Exactly how important are Speedometers?
 

I was driving the rex (86 GXL) to work yesterday, i wasn't paying attention to the gauges, since traffic seemed to be cruising at about a steady 70ish, but when i glanced down, i noticed that my speedo (no, not my thong!) was reading "0"... and my odometer and trip odometer weren't moving. At first i thought that it might have been the gauge, but cruise-control and the speed-sensitive steering doesn't work either.. i'm going to raise the car up t/w to have a look underneath her, any ideas of what specifically to look at? (besides the obvious "is the speedo cable connected?") thanks!

check your METER FUSE.

I doubt this is it, becuase the cable seems to have come off of the tranny or the back of the cluster in the dash.

It won't be the fuse, the speedo is purely mechanical. Sounds like the cable’s fallen out of the instrument cluster or gearbox.

same thing happend to me when i bout the car...its probubly that cable that spends around in side of ur speedo cable....

That's my guess, too.

that's what i was thinking :) thanks guys, i'll post what happens..

the cable is a matched set just so you know the outside cable is a matched length with the inside so if you go and pull one from a junk yard make sure you get both inner and outer cables

james

Remember that on the series 4 cars the ECU, Power steering CPU, Cruise CPU, AAS CPU, all use the speed sensor signal as well, so you do need to fix the cable asap.

Good luck on fixing that problem. Let us know what it was when you find it out.

yeah, i found out everything uses the one cable :) either who, the car isn't going anywhere until i get it fixed.. unfortunatly, won't be today, hopefully t/w :) i'll keep ya posted..

Yeah, i found that out when nothing worked :) Eitehr who, it's not going anywhere out of my garage until i get it fixed... *mumbles something about damn cars that cruise at 85/90 mph* i didn't get a chance to play with it today, but i should get to work on it t/w, i'll keep you posted :)

well, i finally got a chance to jack her up, and found out that the cable had simply vibrated out of the tranny, unfortunatly, the actual cable part of it appears to be missing, so i'm trying to figure out where to get a new one? any ideas? I think mazdatrix wanted 80 something for it.. i also finally had a chance to check out my U-joints... bad shape, so i'm hoping new ones of those along with a shaft balancing will help take care of a lot of my vibration.. until then, im' drivin an olds :)

replacements are universal i think.
 

look at the kind of cable ends that are required.

there is a kit available in most parts stores that allows you to crimp on the flat or square speedo end of the cable and then push it up into the sheath until the speedo moves when you turn the cable by hand.

then you cut the cable to the right length and crip on the tranny flat or square end.

Anyone have a picture of both ends of the rotating part of the cable?

this is a common fix.

The kit should not be more than $18.

very cool, thanks :)