Speedometer only works after car is warmed up

[bruno6491]

Hey

I think i need new shocks and springs since when i went over a bump, granted i was doing slightly more than speed limit i felt the car bottom out, pretty hard that my cd skipped a few times.

The next morning my speedometer didnt work on my way to school, only when i was doing 50+ mph. When i dropped below that it would jump to 0

Today when i used the car, the speedo didnt work until about 5 minuted later of driving.

Any ideas to what happened or how to fix it?

Thanks

[FrantiC]

Check the plug on the back off the diff. May have broken off it, if it bottemed out the diff?

[2poor2tune]

yep either that or loose connection behind the cluster maybe?

[fastpat]

The sudden jolt may have shifted a connection. The plug on the diff is out of the way of striking something, but the shock of bottoming out might have loosened the plug. See if you can push it back on again. The same applies in the car. Check for loose connections.

[bruno6491]

so check the rear axle for the differential plug?

thanks

[genocide98]

so check the rear axle for the differential plug?

thanks

If that doesn't work try pulling the instrument cluster out and re-inserting the plug (if your hands are small enough you can just reach up under the dash for that..)

Otherwise check for bent/pinched wires by following the wire from the speed sensor back. If the wire is fine.. try replacing the speed sensor.

[FrantiC]

The speed pick up sensor is on the back cover off the differential. Hard to miss it..

[Wheels5550]

Sorry to thread jack but my tach is "sticky" when the car is cold it will jump from 1k to 2500 and stick until the car warms up.

[jays325is]

I had the opposite problem the other day. My entire gauge cluster died for a couple of kilometers and then came back to life.... and sputtered for a bit, and now it seems fine. It seemed to be worse when i had a bit of heat on and the defrost (was a colder night).
Could this also be a loose connection? if it was the connection on the diff. would that just affect the speedo or would it shut down everything. Mine seems to be more of a power issue.

[genocide98]

I had the opposite problem the other day. My entire gauge cluster died for a couple of kilometers and then came back to life.... and sputtered for a bit, and now it seems fine. It seemed to be worse when i had a bit of heat on and the defrost (was a colder night).
Could this also be a loose connection? if it was the connection on the diff. would that just affect the speedo or would it shut down everything. Mine seems to be more of a power issue.

It's your electrical system.. IE battery or alternator. Make sure your alternator and/or battery is properly grounded and connected and make sure ALL your grounds in the engine compartment are also properly connected. Make sure your alternator belt is tight and not slipping.

I don't think it's the belt because you say that it gets worse when you have your heater on, which drains on your electrical system. that would lead me to believe your alternator is not putting out enough current to run all of your accessories and your motor at the same time. It could also be the battery draining on the system, but I highly doubt it.

My belt would slip at low speeds and I couldn't sit at a stoplight without my car almost dying. First the stereo would go.. Then the gauges. Then the lights. Then the motor.

You can test this by using a multimeter to measure the current coming from your alternator. Search around the forum or other websites to find a guide on how to do that.

EDIT: PMing just in case you don't see this..