Speedo fault

[chris H]

Hi all

First off, car details. its a 2003 1.1 petrol look.

Over the last few months my car speedo has had its ups and downs in terms of performance and accuracy.
initially, the speedo needle was not a smooth action, but would still show the speed (at about 4 mph to slow). Eventually, after long runs, the speedo would go crazy, such as showing my resting speed as 25mph, not move at all, or simply show my speed in increments of 10 mph.

this has gone on until today, in the hot weather, the speedo is at zero aand does not want to work.

All the other dials on the dashboard work fine, infact I have been juddging my speed using the RPM which is always spot on with the sat nav....

I Heard the speed sensors on the gearboxes are to blame for this, but would like your opinions and experience.

No doubt the next time I get in the car it will work again...for about 5 minutes.

[Capncol]

I would think speed sensor or dash fault. Speed sensor is easiest to change.

[chris H]

Im about to try and locate the thing on my gearbox and clean it up. Im terrible at this sort of thing though ha. giving the dashboard a tap seems to jolt it, but never onto the correct speed.

[Capncol]

Speed sensor at the back of gearbox, just above where the offside driveshaft exits. You will see the plug quite easily..

[chris H]

well I took the plug out.

Turns out that was a bad move as this fluid leaked all down my arm before i could react...oops. Anyway I decided to keep the plug in and clean the terminals on the other side with it connected.

the needle arm is smoother now but still miles from target.

p.s about this fluid, is it an utter disaster I lost a bit of it? I only lost 200-300ml of it, probably because the plug POPPED out instead of smoothly coming out.

[chris H]

Additional;

it is probably because my car was jacked on the near side that the oil came out...