Problem solved!

I bought a used gauge pod off ebay to see if the gauge itself was bad... sure enough, it was. After putting the new one in it works like a charm!!!

I took apart both clusters to swap my speedo over to the new gauge (cluster i bought had about 30K more miles than my car really does).

Works like a champ! So if anyone has these symptoms, give a gauge cluster swap a try... you can always resell the cluster back on Ebay when you are done!