Intermittent speedo.

[AndyR]

Hi all.

Hope you are all making the most of lockdown.

I went out in my Astra G this evening, first time in 3 days. And the speedo is all over the place when maintaining a steady speed or slowing down. When pulling away and building up speed its steady. Have read that it could be the ABS sensor in the hub. I dont have ABS.

Could this be the hub dying or just a dodgy connection? 

Thanks in advance.  

Andy. 

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Hi Andy

It may take the speed reading from the gearbox and this can happen when the drive is worn.
From memory, it is easy to remove and check to see what condition the worm drive is in.

Follow a thick drive cable into the top of the gearbox (could also just be a wire going onto a transducer but will still have the same plastic worm drive).

Worst case scenario (which we used to have on Rovers) is when the final drive bearings drop due to wear and this can also make it jump 

[AndyR]

Thanks Trevor,  it was bouncing about like a kid on a trampoline.  40,30,20,10,50,20 etc.

[AndyR]

Just come home from weekly shopping trip,  and noticed car seems to pull a bit to the left. Pressures all fine. Could the hub/wheel bearing be dying? 

Speedo not so jumpy today. 

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

If the speedo gets a reading from speed sensors built into the wheel bearing (which I don't believe were introduced into cars until a lot later) then if there was a discrepancy such as different rolling diameter (incorrect tyre profile size) then this could give an incorrect reading.
However, if it took a speed reading from the ABS sensor then if the wheel bearing is worn then this could lead to incorrect speedo reading.
I think you would hear a rumbling noise from the wheel bearing if it was that worn though, but worth checking.

Also if the ride height is different from one side to the other then this could be a broken coil spring which is quite a common failure.
Check the coil spring to see if it is all there and compare to the other side.
Sometimes it isn't apparent that it has snapped until you jack up the body on that side and then see if there is a loose part of the coil.

[AndyR]

Hi Trevor.  It seems to have sorted itself out at the moment.  Went in to town yesterday for optician appointment.  Gave it a good blast along the A11 and back again. And it was working fine. Having said that though, I'll probably go out in it next time,  and it'll be playing up again.  I will be checking wiring, sensors and such though. 

Andy.

[AndyR]

Update on the speedo problem. 

Had a sticky caliper on near side  front. Took it all apart and cleaned everything up.  Whilst wheel was off I checked all the wiring, including speedo drive from gearbox. 

I have a feeling there was a loose connection as I nipped all connectors and now it's working fine. 

That's that job jobbed.

Edited February 3, 2021 by AndyR
Predictive text.

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Another winner!  always something simple like that and lovely when it resolves an annoying fault at zero cost 

[AndyR]

And how. Now waiting for the new front exhaust pipe to arrive. That'll be another tick on the list of to do's.

[AndyR]

Well the new exhaust is here, and so is the snow. Looks like a job for the future rather than the present. It's not blowing too bad, just enough to be annoying. Good old ebay, complete front section for £25.65 and free delivery. 

Slowly getting back to getting these jobs done. Lets hope snow don't hang around too long.

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Damn that snow   Not much down here at all (Bournemouth)

Have you got gaskets with it as well Andy?

[AndyR]

Hi Trevor,  no gaskets, I will buy them during the week and get some new studs and clamps too. 

I don't know if you're lucky not having snow or not. Had about ⁶ inches here so far, and it's still snowing now. Haven't been out in this car in snow yet, so could be interesting later when I take the daughter to work. 

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

   we haven't had a decent snow storm here since the 1980's in Bournemouth

 

[AndyR]

Our last GOOD  snow was the original beast from the east.  Wasn't too bad this time, just annoying.  It normally goes around us here in harling.  

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

We're protected by the Isle of Wight so we have a micro-climate and although it would be great to say we get all-year round sunshine, we actually don't but it is always a lot warmer here hence no snow

 

[AndyR]

Bournemouth is quite a nice place with what I can remember.  Not been since I was a teenager.  I wonder if that's why the isle of wight is so called. As it blocks your snow. Stayed on the isle of wight 18 years ago. 

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

lol...could be right Andy

Yeh its not bad down here I suppose