Thread: Speedo stops and starts

Driving the mk3 tonight and I noticed the speedo was working ('cause I like to know I'm driving on the speed limit). And then it wasn't. The child tells me it sometimes just doesn't work. All the other dials are OK.

Any clues?

Sadly, they seem to just pack up and die Mine has been replaced once already, but in my case it was both the tacho and speedo. It's possible it could just be a loose wire, so it's worth looking into that first.

Impulse sender on the gearbox mate.
Jmac

Originally Posted by Jmac

Impulse sender on the gearbox mate.
Jmac

What's that?

Small sensor that plugs into the gearbox and tells the speedo how fast your going

Mine is actually doing the same thing at the moment. When the car is cold, the speedo and tacho are fine, yet when i drive for a few km's BOTH the speedo and tacho die.

Are both your speedo and rev meter not working? if so, it cannot be the speed sensor as that only controls the speedo.

Im thinking its a loose wire, or a bad earth connection. Tell me how it goes

cheers

Originally Posted by Jmac

Impulse sender on the gearbox mate.
Jmac

This is the one held down by a torx screw, and is connected up with a 3-pin plug?

If the rev counter and speedo die at the same time and the other gauges, fuel and temp still work it is the "Dance of Death", one needly will twitch whilst they are not working also.

This is a known fault and is a fried ecu chip. Only cure is a new or used cluster. $550 from VW or $150 from me respectively. Ks are stored on the speedo, so get one that is similar to your car, ks wise.

If it is just the speedo and the rev counter still works, like Jmac says its the gearbox speed sensor, bolted on top of the gearbox.

Mine's doing the opposite to Jacobs, when i start the car the speedo doesnt work but as the car heats up and i drive a few k's the speedo slowly starts working again. The rest of the unit works tacho + fuel gauges etc its just the speedo. I already tried changing the gearbox sender unit and it didnt fix the problem so im a bit clued?