Spedo needle breakage

[stevetx2002]

I've had 2 spedo needles break off in the past year. Before I replace another speedo, I was wondering if there could be any other cause other than old, brittle parts. The needle would start spining a full 360 then break off from hitting the peg. Any ideas?

[c.d.iesel]

it's the ground water in texas ?

what ever is wrong with that car is still wrong.

never heard of that in my 41 years of motor fixin.

[ray_]

I broke one -- in 1988.

Not at all unheard of. If it were me, I'd send itto NH Speedometer for refurb.

Cheers,

[Mike Self]

I've repaired them by splinting on the back side with a thin wood strip (cut down toothpick) epoxied in place.

But that's not the problem. If your speedo needle suddenly goes wild and starts oscillating all the way around the scale and then back, it's a problem with the eddy current magnets inside the speedo. It's not a difficult repair, just takes a little time and patience.

I did a column on how to fix this; drop me an e-mail and I'll send you a copy.

cheers

mike

[M3M3]

i hope they aren't that fragile....mine gets pegged all the way around past 125mph on track every lap. has not broken yet! :-)

where does it break?

[stevetx2002]

In both cases, the needle broke off near the base/hub.

[M3M3]

interesting. hopefully Mike's article applies and you can get the underlying issue resolved.

[Kpeters]

I've never heard about this before, I had something similar happen with my E21 when we ran it real hard and it went of the scale. After that it was all wobbly but took it out and passed the needle over the pin where it rest and that did it. I've never seen a needle breaking or falling off without human interference.

[Preyupy]

If the gauge is jumping around it is usually the speedo cable trying to bind, it sticks and then snaps ahead. Disconnect it at both ends and try to turn the cable with your fingers, if you can't or you feel it does not run smooth that is most likely your problem.

[bam2002]

Does any one know of a shop that can fix the speedometer itself?

Mine doesnt start working untill 60 mph and the needle bounces.

I did a search and found the threads on how to fix the odometer. but not the speedo itself. Is fixing the MPH portion a DYI job or is special equipment needed?

[M3M3]

http://www.nhspeedometer.com/

north hollywood speedometer does great work. can completely rebuild vdo speedos and calibrate them to your diff/tire combo. they come back looking brand new.