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MG MGA - Speedo Died

Well before I added the graphite I took the car out for a quick spin (the weather here on Long Island is just perfect today!). Speedo working fine, then I noticed the trip odo wasn't moving so I tried turning the adjusting knob as I drove. About that time the speedo dropped to zero - not sure if there is a cause/effect here, but the timing was pretty close. Currently it will sometimes work up to about 20 mph, then redrop to zero. Still nothing from the trip odo.

Any suggestions before I tear the whole unit apart?

- Ken
Ken Doris

Ken,
I wish I had read your previous post before you drove the car. It is a very bad idea to run a speedo that has been that hasn't been run for that many years without disassembling and lubricating it. The grease solidifies over time and driving it can strip the fiber gears that drive the odometer. It might be just a cable problem, but I suspect it needs at least a complete disassembly and cleaning and lube. Here is an article if you want to try it yourself. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rhodes/speedo.pdf

Jeff

Jeff Schultz

Thanks Jeff - I now have the speedo out and apart, although getting the trip odo reset shaft up far enought was almost impossible. Looking at the gears it seems nothing is stripped so I'm not going to disassemble everything - seems from that article you pointed me to that it's pretty easy to damage the return spring and other delicate items. I'm just going to carefully clean everything I can see/reach and put it back together. If that doesn't work I'll have to take it further to a full tear-down.

I'll post the results to the board as soon as I have them.

- Ken
Ken Doris

Whilst damaged gears can stop the odo from working the speedo itself is a simple magnetic coupled device that rarely fails. With that in mind the problems sounds like the cable was not located properly either at the gearbox end or the speedo.
Bob (robert)

Well, I put it all back together and it definitely did need the cleaning/oiling. Took about a 10 mile ride, speedo working fine, until the last part on a very bumpy road. The reading became erratic and finally went down to zero. At each stop sign it would come back for awhile, then die. I took it apart one more time to see if anything came loose, but all was fine. Hooked it back up and went up and down the block and it works OK.I now believe Bob is on the right track. I'm out of energy now, but ny next check will be to see if the cable is seated fully at the transmission, or perhaps the cable itself is broken and it's just the two ends at the break that hook up, then slide, etc.
- Ken
Ken Doris

Ken - I have heard somewhere not to reset your trip odo while moving, don't know if true but not worth finding out. Gary
gary starr

Ken,

Before you fiddle with the cable, check the archives regarding the amount of cable that protrudes into the gauge. If I recall correctly, it should be no more than 1/4 - 3/8 inch. any longer and it will tear up the gears.

Regards,
joe
Joe Cook

This thread was discussed between 17/04/2005 and 19/04/2005

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.