Difficulty Reading VE MY10 SV6 Dials

[jamesmp]

Hi all,

I purchased a VE MY10 SV6 about 18 months ago and struggle to read the speedo/tacho on bright, sunny days, particularly when wearing sunglasses. There's not enough contrast between the grey background and white numbers so I drive with my lights on or use the digital speedo. I didn't have any problems reading them in my VX S.

Does anyone else have this problem?

How would I go about getting the dials changed?

Cheers,
Mick

 

[Sabbath']

Keeping the headlights on will be the cheapest solution to your problem.

 

[Zerone_V]

Yeah, I can understand where you are coming from.
I have fitted HSV Gauges and have found them to be hard to read at dusk, when the lights are on, but there is still some sunlight.

You could swap out the cluster face, but you will have 2 problems,

1) To buy just the face is very difficult, Holden sells the cluster complete, and I havent seen just the faces sold on their own on eBay (apart from the cheap aftermarket inkjet printed ones).
2) If you did manage to source just the face, you would need to make sure the maximum speed on the face matches the one that you have. There are faces that read 240, 260 and 280 as the maximum speed.
From 120Km onwards, the speedo reading is compressed (You will see what I mean when you look at the speedo increments from 120 onwards).
The compression amount is stored in the cluster EEPROM (Dunno where exactly), so if the max speed is different, then your speedo will be out from 120Km onwards.
Not a big deal really, when you consider 120Km/Hr is considered speeding and carries a fine, but the problem will be there.

A not so easy fix is to swap out the cluster for one that is easy to read.
Of all the ones that I have had fitted (SV6, Omega, Calais), the Calais ones have been the easiest to read.
As a bonus, you will get the triple LCD screens if you upgrade to a Berlina / Calais /HSV Cluster.

There is a thread here for changing / programming clusters with information on what is required.

Hope this helps

 

[jamesmp]

Thanks for the info - sounds like an expensive exercise!

 

[Woollie]

I wish that like in some other cars the dash lights up without having to have the lights on. That would be a perfect solution. I wonder if this can be done?

 

[Voodoo_SV6]

Leave the parkers in the "on" position rather than auto. Thats what I do so my xenons don't fire on/off each time I start the car in the garage or work carpark during daytimes

 

[burleighboy86]

You've probably tried it, but thought I'd cover all bases and add my 2 cents in Lol. Have you tried adjusting the brightness of the lighting?

 

[jamesmp]

Yep. I'm talking more around readability in general - with or without back lighting.

 

[UFO]

doesnt phreddy/asr do dial lighting swapovers?

 

[Rufys]

a good Auto Electrician will be able to set the dash lights to come on with the car rather than the headlights.