430 - Tach Needle Issue | FerrariChat

430 Tach Needle Issue

Discussion in '360/430' started by Ray Smith, Aug 8, 2020.

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  1. Ray Smith

    Ray Smith Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    May 17, 2020
    851
    Costa Mesa, CA
    Full Name:
    Raymond Smith
    Hello,

    Ever since I replaced the Red tach face with a yellow tach face, along with the concomitant instrument cluster removal and disassembly and reinstall, the tach needle has appeared in photo one with ignition on, engine not running, and in photo two engine running at fast idle (cold). In photo one the tach needle should obviously be at ZERO. And in photo two it should be at around 900 rpm (around 1,100 at fast idle, cold engine).

    Lots of people, including the owner of Raging Bull, an exotic car repair shop in Costa Mesa, said to remove the tach needle and align it to zero. That may work on a 360, but the needle on the 430 has a crescent shaped convex protrusion (a "key", if you will), that mates with a corresponding concave crescent shaped slot in the spindle. There is only ONE way to mount the needle on the spindle. Aligning the needle to zero prior to reassembly and reinstall has zero effect on the eventual location of the needle.

    Having ascertained, from Ferrari, that there is no "self-learning cycle" on a F430 (as, apparently there is on a 360) so repeated suggestions on this forum and others to do so is a moot point.

    So my question is, has anyone with a F430 experienced this issue and if so were you able to rectify it, and if so how?

    Thanks in advance.

    Ray

    Photo One, engine off, ignition on:

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    Photo two, engine running, cold engine fast idle. Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. mwstewart

    mwstewart F1 Rookie

    Feb 5, 2014
    2,625
    England
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    Mark
    When assembling the cluster use the needle to move the gauge back to zero, then press home the needle when the position is set.

    BTW you have Scuderia tach and speedo faces but F430 auxiliary gauges.
     
  3. mwstewart

    mwstewart F1 Rookie

    Feb 5, 2014
    2,625
    England
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    Mark
    I forgot to add that if you didn't install the other faces because you have non-US market versions then I can offer a swap: I have a set of the US spec (Fahrenheit and lb/in) Scuderia auxiliary dial faces.
     
  4. Ray Smith

    Ray Smith Formula Junior
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    May 17, 2020
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    Raymond Smith
    I did not install the Scuderia SAE gauge faces which I do have. When I realized that the backlight film had to be handled very carefully because it is sticky with an adhesive to keep the faceplates flat against the backlight film, I decided to perform the tachometer/speedometer faceplate replacement only. Since I will need to remove the cluster again to perform this alignment I might as well include the other gauges. But thank you for your kind offer.

    I am however confused by your direction "When assembling the cluster use the needle to move the gauge back to zero, then press home the needle when the position is set."

    The spindle moves counterclockwise all the way to the position shown in photo number one. I did connect the needle to the spindle when I had the needle aligned with the zero-mark. However, when power is restored to the cluster, the needle moves in a counterclockwise position back to the incorrect location in photo number one. The needle does not rotate independently of the spindle. However, since I am going to disassemble it again, I will give that a go.

    Thank you for the response.
     
  5. Rjoselaw

    Rjoselaw Karting

    Mar 10, 2019
    115
    Southlake, Texas
    Full Name:
    Raj J
    I read in a comment on a thread here that before you put the needles on, you must plug in the cluster and let the gauges reset to their original position. Then carefully put the needle on the gauge. When I installed an F430 tach on my 360, I did not follow that instruction. However, somehow, it fixed itself. Maybe time will be the cure.
     
  6. Ray Smith

    Ray Smith Formula Junior
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    May 17, 2020
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    Costa Mesa, CA
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    Raymond Smith
    If you are ever in Orange County, CA the drinks are on me.

    That worked like a charm. The tach is perfect now.

    I attempted to install the Scuderia auxiliary gauge face. However, the original face is so tightly adhered to the backlight film that any attempt to to remove it would destroy the backlight film, and those things are expensive so I decided to live with the shame of having mismatched fonts. I will just avoid FCA events and the opprobrium which would ensue.

    But again, thank you very much. It was worth the effort to take it apart again to apply your fix.
     
  7. Ray Smith

    Ray Smith Formula Junior
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    May 17, 2020
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    Raymond Smith
    The solution was to install the needles and wind them clockwise to the stops, and then wind them back to zero. This worked perfectly. Tach now goes to zero and at idle the indication matches the real-time data from my Botticelli diagnostic tool.

    Thanks for you help.
     
    Bob in Texas likes this.
  8. Rjoselaw

    Rjoselaw Karting

    Mar 10, 2019
    115
    Southlake, Texas
    Full Name:
    Raj J
    Thanks for the advice. Do you do this while the cluster is plugged in and the ignition is "on"?
     
  9. Ray Smith

    Ray Smith Formula Junior
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    May 17, 2020
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    Raymond Smith
    Absolutely not. I disconnect the battery using the trunk cut-off every time I go near this thing. I performed the fix on my kitchen table.
     

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