Random speedo

[Norbie]

My RA23 speedo is behaving very strangely. Most of the time it works as normal, but sometimes for no apparent reason it will read two or even three times the vehicle's actual speed! It's pretty weird following traffic on the freeway with the speedo wound off the scale.

Anyway I suspect I'll have to pull it apart to figure out what's going on, but has anyone come across something like this before? What's likely to be the problem?

[The Witzl]

... how about the fact that it hasnt moved in about 10 years?
- sticky cable
- sticky gauge spring
- it doesnt like you anymore.

[JustCallMeOrlando]

- it doesnt like you anymore.

^I'm with stupid.^

[fuzz!]

i have the same problem but am unsure what exactly is going on...

mine read 200kph at about 10kph.. so it winds off the scale pretty much all the time.. would love to know how you resolve it.. (drown it in innox?)

[o_man_ra23]

inside the speedo the cable drives into something similar to a torque converter. The faster it spins, the more pressure it puts on the needle and return spring. So, if this torque converter type thing is sticky, it will create more force on the spring and read faster than it is. If it is loose, then it will read lower. You sir, probably need a replacement... check with toyota if they still have one lying about... or maybe an instrument repair place. failing that, a replacement second hand will be required.

Cheers, Owen

[gianttomato]

What's likely to be the problem?

You see, Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicts all of this. As you approach the speed of light, you disrupt the space time continuum. I hope this helps.

FWIW, my old KE30 did this too. It was a speedo issue. I replaced the cable to no avail. Replaced speedo, all good.

[mullett]

I spent a week out on a station as part of school, and there's nothing odder than driving a diesel cruiser trayback and having the speedo winding towards 180. Nothing funnier than waking the guy asleep in the passenger seat and wordlessly pointing at it...

[Norbie]

... how about the fact that it hasnt moved in about 10 years?

Well it was doing this before its extended hiatus... I'd just forgotten about it until I drove it again last week.

- it doesnt like you anymore.

This seems the most likely explanation so far.

[gianttomato]

As you approach the speed of light, you disrupt the space time continuum.

This is proven. The rest is mere speculation......

[YelloRolla]

Prolly prepating itself for legitimate adventures to this part of the needle sweep when the 18RGTE is occupying the under bonnet area.

[-=DV=-]

Prolly prepating itself for legitimate adventures to this part of the needle sweep when the 18RGTE is occupying the under bonnet area.

PURE.......GOLD

[Hydra]

I have a similar problem with my speedo but very rarely. And to a lesser extent.

Sometimes it just starts to jump up and down and then settles down a little. It also reads different speeds after it has been reading speeds above 100km/h ie it will read 60km/h ok just driving around, speed up to say... 130km/h and drive around that speed for a tad, then go back to 60km/h and in the same gear the tacho reads different revs by a fair bit too.

I haven't replaced a thing either so no idea yet. Might take the time to pull apart the dash and see what happens soon. Also gonna see if i can get a new cable while i'm doing that.

[o_man_ra23]

Hydra, you got problems... sounds like your speedo is a bit iffy on the part i mentioned earlier, and maybe your tacho needs a shake up too... unless of course when you say you slow down to 60, you really are doing another speed, and the tacho indicates this.

Cheers, Owen

[Hydra]

Oh, I know there is something REAL screwey there

I've checked with GPS before (on a straight road of course) and that confirmed what I stated above. My speedo is foobar.