Tonight I drove four blocks before my speedometer kicked in and started to work. At first I thougt a fuse might be out, then it just started working again?

Should I be worried?

 

Yes, keep your eye on the odometer.

 

Was the gauge illuminated the entire time? Do you have a tiptronic? If you're feeling adventurous you can pop the speedometer out of the dashboard, remove the connector on the back and then clean the carbon off the pin contacts with a pencil eraser. If that doesn't cure the problem then you can start trouble-shooting.

 

Mine has done the same a few times in colder weather. Lightly rapping on the glass with my knuckle brought it back to life.

Andreas

 

Mine did it two or three times in five years; always when it was very cold and a light tap did the trick.

These are mechanical devices that are about ten years +/- old so you have to expect a few glitches now and again. The cleaning that Jason suggests sounds like a good idea.

Cheers,

David

 

Same for mine: every morning, the odometer first kicks in at about 40 mph and then as the car warms up it works fine. Looks like a sticky needle. Or maybe it's just lazy waking up!

 

Thanks for the input.

In response to Jason; it's a manual and the lights weren't on.

Also, it happened on a warm, Southern California day....so it wasn't too cold.

The car has been actually quite perfect for me, with this being the first little quirk.

Looks like a little cleaning is in store.

 

Correct me if I ma wrong but I believe the speedo is electro magnetic (rather than cable driven) so as your speed increases the needles is pushed (pulled?) further round the dial. Thus if there is a bit of physical resistance due to dirt, etc the needle "sticks" until you go fast enough for the needle to be pushed/pulled enough to overcome this stickyness and hence the needle pops across and then works fine.

Nothing too much to wory about. Wiat till you see steaming inside your dials (on a cold, damp morning) - that does freak you out the first time! All part of the car's character...

Cheers,

David

 

Mine does this once every month or so, after the first time it "jumps" it seems to work perfectly.

 

Try cleaning the pin contacts on the back and it should resolve your problem.

 

The gears could be going. Especially if the car is from SoCal as the heat melts them. My car came from LA and they melted, seizing the speedo. This may not be your problem but if it simply gives up on you one day, there's an easy DIY on Robin's site.

 

i wonder if the speedometer/odometer is such an easy DIY how do we verify actual car milage .. i know it is illegal to sell a car that has lower than actual miles but how do you know it has not been swapped? example my 94 Volvo had 138k on the odometer when it quit working about 4 years ago.. say I swapped the the odometer then (I dint) and now have driven about another 45k , a nice low mileage example.. wouldnt u say

 

That's why we demand invoices and other evidence to verify claimed mileage. ;-)

 

i agree , however do u or anyone else know if there is any other way to determine if the milage is valid .. i know about carfax and i did use it .. though some of my paper work was incomplete the miles did work out to about 8K per year .. : any other devices onboard that track miles..also a total *** where do u join at I tried under member services.. NO JOY

 

now that's the type of fix i like
a bit like "have you turned it off and back on again" for computers.

Chris W.