Cant figure out speedo problem

bluebullet · 07-30-2004, 10:34 PM

Ok....as my last topic I posted about my speedo starting to work again the day I got my new parts...I didnt get to install the new impulse sender yesterday....so the speedo worked today until i hit a slight bump on the ocean pkwy (all concrete) and it just dropped to 0.

Today, I put the car up on the lift and pull the old sender out. Looks perfectly fine....I get the nut off and pull the plastic gear out of the tranny..no broken teeth or anything, put it back in and try to turn it and it doesnt turn, which means the metal teeth in the tranny arent broken off either. Put it all back together and check put the new sender on. I take the car out for a drive and still nothing. I pull the gauge cluster out and pull it apart, and the circuit board behind the whole speedo assembly is fine, no broken solder joints or wires. It sits nice and tight, and all the connections make contact, but the gauge still doesnt work. I know afjuvat says to clean all the connections which I did, but where is the ground? is it bolted to the chassis right around that area? I didnt look because I dropped my drop light and it broke the bulb (and I didnt have another)....

Any ideas anyone? is it time to get a new speedo?

btw my odometer gear had 2 broken teeth on it...I spun it around once and the entire gear literally fell apart in my hand....

Chris_924s · Chris_924s's Garage

Check the continuity on the sender.. sounds like you have an intermittent feed or a ground issue..

Check your grounds!

bluebullet · 07-31-2004, 09:16 AM

sender is good...the speedo was working again, but I think it might be a loose ground or something because when it is hot out, it works...but the second it cools down (night time) it doesnt work anymore....during the day its fine but at night it never works....

bluebullet · 08-05-2004, 10:12 PM

Ok I went out and bought a used gauge cluster out of an 87, and It had a working speedometer when i got it (plus the odometer gear was still intact so yay for that) and I swapped the speedometer guts into my gauge cluster (i wanted to keep my cluster because I have the grey market cluster, with the liter/hr gauge and i dont have a shift light like the american ones do) but the speedo still doesnt work. Where do i start searching for grounds around there? I have to do a wire test or something, because this is drivin me crazy and I cant figure it out. I checked the circuit board on the back of the speedometer and all the solder joints turn out good. If the grounds are secure, what else can be wrong? The plastic wire stuff on the back of the gauge cluster?

Cebu · 08-06-2004, 03:23 PM

If you have the new sender and have not installed it..I recommend installing the new one. I went throught the intermittent speedometer for 7-months until I replaced the sender..all is indicating well for 3-years now.

bluebullet · 08-06-2004, 06:34 PM

I replaced the sender on the tranny already..that was the first thing i did. Brand new in the box...funny thing is that it starting working before i put it in that day..then i put the new one in and it worked for about 2 days and then was intermittent again. Now it just does not work at all.

bluebullet · 08-07-2004, 09:30 PM

figured it out today..the plastic wire sheet thingy on the back of the cluster was loose around the speedo connections..i pressed on it and it clicked...now the speedo works all the time...