[VR-VS] How to fix speedo VS Commodore

[Makalaza]

There have been many posts regarding Commodore speedos not working. Most of the advice tends to direct owners to either check their 'speed sensors', replace little internal cogs in their speedos or replace the cluster.

Having bought a cheap secondhand VS I was faced with the problem of no speedo and no reverse in the auto. I assumed that after I had replaced my transmission that the speedo would come to life, unfortunately for me, this was not the case.

Having nothing to lose I thought that i would remove the instrument cluster and have a look to see if anything was obviously wrong.

Having removed the cluster I took it indoors and inspected it. I was pleased to see that on the back there was information printed which gave me a clue as to where to look for a possible broken copper track. ( See pic 1 ) (Below.)

Using a multi-meter I started to check for breaks along, what I thought were, speedo related connections. these were:

Con 2 - Pins 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 ( See pic 2 ) ( Track 2 marked with pencil )

I used the meter set on 'Resistance' and checked for continuity from one end of each connector to the other. If I got a reading of 0 ohms then I new that that particular track was good. ( See pic 3 )

As i was thinking , "Why am I bothering to do this! " I suddenly got a reading of 1 ( Meaning an open circuit or break in the track ). ( See pic 4 ), this was on 'Con 2 / Pin 11' ( Pulse Ground ).

Narrowing it down, by carefully exposing the track with a razor blade and bringing the meter probes closer together, I managed to locate the exact area which was causing the problem.

Where the rear overlay is fitted to the back of the instrument cluster it was slightly oversized , only by a couple of millimetres, but, because of this, it had been trapped when the cluster was pushed into the dashboard. Over time the area had been eroded and the track had broken.

( See pic 5 )

How to fix it?

I couldn't solder the join as the heat would have damaged the plastic membrane even more!

I decided to try an old trick I once used on a computer keyboard with a similair type of break. I used a thin sliver of tin foil and, after exposing the break, again, using a razor blade ( See pic 6 ),

I sellotaped the foil over the break making a bridge.

I reinforced it with more tape ( See pic 7 ) before hastily returning to my car and re-installing the instrument cluster.

Guess what......? ~ The speedo works!!!

Not only that but the digital speedo function on the 'speed alert' panel also works. This suggests that the signal for the 'speed alert' comes via the analogue speedo. You can use this knowledge to check your 'speed sensor' function.

To get the digital speedo function, hold in both buttons on the speed alert panel whilst you start the car. Go for a drive, and if both are not working then it is likely that the speed sensor on the gearbox or the analogue speedo are not working. If the digital speedo is working, but not the analogue, then your speed sensor is ok but this fix-it is probably not going to help you because you may need a new speedo.

Hope this helps someone out there and I wonder how many people have thrown away speedos that could have been fixed using this simple method!!

Marvin. ( [email protected] )

Mate, I would like to thankyou for your idea. I know it's been a long time since you put this up, but it fixed my speedo problem. a mate of mine was going to dump his VR ute, so i took it off him to do it up and VR parts are so hard to come by now (being 25 yrs old).
Thanks again mate
Mark

 

[Dunlop]

[email protected]

Hi - I just tried to see if your email address is still current but isn't. I've got the same problem with my VR cluster and was wondering if I could just ask you a few questions regarding the use of the mutimeter?

Thanks

Ia