speedometer

[MVincken]

Hi all,

I´m having problems with my speed-o-meter.
sometimes it drops to 0 while driving
when i gently tap the cluster most of the times it jumps back to the speed i´m doing, and sometimes it jumps for a moment and then drops again back to 0.
sometimes it works perfect without dropping, and sometimes it doesn´t work at all...
I recently swapped my old cluster with this new 318is cluster, and afterwards i´m having the problems.

myself i think it´s mostly because of a bad elektrical connection between the meter and the back-plate. i already tried to tighten up the connections but still no real succes.

could it be that i need to resolder the backplate? i´ve heard these solders break of old age, or can something else be the problem?

i dont think it´s the speed sensor on the diff, because the speed meter reacts when i tap on the cluster.


Perhaps somebody here had the same problem in the past and knows a solution?
Thanks in advance.

[101]

I have the same issue on one of my cars. I believe it's either in the connection between the speedo and the back plate - or a loose connection within the speedo itself. I've swapped my cluster into another car and know for sure the issue is NOT the differential sensor or the wiring, and like your issue, a gentle tap on the instrument cluster case brings it back to life.

Do you have a VDO or Motometer cluster? If your car is fitted with a cruise control - does the cruise control stop working along with the speedo? Does the odometer stop working when the speedo stops working? Those answers may help narrow down the problem.

I'm going to pull my cluster and have Greg (Bavarian Restoration) look into it.

[MVincken]

No cruisecontrol, and i believe vdo. but don´t know for certain (i have 2 clusters lol)

and i haven´t got the odo meter running yet (recently swapped the engine)

i´m thinking about sending my 2nd cluster to him, or an equal company here in germany to restore it. but honestly i rather spend the 250-300 euro on different parts atm

*edit: Before i only swapped the speedmeter to my old back-plate, and with that i had the problem almost everytime.
after that i swapped the meter back to the other backplate and that solved the problem (for a couple of weeks)

i´m also going to pull my cluster again this weekend, and have another look.