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Hello! I've been browsing the forums here for a little while since I got my Festiva a few weeks ago. It's a '93, manual transmission, with a non-tach instrument cluster, and I've been running into problems with the speedometer...
All of a sudden it started to make a rough whirring noise that sounded very much to be coming from right behind the instrument cluster- almost as if the speedo cable had backed out and was grinding. Started pulling things apart, and found a small amount of metal shavings around where it goes into the back of the gauge. The end of the cable was also slightly rounded, but still square enough to drive the mechanism. So I took a chance on a new speedo cable, a Pioneer CA3228.
Once the new cable was in, all seemed fine at first. The grinding noise is gone now, but the speedometer needle doesn't want to move. And when it does, it seems to get stuck in place instead of falling back to zero. Dug further into it, removing the speedo gear from the transaxle, as well as inspecting the back of the cluster for fresh shavings, but everything seemed fine. I even took the gauge mechanism apart VERY CAREFULLY to see if anything was amiss, but nothing looked out of place. Every individual item seems to work just fine on its own. The gear, the cable, and even the gauge (as tested before disassembly and after reassembly with a drill motor and square screwdriver bit to drive the mechanism).
It's only when everything is assembled that it didn't want to work...
I laid out the old and new cables side-by-side and found the flexi-shaft to be a little longer on the new cable, so I trimmed it down, worried that the extra length might be putting undue pressure on the mechanism and affect the needle's ability to sweep back and forth. I also put the car on jackstands and ran it in gear with the cable (but not the cluster) installed to ensure that the transaxle was in fact turning the gauge end of the cable.
On the most recent test drive, the speedo worked fine at first... The noise is gone, and the needle no longer gets stuck. But now, a new symptom: At higher speeds, it registers a much higher than actual speed (passenger's GPS says ~55mph while gauge reads ~75). This leads me to think it's the gauge itself, but I dunno. I couldn't find anything wrong when I took it apart, and am confident that I put it back together EXACTLY the way it was. I'm at a loss here.
Anybody have any ideas and/or experience with these issues? BTW, nothing seems to be wrong with the odometer; the only fault seems to lie with the speedometer.
All of a sudden it started to make a rough whirring noise that sounded very much to be coming from right behind the instrument cluster- almost as if the speedo cable had backed out and was grinding. Started pulling things apart, and found a small amount of metal shavings around where it goes into the back of the gauge. The end of the cable was also slightly rounded, but still square enough to drive the mechanism. So I took a chance on a new speedo cable, a Pioneer CA3228.
Once the new cable was in, all seemed fine at first. The grinding noise is gone now, but the speedometer needle doesn't want to move. And when it does, it seems to get stuck in place instead of falling back to zero. Dug further into it, removing the speedo gear from the transaxle, as well as inspecting the back of the cluster for fresh shavings, but everything seemed fine. I even took the gauge mechanism apart VERY CAREFULLY to see if anything was amiss, but nothing looked out of place. Every individual item seems to work just fine on its own. The gear, the cable, and even the gauge (as tested before disassembly and after reassembly with a drill motor and square screwdriver bit to drive the mechanism).
It's only when everything is assembled that it didn't want to work...
I laid out the old and new cables side-by-side and found the flexi-shaft to be a little longer on the new cable, so I trimmed it down, worried that the extra length might be putting undue pressure on the mechanism and affect the needle's ability to sweep back and forth. I also put the car on jackstands and ran it in gear with the cable (but not the cluster) installed to ensure that the transaxle was in fact turning the gauge end of the cable.
On the most recent test drive, the speedo worked fine at first... The noise is gone, and the needle no longer gets stuck. But now, a new symptom: At higher speeds, it registers a much higher than actual speed (passenger's GPS says ~55mph while gauge reads ~75). This leads me to think it's the gauge itself, but I dunno. I couldn't find anything wrong when I took it apart, and am confident that I put it back together EXACTLY the way it was. I'm at a loss here.
Anybody have any ideas and/or experience with these issues? BTW, nothing seems to be wrong with the odometer; the only fault seems to lie with the speedometer.
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