Strange QL17 meter issues

[Santaji]

I recently shot a roll of 400 ISO film on my QL17 with a p675 battery, my first roll with this camera, and I'm satisfied with the results.
The meter seemed to be over-exposing by about 1 or 2 stops compared to my DSLR, which is strange since with the p675 it's supposed to underexpose slightly. The 1 stop difference did not really matter as all the pictures turned out looking perfectly exposed.

But I have noticed some strange issues with the metering. If set it to 25 ASA I get smaller apertures than with ASA 100! Basically 25 ASA works the same as 800.
Also, I never seem to get an aperture smaller than f8 even at ASA800 with the slowest shutter speed and the camera pointed at a bright light source.

What could be causing this? I hope it's an easy fix.

 

[Frontman]

The meter engages a gear which selects the aperture. It's possible that this engagement is out of adjustment, and is mechanically limited to selecting f/8. If your camera is over-exposing in A mode, this is probably the problem.

If the meter is off when compared to a handheld meter, then it may need to be adjusted. Canon adjusted the meter in the QL17 by placing neutral density film between the meter and the plate on the front of the lens. If your camera is overexposing, you can try removing the neutral density film. If you don't see the neutral density film, it may not have been installed because the meter was okay as it was, or it may have come loose and fallen out.