My speedo isnt reading right what can i do?

[masterbateson]

So the other day when i was driving my new purchase/toy home i went through a 50mph average speed area.
When i got home I said to my dad who was driving my car back after the car pick up if he had noticed the 50 limit on way back as he pulled away from me.

Anyhoo he said he was driving bob on 50, but he left me, i thought speedo might be out so i picked up my speed to match him.
Quite worryingly I had to go up to 60 on the speedo to stay with him.

So what if anything can i do to correct this.

I was wondering if there is any sort of adjustment i could make with this voltage convertor thingy that you get if your converting km import cars to mph???
Be handy if there was a variable pot i could twidle to adjust it. But bet its not that simple.

[Peter Gidden]

There is no adjustment, and there shouldn't need to be any.

Has it got a delimiter/converter fitted?

[acf8181]

Every MR2 ive had seems way off....so i decided to do something about it with my current one.

This is how i did it, i was gonna use trial and error but got lucky and had it spot on straight away!)...

- First check with GPS to see if its that far off (if only a few mph id leave it, but mine was 10 out!)

- Remove dash trim and clear front of speedo cluster (can be done without removing cluster, but i'd advise unscrewing and moving cluster forward so you can see how its clipped in, you wouldnt wanna force it and crack it)

- Turn ignition on (it makes the needle move (though not obvious as it should be sitting o the stop pin)

- Remove needle gently (and squarely...can gently use little screwdrivers, one each side, if needed)

- Replace needle with it lined up to the corner of the warning light below speedo, as per this pic...


- Then rotate needle and lift it to get it over the stop pin

- Then road test with GPS to check accuracy....make sure you bolt cluster in (i'd leave the clear cover off in case its slightly out). ALSO, make sure you have hazard warning light plugged in or you won't get any indicators.

...Now obviously it may need to be slightly line up differently as different cars may differ, i started lining it with the corner of the light so as to create a datum to work from but as said got lucky and it was spot on first time!

[Peter Gidden]

With OEM 15" wheels and tyres my speedo over-reads by 4mph. Exactly as it should do.

[masterbateson]

There is no adjustment, and there shouldn't need to be any.

Has it got a delimiter/converter fitted?

I dont know about the delimiter? wouldnt know where to find it, assume its got a convertor as its an import car but clocks are in MPH.

The other post moving the needle sounds like summat i would have a go at so cheers for that one!

[Peter Gidden]

There is no adjustment, and there shouldn't need to be any.

Has it got a delimiter/converter fitted?

I dont know about the delimiter? wouldnt know where to find it, assume its got a convertor as its an import car but clocks are in MPH.

The other post moving the needle sounds like summat i would have a go at so cheers for that one!

There should be no reason to move the needle.

Delimiter/converter will behind the cluster.

[aussieGT]

- First check with GPS to see if its that far off (if only a few mph id leave it, but mine was 10 out!)

This is by far the best, most accurate and cheapest way to check your actual speed.

They are accurate +- 2kph. I have checked them against Lidar and Radar and they are spot on.

[acf8181]

yep, and i'm fortunate enough to have one of those signs round the corner that shows your actual speed and it tied in with my GPS (and now my speedo)

Peter - yes, you shouldn't need to fiddle with the needle, but reality is you may have to as either toyota or someone else fiddling with it in past seems to have affected it on every single one of my mr2's (i've had 4 - ok, imports understandable as need converting to mph, but i had a low mileage, one woman owner, fsh car back in the day so can't see her having fiddled with it!)

[acf8181]

yep, and i'm fortunate enough to have one of those signs round the corner that shows your actual speed and it tied in with my GPS (and now my speedo)

Peter - yes, you shouldn't need to fiddle with the needle, but reality in my experience is you may have to as either toyota setting it wrong (or someone else fiddling with it in past).

Every single one of my mr2's (i've had 4 - ok, imports understandable as need converting to mph, but i had a low mileage, one woman owner, fsh car back in the day so can't see her having fiddled with it!) has been about 10mph out.

Also, is so many people who come on here with same issue it can't be coincidence.

[mrfil13]

My speedo started reading much lower than it should have a few months ago, there was no scale to it, just random speed difference , I had to replace a couple of the capacitors in the back of the speedo. Now it's pretty much spot on even with 17" wheels.

[acf8181]

My speedo started reading much lower than it should have a few months ago, there was no scale to it, just random speed difference , I had to replace a couple of the capacitors in the back of the speedo. Now it's pretty much spot on even with 17" wheels.

That sounds 'entertaining'! Mine have all been consistantly out, hence me deciding to adjust it (no point if its random obviously).

[jimGTS]

you say its in mph, this 110mph, or 180? (or even 160).

if 110, someones simply put a dial cover over a 180kmph speedo. so you wont have a converter.
180mph, converter fitted
160mph, uk speedo.

[mrfil13]

Here's my post from when i had the issue. Might not be your issue but its worth a look, it only took me an hour to do.

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... highlight=


This is the youtube video i watched
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7qzfjwzT14

[masterbateson]

There is deffo a dial cover on , i am not at home but dials were had the make speedworks maybe??? dunno will look when i get home. going to have a look at your linky now mrfil

[masterbateson]

just looked at the thread.
Electronics! thats just my bag, will have to whip my soldering iron out when i get home.

[Hez]

IF they have put new faces on suppose there is a chance they have lifted the needle off and not put it back in the same place so will need resetting by gps , I had 180mph speedhuts in mine but i hate the glow up dials so i put a uk 160mph speedo in and removed the converter which i found wired in next to the speed sender on the gearbox, after i spent ages looking around the back of the dials for it.

[masterbateson]

The dial covers are Lockwood 180 mph ones, tested car going through one of those 30 smiley face signs. Was reading 10 mph above

[Poker Face]

With OEM 15" wheels and tyres my speedo over-reads by 4mph. Exactly as it should do.

What size tyres and profile have you got fitted? By fitting the correct profile you should be able to offset the wheel size. My dad got the wrong profile tyres on his car when he put 18" on his Bimmer and then had issues with his speedo reading incorrectly.

[archangel]

Rev3 I had that had the lockwood dials put on was exactly 10mph below. So was reading 40 when I was going 30. My bro did the needle recalibration mentioned in here and it's been fine since. Think it just wasn't repositioned properly when the dials were changed.

[masterbateson]

Cars on 17" low profiles.
Seeing as someone else with the lockwood dials has had to re position the needle think I'll just do that.