What's wrong with my instrument pod?

I've been trying to fix things here and there on my Delica and that brings me to the triple instrument pod on top of the dash. I'm the third owner of this thing so there's multiple things that have been very obviously fucked with on the van, the pod being one of the more obvious ones. The altimeter and the pitch/roll gauge don't read at all, and the thermometer reads the outside temperature correctly, but the inside temperature always reads -26c which i'm *almost* sure is incorrect. I'm inclined to think this is some kind of electrical issue as I've already discovered a couple of others but I haven't discovered any reasonable way to take it apart. Any suggestions??
 
I've been trying to fix things here and there on my Delica and that brings me to the triple instrument pod on top of the dash. I'm the third owner of this thing so there's multiple things that have been very obviously fucked with on the van, the pod being one of the more obvious ones. The altimeter and the pitch/roll gauge don't read at all, and the thermometer reads the outside temperature correctly, but the inside temperature always reads -26c which i'm *almost* sure is incorrect. I'm inclined to think this is some kind of electrical issue as I've already discovered a couple of others but I haven't discovered any reasonable way to take it apart. Any suggestions??
The inside thermometer reads -26C when the sensor is disconnected. The sensor for the inside temp is located at the front of the steering column, right where your shins are. They are incredibly fragile, with only a tiny little metal plate for protection and tiny wires. If you're lucky, your sensor is still there and just disconnected, but more likely it has broken off. A while ago I tried to find a thermistor with the same resistance as the factory unit but then I replaced my whole pod and just gave up on getting the thermometer to work.
So I would start there instead of taking the pod apart. Aside from the lights, the altimeter and roll gauge don't need power. They are filled with mineral oil, which may have leaked out and rendered them inoperable. There is a way to refill, but I let others chime in here as I have no experience.
 
I refilled mine with baby oil. Just take the gauge out and pop the back off. Fill with baby oil then silicon the back on to stop it leaking out
 
I refilled mine with baby oil. Just take the gauge out and pop the back off. Fill with baby oil then silicon the back on to stop it leaking out

Recommendation would be to leave it out for a few days on a paper towel to check for leaks. Thought mine was all sealed up but the level dropped within the first week or so pretty slowly. Had to take it out and reseal so I didn't end up with oil coating everything behind my dash.
 
Thanks all! Ended up taking it apart to investigate, looks like the previous owner did as well as the front trim is damaged and won't stay on without duct tape. Looks like they went pretty hard on it because there's a few plastic pieces missing. I might try to track down a whole new one if I can't find a solution for the faceplate not staying attached. Also good tip Nate, I definitely would have put oil in it and just called it good. Probably would have come back to a pool of oil ruining my interior
 
Hi!

I took my pitch/roll gauge out (is there a better name for this piece?)
I found what looked like a small cap in the back but I wasn't able to remove it. so I made a tiny hole with my drill and filled it with mineral oil but it seems to be leaking from somewhere else....
the whole pod with the 3 instruments was badly cracked when I got my van.
can anyone post pictures of theirs and how they filled them up?
anyone replaced theirs with an other piece?

also, can someone explain with pictures where the thermometer sensor is? at the front of the steering column, right where your shins are?

last thing, there seem to be a small knob at the bottom right of my altimeter, but it seems half broken. what is usually at the end of this and how do you use it? to calibrate?

thanks so much everyone!!
 
I took my pitch/roll gauge out (is there a better name for this piece?)
In an aircraft it's called an attitude indicator, in a vehicle it's usually called an inclinometer. I tried refilling/repairing mine, eventually wound up replacing it with a new one from E-bay.
also, can someone explain with pictures where the thermometer sensor is? at the front of the steering column, right where your shins are?
Yes, it's a little rectangular cover over the thermistor.
what is usually at the end of this and how do you use it? to calibrate?
It's just a stem... you use it to set the needle to a known current altitude and then it changes as the pressure changes. IMO it's pretty useless as weather fronts can easily change the altitude readout by several hundred feet.
 
@sk66
thanks! do you remember the one you bought on eBay? you have the link? looks good in your Deli?

id love to see how other people adapted their instrument pods...
 
I had the 2 gauge pod with a broken inclinometer. Replacement ones from ebay had gone up substantially since I retrofitted my 98 montero with one. After looking for a replacement gauge cluster to replace the whole thing I gave up and installed one of these. Gives me everything (except outside temp) but adds actual speed (miles or km) based on gps & voltmeter. Here is a close up of the gauge, hardwired into van versus cig lighter connector.
 

