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wibbly wobbly speedo


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how smooth should an early 110 mechanical speedo be?

mine is pretty wobbly up to about 30, a fair waggle of the needle. i replaced the spedo cable last summer after it became incredibly wobbly and then snapped ( i think it was the original).

i assumed whatever friction caused the old wobble before it snapped would be cured by the new cable, but it is not and is now annoying me a bit.

would it be caused by a dodgy britpart cable or should i be checking the cable run thoroughly to make sure it is free from kinks or sharp turns or something?

how smooth can i realistically expect the needle to move?

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I believe it should be smooth.

Mine has a break in the cable connector right behind the speedo and it's "wobbly" below 30....

I'd suggest checking for kinks as you say, and make sure the connector hasn't subsequently been broken on yours.. Sounds like a cable not running smooth.

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Guest diesel_jim

I'm not sure of the 90/110 transfer boxes are similar to the old series ones, but on those, if the pinion nut was loose, it would cause the speedo drive gear to slip and make the needle wobble around.

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They get old and knackered. I replaced mine with a TD5 electronic speedo, no cable to route and rock solid needle. Splendid :)

Mo :i-m_so_happy:

Mo, what do you need (parts) & need to do to fit the Td5 Speedo?

Cheers

Brett

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Guest diesel_jim
Mo, what do you need (parts) & need to do to fit the Td5 Speedo?

Cheers

Brett

I'm about to do this on my 90 and have the bits here in work, so i'll answer for Mo:

you need a speedo head, the transducer (mounts onto the transfer box) and some 3 core cable to join the two together.

12v ignition feed, 12v permanent feed (to keep the speedo memory battery charged).

the moulded plug on the transducer happens to be the same as the 3 pin plug for the later (300/Td5) defender brake lights! so you can just chop and solder on som extra wire, and use one of those.

speedo: YBC101520

transducer: YBE100530

and if you wanted to buy the Td5 harness to the ECU and butcher it about:: AMR5725

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That's great Jamie, my speedo retainers have broken off & I was thinking if fitting a Td5 electronic one was possible on a older vehicle, another mod to add to the list,

just one more question how do I get it to read 387000 + miles so the new shows same as the old cable driven unit ????

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Further to Jim's answer, to save having to chop a TD5 harness up, you can make a plug for the back of the speedo from 2 radio plugs glued end to end and then cut down. As Jim says the transducer plug is the NAS type which you can buy singly on Ebay :)

My conversion was christened on our Pyrenees trip and it was nice not to have to average the speed from the flickering needle.

Another thing I noticed is that the speedo was spot on to the gps with 255/85r16 and a green speedo drive. :)

Ralph, A search should show some companies that will zero or change mileages on electronic speedos.

Any progress Jim, on the lights, I'm chomping at the bit here ;)

Mo

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Guest diesel_jim
just one more question how do I get it to read 387000 + miles so the new shows same as the old cable driven unit ????

Crikey! it would be quicker to start from a million and count back! :D:D

seriously though: i was working (but not finished :rolleyes: ) on a pulsing circuit, to pulse at a speed the same as doing 120mph. that would make life easier to work out how long it would take to roll the clock forward. in Ralphs case, 387000/120=3225 hours!! (134 full 24hour days!)

i don't know of a way to interrogate the speedo to force a milage into it, i'm sure some of the more untrustworthy car dealers would know how to.... :ph34r:

Any progress Jim, on the lights, I'm chomping at the bit here

nah, not yet.

Edited: i Just sent an email to Speedograph-richfield to see if they can adjust the electronic units.

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Guest diesel_jim

I got a reply from speedograph;

I do not know much about the Newer Td5 Electronic speedos as we specialise in the Mechanical ones,so I cannot say if there is a quick way of ADDING mileage to them or not.

Sorry I cannot help you with your question.

Regards

Tim

Looks like we'll have to make the pulse unit... or a mains drill! :D

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I got a reply from speedograph;

I do not know much about the Newer Td5 Electronic speedos as we specialise in the Mechanical ones,so I cannot say if there is a quick way of ADDING mileage to them or not.

Sorry I cannot help you with your question.

Regards

Tim

Looks like we'll have to make the pulse unit... or a mains drill! :D

Cheers for that Jamie, top man for finding out :D I may just leave it at zero & just keep the running total in my mileage/fuel log book, that way at least I can prove the mileage if required :D

next job to source a Td5 speedo & transducer for the transfer box. :i-m_so_happy: Hmmm my mate Earl has a nice new Td5 I could pinch the bits off :ph34r::hysterical: he might not be very happy if I do that :angry2:

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Guest diesel_jim
I'm going to keep a lookout on ebay & LR mags & our classifieds here for one. :D

I bought a complete Td5 dash pod at Billing a year or 2 back for £40, complete will all the guages and speedo. that large stall, near the toilets, chappie called Nick (got a bad scar on his face), normally have lots of body panels 'n' stuff.

Lumsden LR's? he lives up bedford way, i've got his number if anyone wants to try.

I've had the speedo working on the bench at work, but i'll do a "proper" article for the tech folder.

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Mo &/or Diesel Jim ---

on the speedo electrical plug connections which pins do I need to use ----

1. to connect the transducer signal & power/earth to ? [see photo of connections below]

2. for the speedo lighting ? [or is it easier to just use the existing bulb holders in the new speedo's bulb tunnels]

post-20-1182451823_thumb.jpg

Edited by western
photo added
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It's not that clear on rave. i'll look at the dash i've got at work tomorrow and get the pin numbers Ralph.

Cheers Jamie, one the back of mine [in picture] it's only got A to left of the upper row of pins & B on the lower row, I can't see any numbers/idents for the small spade terminals, I'm thinking of using the small red female srades as used on car stereo speakers to make the connections at the speedo end & the correct plug for the transducer when I can get that bit.

I've found it in my RAVE disk & it's as clear as mud.

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