Hi All,

First post here....just picked up a lovely ST170 for shed money and am hoping to sort a couple of quirks...

Firstly, when I first turn the key in the ignition, there is a scratching sound from the oil gauges and the same noise occurs when I turn it off. I understand this is a fairly common issue but am interested to know what causes it and whether anyone has managed to resolve it with a replacement part?

Secondly, I have the dreaded Speedo Cluster flickering issue. I know turning the brightness down a notch can help, but again, has anyone replaced the dial/headlight switch component and had success in curing this?

Lastly, the cluster also seems rather dull even when turned up to full brightness. I know these can degrade over time, but has anyone found that by changing to LEDs/slightly more powerful bulbs such as 501s instead of 504s that they've managed to improve the light output?

Cheers in advance for any info.

 

the old gauge pod powers the dashboard illumination side of thing and has its own inverter and does not operate on 12v, some times you can get lucky either changing headlight switch or oil gauge but remember years ago someone doing a upgrade on them but you do need skills in electronics soldering

 

That's really helpful, cheers.

Do you know if the scratching sound from the oil gauge on startup/switch off is normal?

Also, when I went out in it tonight, the dash initially didn't light up when I turned the headlights on, but after turning them off then on again, it worked OK; does this sound like the headlight switch/brightness adjuster to you?

I guess for the low price of these parts I could buy both and try them one at a time to see it solves it....

 

as you say both are peanuts the scratching sound does sound like a faulty gauge unit though, and the headlight switch is known to fail also

 

Have ordered some bits from the bay; will let you know how I get on.

Cheers again.

 

Tried 2 different gauges and both made the scratching/rattling sound when turning the ignition on/off; I've a feeling it must be an inherant fault in these units but I might try a couple more....

Tried 2 different headlight switches and same issue was present with the flickering dash when adjusting the brightness or having it set to full; a bit of googling suggests its linked to a common issue with the variable resistor/potentiometer deteriorating; may be worth having a go at soldering a new one in....