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    Erratic speedometer

    I haven't been around in a while, too cold to work on the car and busy with other stuff...anyway...

    Yesterday my speedometer started acting up. From what I've found online, most failures are of the "working/not working" variety, and mainly caused by a failing speed sensor or damaged wire running from it to the dashboard. My problem is that the speedometer is working, but not reading properly. At low speeds, it reads way too low, when it always used to be a bit fast. At about "30" on the face, it starts to move unusually fast, then jumps straight from 50 to 60 (I can be doing 45 and it will say 60). Above 60 it settles down and works more normally. Going down, however, it sticks badly between 60 and 35 on the face - the needle will sit at 60, then shoot downwards when the speed drops down to around 30. It's been cold here, but the problems remain the same even when the car is well-heated from driving around for a while. I've never seen a gauge in any car act like this. Any ideas on what might be causing it, and how to repair the problem?

    #2
    voltage issues...

    i have bad connections at the sender... on the rear... and the dash cluster sometimes... (the cluster is temp related)

    off voltage.. short grounds.. bad grounds.. or the signal just outta range will cause the dash to read off....

    but i would suspect a sender b4.
    04 e83 X3
    01 e39 540M
    97 e36 328is


    Specializing In BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz, Porsche ,Volkswagen




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      #3
      And today, after three days of the exact same weird operation, it's back to normal. I'll check the sender and wiring back there. I know that the dash grounds need to be tightened, I have the normal weird issues with the fuel and temp gauges, and the illumination for the indicators on my headlight panel sometimes cuts out.

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        #4
        do your service interval indicator lights work? pretty common if the batteries leak for it to screw things up in the cluster

        '89 Alpine S52 with goodies

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          #5
          Originally posted by Adrian_Visser View Post
          do your service interval indicator lights work? pretty common if the batteries leak for it to screw things up in the cluster
          They work, but I've been meaning to change the batteries in there. I just haven't had the time or decent weather to yank the cluster. After the initial 3-day failure ended, the speedo has worked without a glitch, just as it did before the weirdness.

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            #6
            yah my speedo is starting to act up, my si batteries have been worn out for a long time. usually when its warmer out the speedo starts to act up sometimes it'll drop down about ten km/h and hover there once it stopped completely. since its been cold out i haven't had a problem.

            '89 Alpine S52 with goodies

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              #7
              The SI board has nothing to do with operation of the speedometer.
              The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
              Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL

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                #8
                riiigghht. the circuit for the speedo signal goes through the SI board on its way to the speedo head in the cluster most of the signals for the gauges in the cluster do.

                '89 Alpine S52 with goodies

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                  #9
                  I had the same problem with my speedometer. I removed it from the cluster and re-soldered all the joints on the circuit board. Problem solved! Good luck!

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