Chan

Hi. I am having a continuous problem while driving on the highway for any length of time. The gauges on the intrument panel all go out. They stay out until I stop, and shut off. I have looked for any recall information, and in the owner's manual. Until recently the mileage has come back correct. Now it seems that the mileage came back on without correct information.
Any ideas on what could be the problem? Maybe a fuse? If so, how do I figure out which fuse to replace. Obviously, I am a novice, but I would like some idea of what could be the problem before I seek help.
Any takers?
Thanks.

gdpxterra

I have a 2000 xterra with very simiar problems in guage failure. it goes away after turning of the vehicle, yet comes back after driving it again, mostly when the lights are on. i am a mechanic and have not been able to solve this yet myself and no one seems to know what to do, including nissan. did you figure anything out???

Nate Cichon

I see that these were posted several months ago, and I hope that someone has come up with a solution. It appears that this problem isn't just limited to the Xterra. I have a 2000 pathfinder and have the identical problem. Once in a while (used to be about once a month, but it is now increased to about once every couple of days) the gauges just die, Sometimes they stick where they were, sometimes go to 0, and even once spiked to 120mph. The one time that it spiked, the check engine light came on and showed a Vehicle Speed Sensor Failure. I don't believe that was the actual problem since the speedometer resumed correct operation and the message cleared after a few trips. I used to think it was related to moisture but I'm not so sure now.
This is where I'm at: Saturday I took apart the instrument panel because I had read on this site that some of the older pathfinders have a volt reg that controls the gas and temp gauges mounted to the back of the panel. I didn't find anything like this at all, but while I was probing around the circuit board behind the right edge of the speedometer I moved a component and the instruments died. Exact same failure. Im not sure if I stumbled across something or if I just managed to break a connection and it is just the same failure. I managed to wiggle it again with the car turned on and the instruments came back to life. I believe it is a transistor or volt reg, it is rectangular, black, with 3 pins. It just says JAPAN D2139 on it. Im trying to track one down and replace it to see if it fixes it for good. Right now it has been 3 days and no failures. Any help or Info? I have a picture of the part if anyone would like to see it, let me know. Thanks.