Speedometer suddenly stopped working

[Max_Alloy]

I was driving my 88 XR on the freeway and I heard a soft click and my speedometer (and naturally the odometer) completely stopped working. Now I hear a soft chirping/clicking sound that is proportional to wheel revolution as I drive. What happened? Speedo cable disconnected? Or failed and needs replacement? Or is it the speedometer? No other mechanical issues at all.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

May be the plastic gears in the speedo itself, or the plastic ring clip that holds the cable into the speedo. If that is not inserted tightly it will make some noise while the speedo reads zero mph. I have had those ring clips disintegrate in my hand. Anyone know a good source for a replacement?

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

My friend that I work on old cars with for a hobby has the same issue with a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis. He has changed parts in the dash and in the trans but not able to figure out the problem. I gave him a Garmin GPS III to use as it is an excellent speedometer with a good readout, cheap on ebay and it also shows the elevation as you are driving around. That might be interesting for you considering the terrain around where you are. They are old so they are not up to date about local road changes but they have a great readout for the GPS position without needing to be on a network like a cell phone. They also show time driven, time sitting, average speeds and could be used as an odometer for gas mileage readings.

I bought three, gave one to my friend and use one constantly for driving entertainment of sorts. One of them had been used on a motorcycle and they retain the highest speed driven unless you reset it. One had 162 mph as its speed retained. Must have been on a one liter sportsbike or larger. I like them for camping use as well since they are waterproof and can be used with AA batteries or with a car power cable. They are extremely accurate for speed readout and show 1/10th mph variations in speed such as 65.4 mph. Just a thought for a workaround if you can't fix yours.

Cheers

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Actually those plastic gears look like they only run the odometer and trip odometer. The needle goes off the round metal part behind the face. Mine was working and now it is not so I may be using this one below on my own car.