no tach + no speedo = speeding ticket!

skialfa · #1 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008, 05:59 PM

I just got my spider registered for the first time since purchasing it last fall. I went out for a ride and got a ticket! I didn't have a speedo or tach working but couldn't resist a first ride. Anyway, the tach is broken and I have anew one coming.
I have been trying to fix the speedo. I attached my cordless drill to the upper cable and it works fine, I attached it to the lower cable and it works fine, I can see the sending unit moving when I spin the driveshaft. And yet the needle is stuck at 45 mph. Anyone have any ideas? HELP!

lostinvt · #2 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 09:36 AM

vermont state police suck my first ride and I got poped for A tail light same thing I could not wait lost in vt. newport cnt

alfasrule · #3 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 10:58 AM

Cops in Vermont have nothing to do but to give out tickets. They should just be called The Vermont State Meter Maids. I use to have a detecter in my car and every time I saw a cop it went off and I don't speed too often. All they see is an ALFA and they turn it on. Sound's like the speedometer is busted or Try to take the glass off cause sometimes the needle melts and bends and it could just be stuck against the glass or the dial. Jericho VT.

geh458 · #4 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 11:27 AM

I'm waiting for the first time I get pulled over for speeding to see if my excuse of the speedo showing KPH vs. MPH, and that I haven't gotten use to it yet, gets me off with a warning or not.

**Tifosi** · #5 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 04:42 PM

I'm betting you'll go home with the ticket......

maxwedge · #6 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 07:00 PM

I got pulled over a few years ago near an unfamilar town, on a back road, while driving my Dakota that had a non functioning speedo. I told the cop that I was trying to judge my speed by the tach and I had thought I was going about 55. His response "Not bad, I clocked you right at 55...unfortunately the speed limit is only 45 through there." Ooops.

Fortunately my ever happy, friendly, slightly retarded, chocolate lab was riding with me. It seems the cop once had a chocolate lab that he loved as a kid. He let me go with a warning after patting her head a few times and spending 5 minutes dicussing the great aspects of chocolate Lab-ness with me. That's the only time I've been pulled over for speeding that I didn't get a ticket. Now, I always take my dog when I go speeding...err.. I..um...mean, I never drive faster than the speed limit anymore.

**Craig LNU** · #7 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 03:48 AM

There are a few really detailed threads around addressing tach and speedo woes. If at the end of the day you need to send it out for repair, check out Palo Alto, they repaired my speedo and were quick with the turn around (others on the BB have used them as well). Good luck!

skialfa · #8 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 04:59 AM

The3 speedo works, there is some kind of "short" in the cables though they both work.

**Tifosi** · #9 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 07:23 AM

That '80 you've got listed as a parts car:

Does it have the one piece cable-n-sleeve still intact?

If so, you can swap it in to diagnose a bit further.

EG: if it works peachy keen, then likely that stupid little box that trips the 'exh sensor' light every 30k is messed up. (and they are pretty good at crapping out, not to mention making for a really wiggly speedo needle)

If it don't work, you may have a bad drive gear in the trans, or the square hole that the cable plugs into is hogged out round and simply not engaging enough to drive the cable.

'Course there's likely a couple other things to check too, but that's where I'd start if the gauge is known to be functional.