Speedometer Repair - Type 44

[Swann, Benjamin R. (BSWANN)]

>> I have just put my '87 5kcdtq back on the road after working on it in my
>> evenings for the past 6 weeks. The speedo sticks between about 110 kph
>> (66 mph) and 140 kph (85 mph). If I pound on the top of the dash, it
>> jumps to whatever the speed should be. What is the fix?

>I'd love to know...The tach on my Alfa does the same thing, it sticks every
>few hundred RPM, but hit a bump or tap on the tach, and it springs to where
>it should be.
>Looking for a fix too.
>Mike
Mike, 

I didn't see the original poster's email address.

Here is info related to the fix.  There is more in the archives.

[Subject: 5k speedometer help needed

I searched the archives using many variations of "5k", "speedometer" and
"odometer" and only came up with 4k and 200 speedometer advice.  But I've
been on the list for enough years to recall that 5k speedometer repair has
been discussed before.

Could someone repost or give sage advice about how to repair a flaky
odometer/speedometer on a 5ktq?  The whack to the dash pod trick worked for
the past few months, but now doesn't.  The odometer is adding miles much
faster than it should (by about 25%)!  The speedometer has also stopped
working.  There are no problems with any other instruments.]

Followup Speedometer/Instrument Guage Repair:

I fixed my speedometer on the '86 5000 CSQT ('87 was the same) following
some great advice from (thanks!) Alan Cordieros: "The problem is almost
certainly in the solder joints that hold the pins which make the connection
from the guage into the green flex circuit board on the IC(instrument
Cluster).

Pull the speedo guage out from the cluster, this takes a lot of disassembly,
but just careful work, no big deal. On the back you will see three or four
pins that stick out and make the connection into the green flexible circuit
board on the main cluster assembly. Resolder these pins' solder joints...."

I did this, and it fixed the problem.

I noticed that these connections were used to connect most/all of the guages
in the instrument cluster, and so the  fix would be applicable to tach,
temp, etc.

I was surpised at the cold solder appearance of these connections and ALL
WERE BROKEN!

BTW it was not very difficult, just take care with dissasembly/reassembly,
especially when removing the gauge at the pins where they are connected.

Use a solder iron and wick to remove the old crusty solder and resolder with
proper rosin core and flux as necessary - good as new.

Ben Swann

Follow-on comments from Alan Cordieros...
Hi Ben,

I am glad you got the problem solved. The instructions were somewhat
cryptic, but I was getting ready for a long (eight day ) trip to Italy. I
just got back yesterday evening...

The speedometer is the worst culprit since it is the heaviest unit, and
tends to put the most stress on the pins due to sustained vibration from the
vehicle.

Many of the relays hidden under the steering wheel and instrument clustercan
be repaired the same way. The "usual suspects" are the solder joints holding
the heaviest components onto the tiny circuit boards. Good engineering
design practices entail fastening such components mechanically rather than
using solder joints to provide this function in addition to the electrical
continuity.

The WOT/idle switch can usually be repaired too in the newer 200q20v if you
know the solder joints that go bad. 

:more:
Somewhere you have a loose connection, hence the intermittant operation -
those pins are the likely fatigue and failure point.  The ones on mine were
of the appearance of cold solder joints. It would not hurt for you to remove
old solder with wick(important!) and touch up with new solder.  Should not
take more than a half hour once you have it apart.  Probably under 2 hours
to remove the cluster, take apart, solder, etc. and put cluster back in.

If you need to take to someone, you can put the steering wheel on and drive
for a day without the cluster. ]