Speedometer Just Stopped????

[donerehart]

This is my first Fiat. I have had my car working for a month and the speedometer just stopped. Where should I start to figure out what is wrong? Thanks so much for your help!
Don

[Fi8spider]

Hi Don, you can break it down into 3 basic areas. Speedo drive, speedo cable, speedo head.
Speedo drive. last place to look, quite reliable.
Speedo head...um highly unlikely, but have been known to fail due to excessive oil working up the speedo cable from over lubricated cables.
Speedo cable. Could be snapped, seized (which would make it snap anyway), or the connection to the speedo drive or speedo head has come loose.
Have you done any work to the car recently that could have kinked the cable maybe?

[TX82FIAT]

If you replace the speedo cable. Common. Take note of the year for the type screa on or snap on at the speedo. They both screw on to the drive at the transmission. Be carefult to align the cable and the little rubber inside the cable. A lot of cars leak after a cable replacement because the little rubber gasket on the cable gets pinched. Fi8spider is on point with the need to figure out what bucket the problem falls into before ordering parts.

[donerehart]

Here is the only thing I have done lately: replace tranny fluid/gasket, bypass heater core. I don't know how either would have affected the cable... The cable was replaced several months ago by a mechanic. Is it common for them to break so quickly?

[So Cal Mark]

should last alot longer than that. He may not have gotten the cable tight on the speedo head

[TulsaSpider]

Mine just stopped as well but it's the push on kind and they tend to simply slide off. it's on my list...

[donerehart]

Thanks for the input...I will get into the panel on Friday to check it out. Has anyone tried making their own inner cable bought from auto store? Is it worth even trying, or should I just bite the bullet with a whole new cable replacement?

[Fi8spider]

Yes I have done a few, some of which have travelled thousands of km's since, you will find these kits are fine for the job. Save yourself some $$ and spend it on your next service instead.

Tip 1: Dont cut it longer than it needs to be as a longer inner will only lead to premature failure, and will also make fitment a real pain. Before cutting, dont forget to take into consideration the length of the knurl supplied in the kit.

Tip 2: If the outer cable insulation is damaged get some electrical heat shrink onto it and fix it so no contaminants get in again. If the metal reinforcement under the insulation is damaged, total replacement is needed.

Tip 3: when crimping the knurl onto the inner cable with the crimping tool supplied, get someone to help you, you'll need at least 3 hands.

Tip 4: lubricating the inner cable is fine, don't drown it.

have fun.

[donerehart]

Thanks for the tips FI8Spider!

[TX82FIAT]

It's been a little while since I ordered a speedo cable. if it is the cable, then they only cost about $15 - $20 bucks with no real frustration.

[Fi8spider]

Wow thats cheap! I gues LHD ones are more abundant and hence more affordable, us guys driving on the other side of the road are use to modifying cables.

The advantage of just doing the inner you need not have to pull the outer cable out (unless the outer is damaged too), its done in situ, you can remove and replace it all from the speedo head end.

Either way it's an easy job.

have fun.

[azruss]

A RH speedo cable....is that anything like a LH crescent wrench or a RH windshield.

[Fi8spider]

hahaha...azruss, I was going to let that one go but I feel that my experience is being tested.
..have you ever converted a Fiat 124 spider(s) from LHD to RHD? It's really interesting how much you get to learn about the genius behind the Fiat 124 design when carrying out conversions.

I've personally have never been able to configure a LHD (US) speedo cable into a RHD (AUS) spider with ease. You can use it but you have to fit the gauges and panel into the dash less the tacho so you can get your hand in behind to screw to speedo cable on to the speedo head...or if your hands are small enough (mine aren't) you come in from under the dash.

As 124 spiders were never made in RHD but the coupes were, I use a RHD Fiat CC coupe speedo cable when doing these conversions as they are longer by about 150mm or so, I end up pulling less hair out this way.

Anyway the speedo and dash is easy to convert when compared to converting the pedal box and brake booster over to RHD.

Either way this is not helping the key purpose of this thread, sorry for the diversion donerehart. Hope you sort it out soon..

[donerehart]

What is the trick to getting the Speedometer Cable out of the Firewall? How do you reseal it on the Firewall? Thanks so much, it should be so simple, but never seems to be!

[Fi8spider]

The cable should have a concertina boot on it, this boot has a grommet groove on one end of it where it gets pushed and secured into the bulkhead hole. No glue or sealant needed.