Good evening gentlemen. I've found myself needing some advice or feedback concerning a vibration with my tachometer needle in my 2009 XK with 40k miles, I hadn't noticed it until the last few weeks where the needle won't sit completely still and has a very slight shake throughout all revs including idle. The speedo needle also has a tiny bit of movement but not as much as the tachometer. My thoughts were it was just from the bumps in the road but now wondering if it could be an electrical fault such as a bad coil or plug. The check engine light has not come on and the car seems to start and run well. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

Video would be nice!:-)

 

I have the same "issue" on my 2012 XKR. I don't think it's a real issue, since the behavior looks identical between my speedo and tach needles, especially when driving around. I think they both have a very slight amount of play and can absolutely be disturbed by any ambient vibrations. To someone obsessed with detail and perfection, it does bother me a little bit haha (but first I need to resolve my front left suspension squeaks, an entirely different story...)

 

Oh thanks for that! I was hoping it was what you described as the speedo needle also has a bit of play. In my case the shake is probably as much as the thickness of a white notch marked on the gauges so not super noticeable unless one focuses on the needles for a few seconds. Sorry I can't help you with your suspension issue. That would also drive me nuts. I'd probably get a big can of silicon spay and give each joint a blast until the noise goes away... Thanks again.

 

My 2012 car's speedo does the same- 44k miles. I suspect its a trait as everything works fine.

 

In days gone by I would have said: “check your voltage regulator”... not sure if that’s a valid response still.

 

Thank you for replying to my post. Glad to know I'm not imagining things..

 

Hi there Guy. It's funny you mentioned that because the same cluster has an issue where the center screen is very dim at start up, and almost impossible to read any information until the car is warmed up which can take 30 minutes. After that time the screen is bright to the point that it's overly so. I had a cluster repair shop look at it and they suspected a voltage regulator which wasn't available as a part. The only way to replace it was to use a donor cluster with the exact same serial number. I looked around the net and could only find one costing $3000 shipped to NZ. In the end I just decided to live with it. I wonder if the shaky needle is also connected to the same fault. Thanks for your help and reply.

 

Could the dim dash have anything to do with the brightness adjuster button? I say this because mine has a mind of its own. If adjusted nothing happens for some time, to the point that i give up. Then some minutes later it suddenly decided to alter itself, If it’s too dim or bright I have to give it a tweak & restart the whole waiting game again. Have learnt not to touch it, but it’s a pain when driving with no street lights.

 

Definitely a voltage / alternator / voltage regulator issue, it should not be like that,
get a multi-meter on your battery with the engine running and see how much the voltage fluctuates
it should not move very much, Ive had this issue on other cars.

An easier method is to use an OBD scanner to read the voltage.

 

Thanks for helping me with my issue. I'll test it with a multi meter and see if there's an issue there. I believe there is also a voltage regulator in the instrument cluster as well on these cars so that may be the issue as well. Thanks again

 

I re-conditioned my battery and my issue seems to have gone away if that helps- I used the 'standard' CTEK conditioner that everyone seems to have these days. My car is a 2012 XKR.

 

Thanks for that info. Could you please confirm that your needle vibration was just down to needing a CTEC conditioner? It's driving me crazy trying to get to the bottom of this problem Thanks so much.

 

Hi Brian. the only things I have done are disconnect the battery briefly to fit the CTEK charging jack, and recondition it. The car has has no other work done to it bar having new tyres fitted, during which the battery wasn't touched, nor was anything else, and no diagnostics were plugged in. I obviously can't guarantee it as a fix, but the car has definitely stopped doing it, I also found it irritating hence I noted it going away. Regardless, a CTEK is easily borrowed these days if you don't want to buy one, however mine is at last 8 years old, and they are under £100 and will last you as long as you need it to- if its a second car I would get one regardless. I note amazon are selling one for £67 which is barely 30 minutes labour charge at a UK main dealer.
Also worth adding I did a diagnostic scan when I bought the car 2 weeks ago, with a decent scanner not cheap one, and it was all clear.

 

All CTEK battery maintainer models will slowly charge and keep an otherwise healthy battery fully charged, but only the higher priced CTEK models have a RECOND Mode. RECOND can bring some dead batteries back to life.

Here's a good explanation:
https://www.oliverjobson.co.uk/cars/...tratification/

 

Good point- only buy one with a recondition mode. Will pay itself back many times over- I've revived numerous friend's batteries with mine.

 

Hey mate,

thanks so much for that. I went out today and bought one. When I hooked it up to my car only 3 lights lit up despite it having a 3 month old battery, WTF! My cluster has always had a strange issue with the centre screen between the 2 main dials being very dim when I first start the car and over the course of about half an hour driving the it brightens up to normal. I'm wondering if this is also connected to the battery not being 100% charged all the time. I was about to buy a new cluster but now hoping your suggestion gets rid of the needle vibration and at the same time brightens the screen upon initial start up. I will let you know once the battery is fully charged.

Thanks again for your help.

 

Brian,
Just because a battery is brand new doesn't mean it's fully charged.

Who installed that new battery? Odds are that it wasn't fully charged when it was installed. Many battery retailers leave their batteries on the shelf where they can sit for months waiting for a buyer to show up without ever being recharged. That's why your CTEK only lit up to Stage 3 when you plugged it in - it wasn't fully charged when it was installed. Odds are that you don't drive far enough every day for the alternator to bring the charge level up to full.

Be patient with your CTEK; it's a maintainer that works much slower than a 10 Amp battery charger. If you have an automatic 10 Amp or higher battery charger, you can hook it up and fully recharge your battery. Otherwise, it'll probably take your CTEK overnight or longer to fully charge it.

Stuart

 

To add to Stuarts thoughts- I recondition over night or even better 24 hours- it allows for it to end the recondition charge and the start simulating normal driving use.

 

Hi mate,
thought I'd give you an update on the cluster in my car. I had the new ctech charger on for 24 hours and got the battery fully charged. Unfortunately in my case it didn't fix the shaky needles nor the dim center screen.

I decided to bite the bullet today and buy a new cluster through Jaguar ***********. They've informed me that this part is not available worldwide now! I've got a horrible feeling my cluster is on the way out and my car will soon become an expensive paperweight.

I was told by a speedo tech guy that it's probably the voltage regulator failing and I would need a donor cluster. He thought that it would be best to buy the exact same part number as any other year donor might not have the right part to repair mine...

I've spent months trying to find a second hand one but had no luck.

Anyway, thanks for your idea. It was surely worth a try.