Speedometer Stopped Working!

Zoetoes
Zoetoes Posts: 2,496 Forumite
Help!

I was driving home yesterday and my speedometer stopped working, is it fixable?
If you're going to stalk me, while you're at it can you cut the grass, feed the dog & make sure I've got bread & milk in :D

Comments

  • ts_aly2000
    ts_aly2000 Posts: 566 Forumite
    Good question. Is it a car? How old is it?

    If it's a 1988 Fiesta then yes, a few quid. But if it's a 2001 Audi TT, wellll, let's call it a grand.
  • Zoetoes
    Zoetoes Posts: 2,496 Forumite
    Yes it's a car, 1997 Fiesta lol
    If you're going to stalk me, while you're at it can you cut the grass, feed the dog & make sure I've got bread & milk in :D
  • ts_aly2000
    ts_aly2000 Posts: 566 Forumite
    zoeleigh wrote:
    Yes it's a car, 1997 Fiesta lol

    Oh that'll be cheap then. Might even be a cable.

    There's two ways they do it. The original and older way is to have a solid rotating cable (bit like a bicycle brake cable) go into the back of the speedo. A rotating arm sits inside a disc thing and centrofugal force causes the needle to go up. Or something a bit like that..

    In newer cars. They have a magnet on the flywheel, and a hall effect sensor (a coil of wire) which is energised each time the magnet goes past. These 'pulses' are fed to a computer in the car, and gfuhslrjghlgsh, somewhere along the lines you end up with your speedo telling you how fast you're going. This approach also enables all these mpg calculators and alike since it's all so computerised.

    So then, if it's a 1997 Fiesta then you should be fine :) The later computerised speedos are an absolute nightmare to diagnose and fix, since nobody actually really knows how they work, apart from an engineer in Germany called Herman. Ask any garage, or anyone that's had these kind of problems. Herman was no where to be found, and the garage management keep on insisting they've met him and that he passed on his knowledge last time he was there.
  • pianeet
    pianeet Posts: 518 Forumite
    you could always buy a cheap gps speed camera detector like the original road angels as these give you your speed should get one for about £30 on ebay
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  • Mikeyorks
    Mikeyorks Posts: 10,377 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Only time that's ever happened to me - the little flat drive shaft had come out of the recess at the back of the speedo. Owing to the nut holding the cable end in place, having loosened. So, hopefully, it might just be a cable - or, even better - just tightening the nut again.
    If you want to test the depth of the water .........don't use both feet !
  • ts_aly2000
    ts_aly2000 Posts: 566 Forumite
    pianeet wrote:
    you could always buy a cheap gps speed camera detector like the original road angels as these give you your speed should get one for about £30 on ebay

    It'll fail an MOT without a working speedo. If the equipment is fitted it has to be functional.
  • pianeet
    pianeet Posts: 518 Forumite
    ts_aly2000 wrote:
    It'll fail an MOT without a working speedo. If the equipment is fitted it has to be functional.


    they do not check your speedo for an mot,your car never leaves the garage
    i have mot,d two cars in the past with broken speedos,and both have passed
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  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 19,538 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The car is run on rollers to do the braking test during an MOT.

    Anyway, should be simple to fix. If it's mechanical drive then either cable is knackered, or it's fallen off the back of the speedo. If it's electrical will be bad connection or knackered wire probably.
    Happy chappy
  • pianeet wrote:
    they do not check your speedo for an mot,your car never leaves the garage
    i have mot,d two cars in the past with broken speedos,and both have passed

    I think you should tell that to these people. This appears to centre more around the milage being recorded than the speed being reported. There's many more examples all over the net if you look;

    http://www.motester.co.uk/motquiz.html

    5. Your odometer failed when it registered 45063 miles, which was just after the last MOT. Would that result in an MOT failure?

    a) No, because the odometer is not part of the MOT.

    b) Yes, because the odometer must be working to record the accurate mileage for the MOT.

    c) Yes, because the odometer is connected to the speedometer, which must be working for the MOT.
  • Zoetoes
    Zoetoes Posts: 2,496 Forumite
    Thanks for the replies, got someone having a look at it today, it is a cable.

    I've got a sat nav with a speed camera detector in so I could have used that in the meantime.
    If you're going to stalk me, while you're at it can you cut the grass, feed the dog & make sure I've got bread & milk in :D
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