Speedometer Noise

Hi! On a long (cold) trip this weekend my speedometer needle suddenly turned all the way around to 200 kph, got stuck there and started making a high pitched whirring noise in the front of the car. It seemed to improve the next day, but now at around 60-70 kph, the needle swings over to around 120-160 kph, fluctuates there, and the noise begins again. Does this sound like a cable problem or a speedometer head problem? I need to know what to order to get it fixed. Thanks! v v

Vicki,

I hate to say it but that sounds like the Speedo itself, not the cable. Other than lubrication of the cable and making certain the cotter pin is in the cable at the wheel end of the cable there is not much else that will suddenly do anything involving the cable short of breaking. And none of those things would give you the symptom you are having. There is one thing to check I guess and that is how far the cable goes into the speedo housing itself. It can cause some goofy problems if it goes in too far.... in my case I could feel the cable bottom out in the speedo, so I took a grinder and ground off about 1/8" of the squared end of the cable. It no longer bottomed out.

But, none of that sounds like your problem, just something to check to be sure. Sounds like a trip to Palo Alto Speedo or someplace similar is in the offing....

sorry!

Vicki....Had a VW with a similar problem. The bearings in the speedo crapped out, allowing the internal pieces to drag....At low speed the drag vanished, and the speedo would work again. (Until the next speed run.)

If You need a speedo, I have a spare....The face colors don't match my guages...(black and green on the spare)

If I can help let me know...

The funny thing is, when I put on my iPOD headphones, that funny noise goes away. v

Funny how that works.....Best wishes....

Vicki, It's been a long time, how are you doing???

Hey, LJ! I haven't been on the website in a while because, thankfully, I've not had trouble with Spydie in a long, long time. This car is the most amazing thing! I have almost 30,000 miles on it and it runs so well and is so much fun. I've also had back surgery (twice--I had a major complication and the surgeon had to open me up again--ouch), so I was out of commission for a long time. I was totally OUT of my car for over 2 months. :-(
(I know it sounds like I'm the most unhealthy person in the world with the leukemia relapse and now back surgery, but I promise I'm mending and hopefully can start running and lifting again really soon.)

About the speedo, Russ R. said I should disconnect the cable from the speedo head and see if the noise stops; if so, it's the speedo head making the noise. I think that's what he said. He has both cable and speedo in stock so either way I'm covered.

Our winter has been really mild over here. How are you doing?
v v

Doing well, been busy fixing SPyders and Speedsters and enjoying retirement. Just had my 60th on 1-27 and hard to believe, I've been retired for 5 years.

Regarding your speedometer. Russ is correct. The speedo cable connects to the back of the speedo via a large knurled nut. Unscrew the nut and pull the cable towards the front of the car and it will disconnect. If the noise persists, then have Dave install a new cable. It connects to the front left wheel dust cover via a "clip" or a cotter key. Remove the clip/cotter key and pull the cable from the inside of the wheel spindle towards the center of the car and it will remove. He may have to remove the dust cover to reinstall the cable back into the small square hole in the dust cover.

Missed you Vicki! 30,000 miles - you ROCK! Take care of yourself, it sounds like you've had a rough go but are on the mend.

angela