The Safrane.Info Forum!

I've suffered this with a couple of safranes and its a menace. Fortunately there IS a very simple cure other than buying another £600 set of dials (plus programming) from your local dealer!

Note: I don't have photos at the moment but I will supply them when I can.

You will need a torx 20 screw driver / bit. Remove the dashboard planels. Start with the one above that runs over the clock panel. There are 3 screws holding it in place. Remove the short little piece over the steering column (this just pulls off by pulling it forwards). Then unscrew the large plastic panel that fits over the dials - from memory this is 4 or 5 screws. Two at the bottom and 3 at the top.

You now have access to the speedo itself. This (again from memory) is held in place by one screw at each corner. Unscrew these. Now you'll have to play twister to remove it so loosen the steering column and pull it all the way towards you. Bring out the speedo unit and twist it around to get it out and above the steering wheel. Note that there are two data cables on the back of the speedo which you need to be careful with. They are strong but french plastic can get weaker with age so you don't want to take any chances.

Now, the sticking needles is basically caused by the front see through plastic panel on the speedo unit WARPING. You can't see it unless you hold it up and compare it with another identical panel but the middle warps forward very slightly and puts stress on the black panel inside with all the markings. As s result of this, that black panel bends slightly and the holes touch the side of the needle where it passes through the holes - thus restricting the movement.

You now have three options for dealing with this:
1) Remove the clear see through panel and refit the speedo without it. This works perfectly well and as far as I know isn't an MOT failure.
2) Find another see through plastic panel for your speedo. If its not as warped as yours, it'll be fine! Fit it and you should have a good speedo :)
3) Remove the dials (they pull off the solenoid / servo spindles), dismantle the speedo from the back removing the PCB and others bits and drill the holes out a bit more. Remember that these units are expensive to replace and may need programming so be ULTRA careful if you choose this route. Put the PCB into an anti-static bag, mark gently on the black plastic with a pencil all of the zero positions and note which solenoid / servo was fitted where. You may want to get hold of a scrap speedo unit to try this out on first.

As for what causes this plastic to warp in the first place, I would suspect its heat from the rear of the speedo unit. The outlet pipes are made of cardboard instead of plastic and they have a seam in them from where they have been rolled / glued together. This naturally is facing the speedo unit and when it splits, pumps out lots of warm air towards it. Plastic doesn't always react positively to heat and I suspect its this which causes it to warp in the first place. I will post another topic about how to fix that in the future.