Small white dots on fuel gauge

[TimTim89]

Hello everyone!

I've noticed small white dots on my fuel gauge recently. I just turned on the car last weekend and they appeared although they seem to have gone down a bit, but the last few are lingering...Is it possible it is condensation? I do live in a very cold southeastern canadian city...

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Definitely not normal. Has that popped up anywhere else? Seems very localized to that one spot.

Can you still see the dots if the car is off?

 

[TimTim89]

No I can't see the dots when the car is off but what's strange is that it's definitely gone down..There are less dots then when it first appeared

 

[Puyapim]

My first thought is that they are remnants of the graphic that you see that follows the needle. Hard to describe but there is a shaded digital graphic that follows the needle.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Stuck pixels. It's a display defect that typically doesn't go away. It happens with older LCD tvs. Definitely a warranty issue as it could get worse, or that could be the extent of it.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Stuck pixels. It's a display defect that typically doesn't go away. It happens with older LCD tvs. Definitely a warranty issue as it could get worse, or that could be the extent of it.

I concur. Doesn't look like condensation to me.

 

[shadonoz]

Stuck pixels don't "go down"... they're stuck [and they suck].

 

[craigo]

I don't think that display is the one with pixels - just LCD elements, like old watches. If it comes and goes it might actually be condensation.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Stuck pixels don't "go down"... they're stuck [and they suck].

Stuck might be the wrong word, but it's something to do with the display I think.

 

[shadonoz]

I don't think that display is the one with pixels - just LCD elements, like old watches. If it comes and goes it might actually be condensation.

It's LED. LCDs can't show as many variations and colors as our displays do.

I'm still wearing one of those "old" watches.

 

[Xeler8ing]

The display is stuffed. Take it back and get it fixed/replaced.

 

[Anchorman]

The display is stuffed. Take it back and get it fixed/replaced.

It is indeed.

 

[Xeler8ing]

My suggestion is don't delay and take it back. Sometimes dealers might give grief because the owner didn't notifty them of an issue straight away

 

[Puyapim]

My suggestion is don't delay and take it back. Sometimes dealers might give grief because the owner didn't notifty them of an issue straight away

Good idea. Once the issue is on the records they have to acknowledge the complaint and fulfill the warranty.

 

[shadonoz]

Let us know what the dealer says. It would be amazing if they replace the instrument cluster for a fault that doesn't affect functionality [yet!].
For your sake, I hope they will.

Wait, is that a 2014? No warranty? You might want to live with it. Looks like it could be a very expensive repair.

 

[Xeler8ing]

Let us know what the dealer says. It would be amazing if they replace the instrument cluster for a fault that doesn't affect functionality [yet!].
For your sake, I hope they will.

Wait, is that a 2014? No warranty? You might want to live with it. Looks like it could be a very expensive repair.

If it was here in OZ land, warranty would have expired last year (Mazdas here have 3 years)

 

[TimTim89]

No warranty, I bought it used just this past december. They only offered a month warranty for it (it is a 2014). Anyway this really doesn't seem like it dead pixels though because they are different shade of white and they are on top of the LED if that makes any sense...and it's definetly gone down. I will try to take another picture when the fuel gauge is at the same spot

 

[Xeler8ing]

No warranty, I bought it used just this past december. They only offered a month warranty for it (it is a 2014). Anyway this really doesn't seem like it dead pixels though because they are different shade of white and they are on top of the LED if that makes any sense...and it's definetly gone down. I will try to take another picture when the fuel gauge is at the same spot

Looks like that section of the display is having difficulty intepreting if the diode should be on or off.

 

[shadonoz]

No warranty, I bought it used just this past december. They only offered a month warranty for it (it is a 2014). Anyway this really doesn't seem like it dead pixels though because they are different shade of white and they are on top of the LED if that makes any sense...and it's definetly gone down. I will try to take another picture when the fuel gauge is at the same spot

Are you saying it only looks that way when the gauge is at a certain reading? Is it always there but the intensity varies depending on the position of the gauge? Does the intensity correlate to anything?

Don't let faulty pixels confuse the issue. Stuck pixels are always on. Dead pixels are always off. They don't vary. Some other problem might cause them to....

Your description suggests some kind of reflection, perhaps internal.

But if there's no warranty, and the gauge is working, you might want to just live with it.

 

[craigo]

Are you saying it only looks that way when the gauge is at a certain reading? Is it always there but the intensity varies depending on the position of the gauge? Does the intensity correlate to anything?

Don't let faulty pixels confuse the issue. Stuck pixels are always on. Dead pixels are always off. They don't vary. Some other problem might cause them to....

Your description suggests some kind of reflection, perhaps internal.

But if there's no warranty, and the gauge is working, you might want to just live with it.

LCD's are usually backlit so technically a "stuck" pixel is off (letting light through) and a dead pixel is stuck on. And on color displays you can have subpixels stuck on or off leading to a solid color. Confusing, I know.

In this case though, there's no pixels just an ordinary segment display. I wonder if the elements illuminate or is it that there is a backlight that they black out? In that case if the background were breaking down somehow I could see light bleeding through.