Nissan Repair: 2004 Nissan Maxma, nissan cars, maxma

Question
The dash lights went out and the gauges do not work as well as the speedometer does not work. They all went out at the same time. I pulled the fuses one at a time and they were alright. When I finished and started the engine everything worked. What could have caused this?

Answer
Robert,

The instrument cluster has a harness it connects to the car.  This connector, on Nissan cars, is prone to loosing connection.  I like to remove the cluster and clean the connections with a number 2 pencil eraser, blow off the dust, and reinstall it.  If that does not work and you still have an intermittent problem you might source a used one at a wrecking yard.  It is about $300 bucks to have yours repaired.  Due to heat buildup, the instrument cluster runs a step transformer to reduce voltage at the cluster.  This transformer usually starts to fail, intermittently, and that causes all systems to shutdown at the cluster.  The car still runs, but the instruments do not work.  Try the eraser trick first.  If that does not work then you have the choice of getting yours repaired or getting one used.  I have found clusters on ebay and the like for around $100 bucks.  Plus, with a used one, you do not have to drive around with a hole in the dash until you get yours back.  When I lived in Dallas there was a place called Speedometer Speciality and they did clusters in a day turn time.  I have not been there in many years and I do not know where you live, or if you have someone in your area that does this kind of work.