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Can the Speedometer itself just go bad?


Zero Knievel

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I'm still having issues with my speedometer.

When it goes, both it and the odometer doesn't move forward. All other instruments work fine.

Pro-Oiler registers tire rotation, so I know it's not the sensor in the gearbox.

I doubt it is the Speedo Healer. Of course, when this stuff happens, I have no easy way to check (short of stop, pop the seat and see if the unit is dark).

Back in 2011 (IIRC) I had an incident where my lights went out (headlamps, turn signals, speedo, etc.). The even that preceded it was an odd thing at startup where the speedo went from 0 to max then back to 0 like some of the newer bikes do with their tach needles. As you know, this is not normal behavior.

That incident has never repeated, but I wonder if it indicates something went wrong that's now causing the problem or just flat out "broke" the speedometer.

Can the gauge be "opened up" for inspection? Is it possible to just replace the speedometer? I'm going to just live with it for now and make it a winter project rather than keep tearing things down to check.

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I really depends - in most cases it WILL go bad in the following situations:

  • If you have the water drain pipe routed properly
  • If you got your degree in college but not really
  • If you are usually up at 3am playing war games as an adult
  • If you go on a lunch date and order water and make her pay for being human and ordering food
  • If you do exercises in front of other men and let your balls fall out on purpose
  • If your bat shit crazy

:)

Edited by Dave_K
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Since the speed and odo stop together I would be looking at the input. Everything past the speed sensor is a potential culprit. If after you fiddled with the connector at the instruments the symptom changed any then it's likely that the problem lies there or nearby.

If the speedo itself failed I'd expect the odo to continue.

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Sadly, there's not a lot of wire to look at (without opening the harness). I thought I disconnected the SpeedoHealer to see if the problem went away or continued, but I forget if I did or not. The pain is there is no consistency. I've had it go out for a second or two and then sometimes several minutes. Sometimes hitting chatter bumps or a pothole starts/stops it and other times it has no effect.

Everything LOOKS fine. I see no evidence of wire damage or contamination...so far. This winter, I'll open up the instrument cluster and take a good look if I've not magically stumbled upon what's causing this.

That whole 0 to MAX and back event just has me wondering WHAT would cause it to happen. If there was some kind of short, that indicates a signal of "infinite" went to the speedometer for a second, and perhaps what caused that is what's grounding out the signal and causing the failure. I really don't want to cut open whole sections of wire harness to trace the signal wire. I'd expect any damage would be on an exposed portion of the wire 99% of the time.

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It is just a speedometer. Remember back when motorcycles didn't have them, or turn signals? People still rode.

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It is just a speedometer. Remember back when motorcycles didn't have them, or turn signals? People still rode.

True, but it's that OCD thing of needing things fixed.

Hell, I've made progress in resigning myself to just live with it until wintertime because I'm sick of fucking with it and getting nowhere when I could be riding.

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just pull the cluster out and open it up. Damn, its what, 6 5mm screws and a 8mm wrench for the top windscreen nuts

pull plugs, remove a couple 12mm nuts and ding fries are done.

crack it open and look at the connections and grounds.

if bumps and crap are causing it to fluctuate then there is a possibility that its just a broken ground or something silly..

work on it during date night...

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work on it during date night...

Can't do, there are quests to deal with.

Gotta have priorities! If I finish the next slayer deed, I'm rewarded with Innocence Level 19. :P

Just joking. I have no idea what the reward is.

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Well, pulled it apart. I see nothing wrong. No obvious dirt or contaminants.

I took some pics. It's still dissembled. I sprayed down the empty housing with electrical parts cleaner and took some WD-40 and paper towels to gently wash the flexible circuit board (both sides). No obvious signs of corrosion, but the 3 screws holding the speedometer into the housing were "whiter" than others. I might work them with a wire brush...but why they did this and the others did not, I don't know.

The only "odd" thing I noted is that if the needle on the speedometer is at 85 or higher, it naturally wants to rotate to the right to max speed. If it's under 85, it will rotate left back to zero.

post-3006-0-57782700-1435423443_thumb.jp post-3006-0-19379700-1435423690_thumb.jp

post-3006-0-07126800-1435423803_thumb.jp post-3006-0-31975000-1435423880_thumb.jp

post-3006-0-82252900-1435424000_thumb.jp

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Another development.

I just did the diagnostics for the speedometer out of the manual. Everything SEEMS to check out. The final check was to probe two wires at the instrument cluster connections and rotate the rear wheel with the power set to on. The multimeter SHOULD read from 0v to 5v. I was getting 0v to 0.02v.

Now, the normal call is to then check for damage in the wire harness, but before I start tearing into that, I'd like to eliminate the possibility of something simpler.

I went to the speed sensor 3-wire connector and repeated the test. I reasoned that IF the problem is in the harness, I'd read 0v to 5v at this connector.

I was still getting 0v to 0.02v at the speed sensor connector.

I'd be surprised the speedometer is working at all, but since it's digital, it may just need anything higher than zero volts to sense a signal and count out the miles. My speedometer/odometer might be wonking out because this weak signal drops completely from time to time and comes back.

Is there any specific testing for the speed sensor itself? I didn't see anything in the shop manual.

If anyone knows the part number for a replacement speed sensor on a '99 XX, post up. I'm trying to find one now...just in case. Nevermind...37700-MAT-611 ($93.00)

Edited by Aunt Sylvia
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What happened to "Pro-Oiler registers tire rotation, so I know it's not the sensor in the gearbox."?

I've never fiddled with the BB sensor but I've had some that just crudded up with metal particles and stopped working. Might be worth pulling and checking/cleaning it.

Edited by superhawk996
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That's the rub. Might be the Pro-Oiler hardly needs a signal (strength wise) compared to the speedometer.

I pulled the sensor, and there's really nothing to it. I saw a tiny glob of black gunk on it, but it wasn't coated with junk. I could put it back on and re-test. It looks like a magnetic induction thing where it senses the proximity of the teeth of the sprocket immediately below the sensor. Nothing mechanical to it.

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Well, bike is back together. So far, I've found NOTHING. What I did do is add wires to the speedometer terminals (the pulse from 0v to 5v). These wires run up and over the instrument cluster. Ideally, I wanted to rig up some kind of light that would shine bright enough to show I have a signal. If the speedometer goes out but the light is still working, I then KNOW it's a failed speedometer unit.

Sadly, I can't find shit that works with only 5v max. I'm currently figuring out how to strap a cheap multimeter onto the bike's dash. No luck there, but at least that would do the job.

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Well, didn't find a lamp so far, so I reworked some leads to a cheap multimeter to reinforce them and installed plug connectors on the wires to the dash. I can keep the multimeter in the magnetic bag I use for by DVR unit, and the plugged in leads will keep it from slipping out (the prongs will feed through the pocket...which has a mesh design to it).

If the weather turns sour, I can unplug it and stuff it into the bag for protection.

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