Broke my Honda Cluster / Temp Sensor

[backporch]

stupid me... was trying to track down an issue with the dimmer not doing what it was supposed to and I basically manhandled and took apart my cluster. when I put it back togehter, I was surprised it still worked.... well kind of. The dials don't move as smooth as they did and I was bouncing around with the cover off still troubleshooting when the dial on the coolant got nudged and was pointing down (off the dial). I gave it a little nudge up and made sure it was completely seated.
Now when I turn the ignition on, it jumps down, or up.. a little possessed. When it jumped down I nudged it up to where it should be and it tracked the temperature pretty well. On ignition off it jumped up. Now its erratic what it will do and i bet every correction I make continues to make it worse.
Before I replace the entire cluster, I was wondering if there is something I can try to get the gauge needle not to jump up or down when power is applied. How do these things work?

 

[narkeleptk]

You should never try to correct the gauges while they are powered. That is a quick way to kill the motors. Turn the key off, remove needle, place needle back with it pointing to 0 (do not let it turn, just push straight on). What year/model is it? There are a few different motor types for them.

 

[backporch]

its a 2005 honda odyssey. it still tracks changes, but is erratic when shut off sometimes swinging down off the gauge area and every now and then swinging up. I am guilty of adjusting it after it was running. very little resistance to it.. and it seemed to jump to its correct position.

 

[picbits]

I've seen these dials before where they have a stepper motor driving them, they "zero" by reversing with a lower current until they hit a physical endstop. They then have the zero reference point. You may have damaged the endstop or the friction on the needle shaft / needle may be insufficient.

 

[backporch]

I did notice that the dial was pointing at 5 oclock when cold.. off the gauge that would start around 4 and sweep counter clockwise to 2 or 3 roughly. it consistently parked at 5 and the gauge swept up past 4 about the same sweep that I would have expected. I removed the cluster from the vehicle and pulled off the dial and inserted it back at "C" or where park should have been. It appears now to be tracking and parking well for the last few times I used it. I am considering this cluster OK until it has a more profound failure and then I will replace it with an unmolested used cluster.
Thanks again for all the good ideas.