Hi All,
I'm working on the gauges from a 1982 KZ440 with ~23k miles.
The needles on the gauges have always flicked around to some extent, the speedometer more so than the tachometer. In the past few years, a whining noise has come from the speedometer in cold weather. Now, the problem - unstable needle and screeching noise - has gotten so bad for BOTH gauges that I can't ignore it anymore.
I'm starting with the tachometer, because I think it will be simpler and less costly if I mess it up. I've gotten to the point of having the trim ring peeled back so the gauge housing is apart, but I don't know what to do with the needle. Most disassembly instructions I've seen/read indicate to just pop it off the gauge face with some spoons, but this needle is not coming off even with good force applied. Can anyone confirm how the needle is supposed to be removed? I don't want to break the gauge face trying to pop it off when there is another way to do it...
Once I had the needle removed, I'll be able to further disassemble it and take a better look at what is going on. I've attached some photos showing some kind of debris, which I found to be non-magnetic. At the moment, my inclination is that the problem is related to the play shown in the video.
The debris is probably hard to see:
Debris on my finger, non-magnetic:
Here is a video depicting the play I'm talking about:
www.youtube.com/shorts/rdoXrIiKy8w