Speedo reading low?!?

[Matt Suffern]

For what it's worth, my speedo used to read quite high all the time, on the order of 10 mph over what I was actually doing, and the speed difference 
seemed constant; that is, it wasn't a percentage.

It turns out a wire going to the speedo was disconnected.  The only way I discovered it was in the process of fixing the odometer--I pulled the assembly out 
of the cluster and found that one of the two loose wires that slide on to pins on the "front" (i.e. not circuit board) side of cluster's backplate was loose.  I'll 
take pictures soon.  My semi-permanent odometer fix (bent paperclip to hold the gear in place) isn't holding up so I'll need to pull the whole thing apart 
again.

Best,

Matt
'86 4kq
Chapel Hill, NC

> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 11:57:25 -0400
> From: "Steve Sears" <steve.sears at soil-mat.on.ca>
> Subject: Re: Speedo reading low?!?
> To: <quattro at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <005001c58d43$b97c8d40$7202a8c0 at steve>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> Mike,
> It depends on the car, I suppose.  My cable-driven speedo on my 1980 5k is
> extremely out of wack - measures around 90 km/h on the highway when I _know_
> that the traffic I'm keeping pace with is doing at least 110 km/h.  The
> speedo in my 1987 5ktq is electro-mechanical, relying on signals from a gear
> in the tranny output - if the gear lost a tooth I guess it would read low.
> When brand-new, you are correct that the speedometers intentionally read a
> bit over the actual speed for the car, to allow for errors such as slight
> different tire rolling diameters, etc.  Maybe the trooper was bored, tired,
> out of practice arguing with a driver, needed an ego boost, liked your car,
> ????  The mile-marker method is a decent way of checking the calibration of
> the speedo.
> Cheers!
> Steve Sears
> 1987 Audi 5kTQ
> 1980 Audi 5k
> 1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
> ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Michael McLaughlin <mcloffs at mac.com>
> > Subject: Speedo reading low?!?
> > To: quattro at audifans.com
> > Message-ID: <188bfb4853b307b095213b30d5078a29 at mac.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
> >
> > I got pulled over last night. I was doing a quick round trip between
> > home and a town about 75 miles away, on two-lane rural highway with a
> > 60 mph limit (for you Northwesterners it was between Pullman, Wash.,
> > and Spokane). I'm Mr. Five Over, and had the cruise control set right
> > at 65. On the way up I came across a Washington State Patrol cruiser
> > heading the other way who didn't seem to be concerned with my speed. On
> > the way back, I was also doing 65 and came across a WSP cruiser heading
> > the other way again. This time, he turned around and pulled me over.
> > Turns out it was the same trooper -- he said he didn't have a chance to
> > turn around the other time, and recognized my car coming back (I guess
> > Pelican Blue really is distinctive).
> >
> > Anyway, he told me he clocked me going 70 (both times). I was really
> > surprised, of course, and told him I had the cruise control locked in
> > at five over. He took my driver's license, was back at his car for
> > about a minute, and let me off with a warning and a recommendation to
> > slow down a bit.
> >
> > Finally, I get to my point.  :-)  Is there any chance in heck that my
> > speedometer is reading low? It I recall correctly, German speedometers
> > tend to read high, and I have stock-size tires. I have a feeling he was
> > using a bit of hyperbole to get me to slow down, since if I really was
> > going 70 he probably would have ticketed me.
> >
> > So, what do you think? This is making me a bit paranoid. Next time I
> > come across a speedometer check area on the freeway I'm going to time
> > it.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Mike
> >
> > P.S. He didn't seem too concerned with my lack of front plate, nor my
> > illegal window tinting.  :-)
>