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To add to what sk66 said:
In an aircraft it's called an attitude indicator, in a vehicle it's usually called an inclinometer. I tried refilling/repairing mine, eventually wound up replacing it with a new one from E-bay.

With the important distinction that the aircraft attitude indicator is a gyroscope based device and therefore independent of inertial effects. The inclinometer is not. For instance, it will indicate that the vehicle is tilted if you're cornering hard on flat ground because it's basically a pendulum. You'd get the same indication if you had a weight hanging on a string from the rear view mirror with a left-right/fore-aft crosshair painted on the dash.

It's just a stem... you use it to set the needle to a known current altitude and then it changes as the pressure changes. IMO it's pretty useless as weather fronts can easily change the altitude readout by several hundred feet.

The altimeter doesn't sense altitude directly. There's no way for a simple mechanical device to know where it is relative to a human defined rough average of world wide sea level. It's a cleverly disguised pressure gauge that takes advantage of the fact that the higher up you are the less atmosphere there is above you constantly being pulled down by gravity. In other words, atmospheric pressure decreases as you increase in elevation. The problem is that the Earth's surface isn't uniformly heated by the sun and it's spinning at a great rate of speed. As a result the atmosphere isn't uniform in density and is constantly flowing from one place to another in order to rebalance itself. That's weather. In an aircraft, every radio tower at every airport is reading out the local atmospheric pressure which you dial up in a little window in the corner of the altimeter using a knob to correct the altitude reading. Pretty crude actually. Leaves a lot of room for error which is why aircraft don't fly close to terrain in the blind. The Delica version doesn't have the barometric pressure reading window so you work the problem backwards by setting it for the correct reading when at a known surveyed altitude. The problem is that the next day, at the same spot, the reading won't be the same because the atmospheric pressure has likely changed. If you're taking a trip up the mountain and you set it in the morning it should still be fairly accurate when you get to the top by lunch time. Both gauges, despite the cool factor, are gimmicky representations of true instruments that are pretty crude themselves.

Sorry, as a certificated aircraft maintenance technician (aircraft mechanic in common parlance) I couldn't resist.
 
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Ah! I bypassed that one because the description/title says "OBDII", but that's just the Aliexpress-style description ("ALL THE KEYWORDS!"). Neat!
 
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@sk66
thanks! do you remember the one you bought on eBay? you have the link? looks good in your Deli?

id love to see how other people adapted their instrument pods...
It looks just like the original. I don't have a link... and you have to be careful because a lot of the aftermarket gauges are assembled upside down with the expansion area on the bottom.
 
To add to what sk66 said:


With the important distinction that the aircraft attitude indicator is a gyroscope based device and therefore independent of inertial effects. The inclinometer is not. For instance, it will indicate that the vehicle is tilted if you're cornering hard on flat ground because it's basically a pendulum. You'd get the same indication if you had a weight hanging on a string from the rear view mirror with a left-right/fore-aft crosshair painted on the dash.



The altimeter doesn't sense altitude directly. There's no way for a simple mechanical device to know where it is relative to a human defined rough average of world wide sea level. It's a cleverly disguised pressure gauge that takes advantage of the fact that the higher up you are the less atmosphere there is above you constantly being pulled down by gravity. In other words, atmospheric pressure decreases as you increase in elevation. The problem is that the Earth's surface isn't uniformly heated by the sun and it's spinning at a great rate of speed. As a result the atmosphere isn't uniform in density and is constantly flowing from one place to another in order to rebalance itself. That's weather. In an aircraft, every radio tower at every airport is reading out the local atmospheric pressure which you dial up in a little window in the corner of the altimeter using a knob to correct the altitude reading. Pretty crude actually. Leaves a lot of room for error which is why aircraft don't fly close to terrain in the blind. The Delica version doesn't have the barometric pressure reading window so you work the problem backwards by setting it for the correct reading when at a known surveyed altitude. The problem is that the next day, at the same spot, the reading won't be the same because the atmospheric pressure has likely changed. If you're taking a trip up the mountain and you set it in the morning it should still be fairly accurate when you get to the top by lunch time. Both gauges, despite the cool factor, are gimmicky representations of true instruments that are pretty crude themselves.

Sorry, as a certificated aircraft maintenance technician (aircraft mechanic in common parlance) I couldn't resist.
amazing answer. thank you so much
 
The thermistor/sensor is compatible with the same on the Pajero/Montero/Raider. I pulled one off a Pajero and got my temp off -26, though it doesn't actually feel much warmer in the van. Hmm.
The connector is different. So if yours is missing, snaffle both sides of the connector from the donor.
 
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