[RESOLVED] Speedometer Intermittent on 1G

[jmkoons]

My '91 Eagle Talon TSi FWD began to have speedometer problems right after a clutch installation. The speedo will read correct and steady speed when I'm accelerating, but quickly drop to 0 every time I let off on the gas. This symptom is quite repeatable. Sound familiar to anyone with a 1G?

Took it back to the dealer who did the install hoping it was their fault for bending the cable or breaking the mount at the transaxle and they would admit fault. No such luck so far.

I assumed this would most likely be a cable problem, as 1Gs have all mechanical speedometer linkage. I was told that a mechanic pulled the transaxle end of the cable, and wasn't able to turn a reading at the dash by spinning it manually. Since they had that end out, I will assume nothing out of the ordinary was spotted. The service manager tells me the next step was to open the dash panel, with a $300 minium labor job. Sounds completely insane - so I insisted that they replace the cable 1st, and ordered one through mitsubishiparts.com.

Can I assume that the cable replacement should be a relatively easy job so far as feeding it into the dash end? If they insist that taking the gauge cluster out is a $300 bill, there's no way I'm letting them touch anything. Thanks for any feedback on this. I'm really frustrated after paying a big labor and parts bill for a premature clutch failure - and now this.

 

[jdd1231]

Usually there's a plastic gear in the transmission that spins the cable.That usually goes first.

 

[juanpac0]

Just for the record removing the gauge cluster is a 10 minute job and easy as shit, $300 is ridiculous. WTF

 

[jdd1231]

Well lets get this straight.

Speedometer worked,you had the clutch replaced,now it doesn't?

They had to remove the speedo cable to drop the tranny. They are on the hook here,don't let them off.

 

[newTSIguy]

i agree with jdd1231, its their fault if it worked when you took it in, and it does not work now. i used to work at a dealership, trust me if you bi*** and gripe enough they will fix the problem at no cost, you just cant let them take advantage of you

 

[kchaazz]

I have had a couple broken speedo cables myself and know what youre going through. Pop the hood and go to the passenger side of the car. Look down at the top of the tranny, toward the firewall, near and to the left of the bell housing. You should be able to see where the speedometer cable hooks into the transmission. You will see a round, knurled nut, with the cable coming out of the nut. You can sometimes loosen this by hand, but pliers will work just fine if its too tight. So, once you unscrew this, you can gently pull the cable straight up to remove it from the trans. at the end of the cable, you will have a cylindrical piece of metal fastened to the cable which has a little tab on it. This is what the transmission uses to spin the cable.
Chances are that the mechanics kinked the cable or were otherwise rough with it and this piece has broken off the end of the cable, or it was just worn and the removal and reinstallation finished her off, or, if the cable looks good, then one of the previous posters was correct in assuming that the little drive gear for the cable inside the tranny is worn. I thik that its got to be your cable, though, because you didnt have this problem until the cable was messed with.

 

[jmkoons]

Thanks to everyone for the info. The cable I've ordered is on backorder, if it does come in at all. I was insistent about the timeline of events and the failure mode, getting the message to the service rep that I didn't accept going into the dash as the next logical step. He kicked this up to the dept. service mgr., who I later spoke to and backed me up on the fact that this didn't make for proper troubleshooting.

Especially telling is how the transmission was able to drive the gear when it was being pushed (works when giving it gas), but not when coasting (disengaged when letting off). They're going to diagnose whatever the problem is w/o additional charges. I haven't pulled the cable from the gearbox, as I want to keep this in their hands for now as a possible damaged install issue. The tab on the cable may have been ready to break, but I'd rather put it to them to convince me they didn't do anything wrong when I had a working speedometer before they went to work. Also found they left my upper IC pipe loose, which I luckily figured out was the reason for the bad miss under boost that I started having.