Speedo not working

[Nhj23]

I've only been on the road a week and I've covered about 50 miles the speedo has only worked on 2 occasions and registered 4 miles , also I don't know what speed item going. do I need need a new cable,

Nigel

[Chris P]

You need a GPS speed app on your smart phone! That what I have as a standby.

The speedo system is not one of the finest bits of engineering in the world, but it can be keep working with a bit of care and attention.

Personally i'd start by jacking up the NS front wheel, and work my way 'up hill' from there. It could be the plastic cap worn on the inside square, ( it could even be the plastic cap rotating in its hole) it could be the the extended drive that connects from the angle drive to into the cap. It could be the angle drive its self, it could be the various cables that connect it up to the speedo its self. It COULD be the speedo head, but that is very unlikely.

Further investigation needed, preferably with a friend to keep watch on the speedo as you muck about below. …If he's a good friend with with some mechanical knowledge ……let him faff about on his knees and you watch the speedo from the comfort of the driving seat!

Remember, its a 35 year old classic car…..it will go wrong occasionally.

Good luck.

[TheOriginalMrP]

Hi Nigel.

As Chris said! ^^^

I don't think the upper or lower cable are at fault as if either were broken they would not start working again intermittently.

More than likely an angle drive issue.

They (apparently) need to be cleaned and oiled regularly to keep them going long term, as do rear quarter electric aerials....

Once they are broke there is usually no repair, only replacement.

Keep an eye on the lambda counter though, as there could be an intermittent fault there, though it's unlikely.

Hope this helps...

[Chris Williams]

As suggested, if it's intermitant it's 'probably' item no: 18 in this picture. Or you may need to wrap some tape around the outside of the plastic cap to stop the cap turning in the middle of the wheel.
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
Chris

[88mph]

Chris P Wrote:Remember, its a 35 year old classic car…..it will go wrong occasionally.

My VW is 30 years old. In 10 years of ownership the speedo has never stopped working, but then that is German engineering! :wink: :lol:

[Chris P]

The engineers really struggled to find a way to sort out the speedo drive, in the short time they had available.

The result was to use a rev counter g/box as previously used on many 1950's and 60's British motorbikes….extend the drive and there you go. It was made by Smiths industries who supplied most of the UK motor bike manufacturers . The difference being that on the motorbikes it was designed to be mounted on the cam covers by the bikers knee and was getting nice clean oil from the engine to keep it lubricated. Not fitted amongst all the muck down by the front wheel.

The Germans had been building their VW cars since 1933, so probably had ironed the bugs out of the systems during the next few decades. The DeLorean engineers had a bit less time.

[88mph]

Hmmmmmm, with a 1970's VW speedo, the design is efficient simplicity itself, cable is turned directly by the bearings grease cap & it works for 100's of 1000's of miles. Costs about £30 to change the one moving part, the cable.
To try adapting motorcycle parts seems abit strange. Where did they get the front hubs/assembly from?
I guess the quirkiness of a D is part of the appeal.

[Darren C]

Karl,
The Delorean speedo is driven just the same by a square hole in the bearing grease cap. Unfortunately they over complicated it by putting in an angle drive which is basically a worm & wheel (in a sealed box you cant get into without damaging it) to turn the drive cable through 90 degrees behind the wheel hub, and change the ratio at the same time. Then they added a gear box "counter" switch under the dash in line to make a light come on when you'd done X miles to remind you to change the Lambda sensor.
All this hardware even before the cable gets to the back of the speedo.
Most low mileage Deloreans I would guess are nothing of the sort, they've just been driven 30 years with broken angle drives :lol:

[88mph]

I suspected that too, most seem to state below 30k miles.
Could be abit awkward if you have limited mileage insurance.

[lukebrynycz]

Darren C Wrote:Most low mileage Deloreans I would guess are nothing of the sort, they've just been driven 30 years with broken angle drives :lol:

Really? Aw Darren, you've ruined my impression that there are so many sub 20k Deloreans out there ... :wink:

I'd personally take a Delorean with 60-80k on the clock, over one with genuine 15-20k miles anyway. All the major/usual components will have failed by then and it will last a lot longer, also likely have the uprated parts.

[lukebrynycz]

Back on topic. Mine was the same and it really was as simple as replacing the OEM plastic wheel cap with the upgraded metal nut version. As Chris said though, even those went out after a while as the metal nut began to spin inside the plastic. Someone needs to design an all metal version...maybe in stainless :lol:

[marwood82]

i had a problem with an intermittent speedo on mine.

it would initially not work, then if you went over a sufficiently large enough bump in the road it would suddenly kick in until you came to came to a complete stop
where upon it would then refuse to work again.

in the end i replaced the angle drive and it now works fine.



Simon.