Spedo cable replacement
 

New member to the group (first posting) - thanks to Phil Skuse for pointing me this way...

TECH QUESTION: :confused:

My spedo seems to be more than a little eratic (jumping all over the place). In other cars I have owned this has been due to a faulty spedo cable.

I would really appreciate any advise on how to get to it so that I can check it.

(I usually just go down to my local dealer, but they have bled me dry lately thanks to a leaky air-con unit.)


Also... if any London based owners ever get together, I would really like to meet up. I know about the cruise to the Midlands but can't make it due to Stag Do... mine (would be rude not to turn up).

A

Re: Spedo cable replacement
 

First of all, Ashley, congratulations on your upcoming nuptuals (that is if I'm getting the correct translation of "Stag do" on this side of the pond).

Let's hope that the cable is at fault. I have no diagrams of the speedo cable as it ajoins the "combination meter" but, here are some diagrams of the speedo as it adjoins the front differential.

In some cases, it's the speedo "driven gear" (show below). If that's the case, it's a real bugger, in that the trans needs to be dropped and separated in order to get to it. Of course, I'm merely supposing that the UK version of the SVX is similar to USDM in these respects. Here's the driven gear location:

Welcome on board Ashley, nice looking car. (wheels are on backwards)

It's a shame that you can,t make our meet this year, but maybe next time. There are a few members in the London area so I am sure you will be able to meet up with them soon.

Re: Spedo cable replacement
 

As from the others, welcome Ashley to the forum, and congrats on the upcoming.

Glad you are opting for the Stag night. A no show by you would be a non turn up for the bucks.:D :D

{Couldn't resist it.....}:)

Randy is right about the cable, it usually gets stripped at the gearbox end. Possibly your box was rebuilt, and the cable not put back 100% perfect. They tend to strip if not seated properly.

Joe:)

{Phil, Chris is up in London somewhere too, is he not??}

Speedo
 

Hi Ashley,

The SVX does not have the usual spinning steel cable with the squared off ends that you see in some other cars - it's an electronic unit.

A little cog in the gearbox drives "Speed Sensor #2", a magnet which rotates inside a coil and generates electrical pulses. It's a 5 volt square wave, the frequency of which is proportional to the speed of the car. In other words, pulses per second on the wire relates to miles per hour.

The wire from the sensor connects to a number of systems including Speedo, ECU, TCU, PAS, ABS, Cruise Control & Door Lock Controller.

As others have said, the most likely cause of the problem is the gear that drives the sensor.

IIRC, the sensor is buried somewhere under the big black air intake pipe at the back of the engine (front of the transmission case on the driver's side).

I think ChrisSVX lives in East London (Stratford?). We live near Uxbridge. I seem to remember someone else at last year's meet was from London too (groundeffectltd?).

Phil Skuse.

Wow - talk about a bunch of helpful people!!!:D :D

Thanks Randy, Andy, Jo and Phil for the input and good wishes on my upcoming lifelone comitment. (If you don't like a car you can sell it, if you don't like a wife...)


I was under the impression that the end of the line SVXs did not have the famous gearbox issues and as far as I am aware after 79,000m the gearbox on mine has never been rebuilt.

With this in mind (and the thoughts of someone as un-machanical as me having to take apart the gearbox to get the the driven meter or something else) I wonder whether I am best to explore the posibility of a loose connection somewhere between the spedo and the Speed Sensor. As the ECU, PAS and Cruise seem to work as normal I am inclined to think that if it is an electronic problem it may be right up at the spedo end...

Does this seem logical? And if so, where might these loose connection be? :confused: :confused:

Also, if any London based people want to get together for a drink let me know. I think the Ace Cafe in Wembley has a Jap night once a month. Maybe we could meet there? Maybe I should start a new post?

Thanks again to everyone for their input!

Speedo removal
 

If you really want to remove the speedo and examine it then you have to be really careful - it's easy to break and expensive to replace.

First you have to gently lever out the two switch panels either side of the steering column and undo the four screws underneath. Then you have to remove three screws from above the combination meter. You should be able to pull out the fake wood surround.

Then remove four screws holding the combination meter in place and tilt it forwards from the top to get it out.

The combination meter is held together by springy plastic tabs, but IIRC there's a couple of screws on the back to undo first.

