Speedo dying at worst times!

[mueller944s2]

It randomly died on this fun backroad with twisty corners, and would ONLY die on that road. Then I when I was late to school it died over and over! Of course on the way back when I wasn't in a hurry it was fine. I'm not sure where to find the contacts, can I get to them without pulling the cluster?

[AKCJ]

What car?

On my 83 the speedo is driven by the drivers side front tire - easy to check by removing the cap on the hub (hubcap), make sure the clip is on. If you have small enough hands you can reach up from below the dash and turn the locking ring where the cable attaches to the back of the speedo. If you remove it you can push the speedo out to take a better look at it.

Good Luck.

[mueller944s2]

it's an S2. Would it work the same with mine?

[rhett]

Originally Posted by mueller944s2

it's an S2. Would it work the same with mine?

No, the S2 has a speed sender mounted on the output shaft of the transaxle as it is an entirely electronic speedo. It could be a bad connection there. Best to check here first, unclip the connector on the top and clean the contacts, spray with WD40 or similar, see how it goes..

If that is not the problem, then you probably will have to remove the cluster to check connectors, etc on the back. It is not too much of a problem, just a bit fiddly..

[Gawernator]

I have a nice writeup on removing the cluster and fixing it

[RedBaron]

Check the connection at the transaxle.

[sjv]

I thought the speedo problem's were the plastic gear breaking myspeedo would work sume time's then bounce on &off and nothing now also the shift indicater does'nt work are they connected though the DME

[rhett]

Originally Posted by sjv

I thought the speedo problem's were the plastic gear breaking myspeedo would work sume time's then bounce on &off and nothing now also the shift indicater does'nt work are they connected though the DME

The speedo 'plastic gear' is part of the motor drive to the trip meter, not part of the actual gauge itself. If the speedo is bouncing on and off I would suspect a bad connection or ground. There are plenty of threads about cleaning grounds and checking connections. If the auto shift indicator is also failing it looks like a related connection problem.

Of course, other related problems could be:

• faulty speed sender on transaxle (unit or connections)
• wiring fault (sender to cluster)
• speed sender drive shaft broken
• dry solder joints on the speedo circuit board, and so on...

The speedo is not connected via the DME, however, the tacho is.

[rhett]

Originally Posted by RedBaron

Check the connection at the transaxle.

Just here.....




Hope that helps..

[jamess2]

Next time it dies gently wiggle the ignition switch... if it starts working then the electrical part of the ignition switch is bad. I had an s2 that would do this I could wiggle the key and it would start working.

[Gawernator]

Hey so the transmission is silver under all the dirt LOL

[mueller944s2]

Originally Posted by Gawernator

Hey so the transmission is silver under all the dirt LOL

A silver tranny is just a myth!

[mueller944s2]

Originally Posted by rhett

The speedo 'plastic gear' is part of the motor drive to the trip meter, not part of the actual gauge itself. If the speedo is bouncing on and off I would suspect a bad connection or ground. There are plenty of threads about cleaning grounds and checking connections. If the auto shift indicator is also failing it looks like a related connection problem.

Of course, other related problems could be:

• faulty speed sender on transaxle (unit or connections)
• wiring fault (sender to cluster)
• speed sender drive shaft broken
• dry solder joints on the speedo circuit board, and so on...

The speedo is not connected via the DME, however, the tacho is.

I don't have the auto shift indicator. Of course my speedo worked perfectly yesterday, I wasn't late for anything....