speedo question..... im new my first post!

[3ontheway]

Hi Everyone,

my girlfriend has just bought a mk1 cabrio, took it back to the shop to get the fuel gauge replaced, she has just picked it up tonight, when she was driving home she noticed that the speedo doesnt work anymore........

it did work before she dropped it off, im not in town at the moment so i cant check it out...

peeps would say ' take it back there ' which we may do although i want to make sure of things first (the place she bought it from are a pack of b...ds)

is this a common prob with the mk1's and is there something i should check before we take it back?

i know this is vague although im trying to help somehow

thanks again

Pete

[FJ Steve]

Welcome Pete,

Can you indicate where in Oz you are?
There are many helpful people here, who may point you in the direction of reputable repair shops.

[3ontheway]

thanks

we are in Annandale NSW (near sydney)
i will get on the phone to them tomorrow and have a few words although it may do more harm than good, we are both quite p*ssed actually.......

perhaps i should take out the dash and have a look, not too sure back there though,

i have a '76 kombi which pretty much all unscrews, would this be the same ??

[Jarred]

I take it by, "doesn't work anymore" it completely does work, even the odometer doesn't tick over.

It's possible the cable just isn't screwed in.

I know on earlier mk 1's (and i can't see the cabrio being different) the speedo is cable driven off the gearbox and it screws into the back of the dash.

I know my early cluster just "pulls" out (literally, a tug) I'm not sure with the later dash's. Again, I can't imagine it being radically different.

To fix, you just have to line up a little square rod that "locks" the inners of the cable into the speeedo part of the dash, and do up the screw on the outside of the cable (to hold it in place).

Hope this helps.

[FJ Steve]

Buggered if I know...my car was built this century.

Someone will be along soon who will help (I am sure).

[Peter Jones]

Jarred's right, they may have just forgotten to screw. the speedo cable back in.

Just reach up behind the speedo and feel around. The speedo cable is quite thick and screws into the back of the gauge. It will be pretty obvious if it's not there, there's no other connections directly behind the dial and the speedo cable connection is a threaded protrusion which can easily be felt for.

If it's not plugged you might might be lucky and find the cable while you're groping around, it won't be far away.

Otherwise grab a torch and take a peek up behind there and see if you can see what's going on.

Check that out first, the other possibilities will take a bit more explaining.

Pete

[Golf Loon]

Cable clips on, not screws like on earlier mk1s. You need small hands and long wrists. Hopefully they didnt break the inside off.

[gsand]

Every time i take my dash cluster out to do something, I forget to put the cable back in. It's an easy job to do but you do need thin loooong fingers.

The shop should have done it though, and it'll only take a second so drive back and get them to finish the job.

[gareth_oau]

even if they are a pack of B...ds, they must honour statutory warranties. Is the car under warranty? as a non-functioning speedo would be covered under that.

(Statutory warranties only cover safety and general operation of the car, not accessories. A good dealer will cover most things, but a ba..rd will not cover the accessories. however, a speedo is safety related and is covered)