Then you have to pull the needle off - DON'T DO THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE TO BECAUSE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET IT BACK ON IN THE SAME ORIENTATION.

First lift the needle over the stop peg and allow it to come down below zero. Then place a bit of masking tape under it and mark where the needle rests. Finally pull the needle off and remove the speedo face.

I can dig out the connection diagram and give you the pin number of the speed wire if you need it.

Phil.

Welcome, welcome.......
 

to another UK member. I wonder how close to the original 300 we can get allowing the "greys" to subsitute for the lost cars of the original number ?? Just a thought.........

As far as I am aware our (read Angies) '96 hasn't had a transmision overhaul either. One of my thoughts on this is that we simply don't get the long hot periods of weather that our US and Aussie cousins do, so the poor transmission cooling doesn't cook our trans fluid so much. Just a thought.

Seems ours (sic) has reached the same point in life, Angie had to have a hose repaired and the AC re-gassed this spring, and having done the near side rear bearing last year the offside one is crying for mercy now......... Oh well, I've just ordered some Phillips Vision lamps for the dip beam so we report on improvement.

I'm back in the UK for a bit now so all things being equal and Angie's shift patten allowing we'll be at the meet in a couple of weeks.

Phil. (the other one !!)

Hope to see you there Phil.

I believe that we have a gearbox rather than the US tranny so we are bound to have fewer problems :D

Not taking any chances so I have just had an ATF change plus a filter and cooler fitted. Plan to be here for the long haul.

Thanks to Phil (once again) for helping me sort this... although it was really cool to see how many people responded to my very first post with all kind of advice!;) ;)

Using Phil's instructions I took out the Combination Meter. For those who don't know (just like I didn't until very recently) the whole thing plugs into three big multi-pin plugs at the back. These go into sockets in the meter which are lined with flimsy, circuit board style, plastic connectors. Well, one of the connectors had, quite bizarely, got folded up on itself so I guess that it was prone to momentarily disconnect a couple of the connections once in a while.

All sorted now!

Thanks everyone!!!

:cool:

Thanks Ashley.

Good to know what solved this.

You have just given me an idea.:eek:

We could use another folder and link in our navigation list up top. We could call it "Problems Solved."

The list would have a number of problem symptoms, listed alphabetically. Yours would read like this:

Symptom:

Flickering and erratic speedo needle, sometimes not reading

Suggested Causes:

Worn speedo drive in tranny, bad connection between tranny speedo drive and combination meter[clock], bad connection to combination meter

Actual cause:

Damaged connection at back of combination meter housing.

Owner:

P2SVX

What do you think?? I would say many an owner has gone through a trouble-shooting regime to solve simple problems. If the problems and solutions were archived, new owners with problems {or Old owners with problems:) } could check up quickly if another member had soved the riddle.

Would be useful for things like bearing failure and brake shudder, which regularly vex unsuspecting owners.

Joe;) :)

Joe,

That's a great idea, I know it would help a lot of people here and save on endlessly searching over the whole forum for possible clues to problems.

In fact, I have one to add to yours that I learned the hard way that would be of special help and interest to Ashley.....

Symptom:

No time or money to spend on SVX.

Cause:

Wife, mortgage, kids, shopping, gardening and decorating.

Solution:

Stay bleedin' single. :D


Ashley,

Best of luck with the forthcoming splicing. But remember, a single man is just a man who hasn't made the same mistake once!!! :D

Glenn

Joe - stunning idea! Would really help out newbies like me!;)

Glen - Thanks Mate... you don't know how hard it is hanging on to the SVX at the moment. Within the next month I will have paid for a 120 guest wedding and completed on our first home (and property in London is just insane, price-wise)!!!:( :( :( :( :(

(Dont' tell anyone else (?) but a few weeks back I had been seriously thinking about parting company with it. You will even still find it advertised on the Exchange & Mart website. I am holding off though - quite simply because you guys have given me such a renewed enthusiasm for the car!)

Now Glenn

What this archive is for is sorting out SV X problems, not the other kind!:rolleyes: :D

I have already suggested the Problems Sorted archive to Earl on the Technical site, so we will see how he responds. Earl is great for putting in informative stuff.

You lads are new to this, but I know if I thought about it for a while, I could come up pretty quick with a dozen problems and subsequent fixes. That's what the Forum is for, sharing information and helping people.

And advising them about marriage and stuff.......:D

Joe:)