Speedo problem

[sib8292]

My S2 speedometer is suffering from an intermittent fault. Some times it reads normally, sometimes it doesn't register. I can be driving along at any speed and suddenly its showing zero. And the other way round.

The odometer is also affected so it seems to be a sender fault, though I suppose it could be the wiring or connections.

Any ideas on how to locate the cause?

If its the sender has anyone any knowledge of whether it is a repairable item or always a replacement?

 

[Fen]

When mine did it I just wiggled the wiring and pushed the connector on the 'box. It stayed fine for 20,000+ miles and months after. The sender is at the top of the 'box on the driver's side.

 

[Guest]

Mine does that too, unfortunately I think my odometer keeps clocking up the miles...is that possible? Did have the old style lux with both speedo/odo not working. Its amazing how few miles a year went onto that car! []

 

[Fen]

It will affect the odo as well as the speedo if it's a connection at the 'box that's the fault. I guess a fault in the speedo head itself could cause speedo failure with working odo.

 

[Guest]

Mine used to do that ('87 turbo) and (owned for 8, been laid up for 2 years +) and when I took it for an MOT last month ( Decided to breathe new life into it) , it wasn't working on the drive there.
Whilst it was on the ramp I checked the sender on the gearbox - disintegrated in my hand. Now it doen't work.

Guess I will be adding that to my shopping list now.

 

[John Sims]

Beaky does it to every now and then. It is almost as if the needle gets stuck on the stop. It generally comes to life over 30 mph, or go over a bump or tap the face of the dial.

 

[Guest]

My S2 does exactly the same as Beaky - I quick tap on the dial and it comes back to life.

 

[chrisr]

Mine sometimes sticks at 145mph and refuses to go any higher []

On a serious note like John , mine sometimes sticks around the 20-30 mark and a slight tap on the plastic does the job.

 

[xenon]

I had exactly the same. I bought another sender (which I now cannot find) but when I jacked the car up to remove the original it was very dirty. Therefore I tried giving it a good clean with an air-line and a splash of IPA, reseated the connector, and it's been fine ever since.

Give the connector a good wiggle / re-seat and it'll fix it. The speedo sender is just next to the output flange on the transaxle, near-side.

 

[poprock]

Aye, sounds like a sender problem. Very common.

 

[poprock]

That's a wierd one.

Pop the instrument pod out and you can detach the speedo from the back. It's fiddly as hell inside the speedo itself, but you can get in with long-nose pliers or jeweller's screwdrivers to move things around. You should be able to free up whatever's fallen in quite easily.

I managed to open one up enough to turn the mileometer by hand when I was replacing my whole instrument pod and wanted it to match the mileage on the one I took out.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: poprock
I managed to open one up enough to turn the mileometer by hand when I was replacing my whole instrument pod and wanted it to match the mileage on the one I took out.

That's what they all say!


Oli.

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

That's what they all say!

One of our regulars on here with a nice low mileage on the clock had a nightmare shock when the furthest left cog got a bit caught and suddenly added 100,000 miles overnight. We had a quick phone conversation and it was quickly wound back to where it should be.

I wonder if he'll reveal himself (it was quite humorous from my end of the phone but I totally understand it was not so funny at his end []). I'll never let the name slip.

It does however show not to trust these speedos when buying a car.

 

[cococola]

Well I removed the instrument cluster today and unscrewed the perspex front and used long nose plyers to remove the label that blocked my mileage.
All assembled ok again[]