zero. Not only is it resting at zero, it’s somehow wound up on the underside of the pin at zero that it normally sits on top of when the car is at rest. It looks as if the speedometer needle has gone all the way around the gauge in a clockwise direction, passed the 120 mph mark, and come up on the underside of that pin, where it’s now stuck.



My thinking is that somehow draining the power on the battery has affected the on board computer and that the speedometer has been adversely affected by that. Can I remove the battery lead from the negative terminal, reboot the computer, and cause the speedometer to reset? Would it harm anything to try that?



Or am I doomed to spend a couple of bills at the auto dealer getting the thing fixed?



Oh, and BTW… If you go see “Marley and Me”, take some Kleenex. If you don’t need it, your wife will.



Thanks in advance,

Jeff

2

Disconnect the battery, the only thing that will probably loose the programing is the radio.

3

I think if you remove the instrument cluster, and manually spine the needle back around the other way to the correct position it should start working properly. Disconnect the battery before removing instrument cluster.

4

Thanks for your help, guys - I got it!

Disconnecting the negative lead on the battery didn’t do anything. After several hours of Googling different phrases, I came upon a video on YouTube showing how to run a gauge check on a Sebring’s instrument cluster (you hold in on the trip meter reset button and turn the ignition key part way on). That reset the entire gauge package, while running a diagnostic on the gauges and idiot lights. I’m back in business, and the total cost is zero bucks… Yay!

5

Good to hear it. Thanks for letting us know.