Instrument Cluster: Speedometer: Description

A speedometer is standard equipment on all instrument clusters. The speedometer is located next to the tachometer, just to the right of center in the instrument cluster. The speedometer consists of a movable gauge needle or pointer controlled by the instrument cluster circuitry, and a fixed 255 degree primary scale on the gauge dial face that reads left-to-right either from "0" to "120" mph, from "0" to "140" mph, from "0" to "220" km/h, or from "0" to "230" km/h, depending upon the vehicle equipment and the market for which the vehicle is manufactured. Most versions also have a secondary inner scale on the gauge dial face that provides the equivalent opposite measurement units from the primary scale. Text appearing in the center of the gauge dial face just beneath the hub of the speedometer needle abbreviates the unit of measure for the primary scale (i.e.: MPH or km/h). On models with a secondary scale, the abbreviation for that scale follows the abbreviation for the primary scale.

The speedometer graphics are either white, gray and orange against a black gauge dial face (base cluster) or black and gray against a taupe gauge dial face (premium cluster), making them clearly visible within the instrument cluster in daylight. When illuminated from behind by the panel lamps dimmer controlled cluster illumination lighting with the exterior lamps turned On, the base cluster white gauge graphics appear blue-green and the orange graphics still appear orange, while the premium cluster taupe gauge dial face appears blue-green with the black graphics silhouetted against the illuminated background. The gray gauge graphics for both versions of the cluster are not illuminated. The orange gauge needle in the base cluster gauge is internally illuminated, while the black gauge needle in the premium cluster gauge is not.

Base cluster gauge illumination is provided by replaceable incandescent bulb and bulb holder units located on the instrument cluster electronic circuit board. Premium cluster gauge illumination is provided by an integral electro-luminescent lamp that is serviced as a unit with the instrument cluster. The speedometer is serviced as a unit with the instrument cluster.