bouncy speedo

[ermie571]

Hello out there have just got my van back after having 2.1 fitted and have noticed that the speedo bounces up and down rather that sit at the speed it thinks its doing. the van was a 1.9 but had some serious problems when i got it as it only cost £100 was too good to miss the guy was going to use it as a shed if i didn't have it. the thing is almost rot free onlt the sill drivers side is dodgy, any way getting back to the subject, does any body know why it is doing this silly trick? cheers

[andysimpson]

try lubricating the cable if that does not work the speedo head is the problem.

[HarryMann]

Very often the speedo head itself, and then it packs up...
disconnect it and drive around a bit to see if you think the cable inner is spinning nice and smoothly, small chance its the curve in the cable, but only know about syncros, 2WD have a different drive off front wheel, syncros driven from front differntial

[ermie571]

tanks does this mean new cable or clock please bit of mech novice but happy to take advivce and learn

[Cate]

My old van had a speedo that bounced at certain speeds, the present van does to, been like that for several thousand miles now!

[excalibur]

Mine did that when I got it, then a week later stopped working altogether.

No idea what it is cos I havent bothered with it, never look at it anyway. Let me know what your problem is cos would be helpfull when I come to sell it to have it working

[Cate]

Mine stops sometimes, impact engineering usually sorts it out. One day I'll get round to sorting it, in SyncroSam's words....its on the list.

[DiscoDave]

mine does and has done since i've had it! tends to be at lower speeds! i put this down to being driven at low speeds more than fast in it's life time so i guess the low speed bits are worn out??? simple solution drive faster!!

[Cate]

I'll try that then.....

[HarryMann]

Mine did that when I got it, then a week later stopped working altogether.

Could try Cate's Impact Engineering but it usually requires a fair maiden's hand to effect instant fix, so as 2 of us above say its the Speedo head:-

Try Ian at SyncroNutz or CJ at SyncrosparesUK - take the number off the speedo below the odo readout and quote it (1/100th of revs miles or whatever)

More info on that speedo code here:-
http://194.242.159.246/brickyard/info/speedo.htm

[Flibbertigibbet]

Have you checked hub end......those square holes are a bugger to find...

[Tex Ritter]

If it 'ticks', learn to live with it...mine has done that since I got it...six years ago, Try oiling the inner cable, a bit of the grand kids 'play doh' to make a funnel from the speedo head end, some gear oil and 'Hey Presto' sorted ... for a while anyway.

In the good old days of my youth, a fluctuating speedo was the sign of an imminent inner cable failure, so be prepared...dib dib dib !

Tex Ritter

[HarryMann]

Its usually a sign the speedo head's about to go awol, certainly the syncro cables seem to spin amazingly freely after umpteen years.

[Horza]

How imminent is imminent? Mine has jumped at any speed below 40mph since I got it and the previous owner said it always had since he had it. Who needs a speedo below 40 anyway? Actually I could do with a new speedo this year for other reasons

[kathyshack]

Ours did this when we first got the van. I just used to take a best guess at the speed, -somewhere in the middle of where it was bouncing. It eventually stopped working alltogether on the way through the gates to vanfest 2004. Bought a new cable whilst we were there and then got the AA man to fit it for me on the way home. Needle is bob on now.