3.2 1985 speedometer does not work

[doc18015]

Hi all,

After napping all winter, took the 85 Cabrio out for drive. The speedometer and odometer do not work. Searched this forum and went through the testing at the sensor and at the speedometer. All work and test fine. Went as far as to replace sender w/new one. The speedometer came back from the repair shop last year at end of season from rebuild; did work before car was put to sleep. Any suggestions?

[doc18015]

bump

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by doc18015

Hi all,

After napping all winter, took the 85 Cabrio out for drive. The speedometer and odometer do not work. Searched this forum and went through the testing at the sensor and at the speedometer. All work and test fine. Went as far as to replace sender w/new one. The speedometer came back from the repair shop last year at end of season from rebuild; did work before car was put to sleep. Any suggestions?

If the voltages and grounds are at the speedometer connector(s),
perhap the IC is dead, or some type of internal connection issue.

I would send it back the the folks who did the rebuild for you.

Good luck,

Gerry

[UrQuattro]

Check the ignition switch. On my car, when I first got it, I noticed that intermittently, the speedo/odo combination wouldn't work. I then noticed that there was a slight amount of extra play in the ignition switch such that it did not return completely to it's normal running position. If I turned the key slightly counter-clockwise, just a tiny bit, everything would start working again.

Damn those ignition switches are expensive.

Michael

[Edwin Rivera]

I have a similiar problem...my odometer doesn't work on my 83 cabrio...also my gas gage stopped working. Are these two problems related or just things going bad at the same time.
Any suggestions on how to approach this/these problems.
My gas gage does appear to attempt to move but doesn'ts idicate how much gas there is in the tank.
My speedometer works...odometer doesn't...would like to correct the both problems...
I'm in Bridgewater, NJ if there's any help near here....
Thanks to all
Ed

[rusnak]

Since it's been a year, maybe the speedometer shop will agree to look it over and repair it if it's bad. I would try that if it were my car.

[doc18015]

Hi all,

I ended up talking to shop that did work last year. They said to send it back they would re-check it. They seemed to have found yet another problem. Cost me another $185.00 to have repaired. My thought is that it was poorly done last year. It sat all winter in my garage. I would not recommend them or use them again. They are:POWL'S Speedometer , Lancaster,Pa. I always thought my British cars in my collection went bad just sitting.....well, the Porsches have been worse .

[930 slant nose]

oops wrong response sorry

[E Sully]

Edwin,
The problems are not related. Your odometer is a plastic gear that needs to be replaced. You can send it out, or if you feel capable you can do it yourself. Pelican sells the replacement gear. Do a search on odometer gear.
The fuel gauge could be the sending unit in the gas tank. Try a search on fuel tank sender.
Start a new thread for your issues.

[5String43]

The Los Angeles area may seem a long way away, but I'd suggest you send your instruments to North Hollywood Speedometer here. They rebuilt my speedo, fixing the odometer, for $130 and very well respected. Oh, and they turned the thing around in a day.

[Peter Seow]

Originally Posted by doc18015

Hi all,

I ended up talking to shop that did work last year. They said to send it back they would re-check it. They seemed to have found yet another problem. Cost me another $185.00 to have repaired. My thought is that it was poorly done last year. It sat all winter in my garage. I would not recommend them or use them again. They are:POWL'S Speedometer , Lancaster,Pa. I always thought my British cars in my collection went bad just sitting.....well, the Porsches have been worse .

Buying a new meter is more COST EFFECTIVE. Coming from an engineering back ground if one plastic gear snaps, why do you think the rest is still the good? Many shops are not replacing ALL the gears just one or two or maybe three gears. I dont think the big worm gear goes bad but there is a good chance the rest does and when they do, they jam up the the system and it can cause the more to burn out! Unless the rebuild promises to replace ALL the gears except the worm gear i doubt it would last long. I used to replace the small gear on my bmw and then next gear would go, the sequence would continue until i have replaced all the gears but that was when i was in uni and time was not so important money was more important and got my porsche in my last year of uni i did not bother about the non function odo meter when i started work i bought a new meter to save time.

I think the german motors dont go bad sitting, but frequency use is best for any car. Without oil run everywhere the metal parts can be exposed to rust. Petrol geos bad as well absorbing mositure and rusting ALL your petrol line, taking alway all your expensive fuel system with you.

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by doc18015

Hi all,

After napping all winter, took the 85 Cabrio out for drive. The speedometer and odometer do not work. Searched this forum and went through the testing at the sensor and at the speedometer. All work and test fine. Went as far as to replace sender w/new one. The speedometer came back from the repair shop last year at end of season from rebuild; did work before car was put to sleep. Any suggestions?

Paul's Speedometer in Redondo Beach has alway done excellent work for us.