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please help, wtf is wrong with my level 3 speedo?

Discussion in 'VN - VP Holden Commodore (1988 - 1993)' started by pow3rslave, May 19, 2008.

  1. pow3rslave

    pow3rslave DoNothing Member

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    ok, so driving home from my folks just now, on the last leg of the journey i noticed my speedo was going mental.

    basically taking off from the lights i look down after it catching my eye doing something odd, it would flick up to 80 in less than 1 second on takeoff, or when i put revs through it, but when i was cruising at speed it dropped down to 0, then at the next lights i'm sure the dash lights dimmed and the car idled kinda rough. i pulled over in a side street and used the digital speedo feature, only to find that similarly mental as well (on top of all this, the over speed light was going on and off as if i was actually doing the speeds it thought i was)

    also when i pulled in to the side street to digital speedo it, as i slowed to pull up the battery light flickered on a bit.


    on the plus side, my car does 0-80 in less than a second!
     
  2. pow3rslave

    pow3rslave DoNothing Member

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    ok, so today the speedos 100% dead, i did some reading and it seems it might be the sender unit, there's threads on this, but something else also happened, the fuel used gauge was also dead, but more than this the car stalled twice on the drive to the station this morning.

    i wouldn't be super ****ed about this, but the second time was when i was going round a corner in a side street, stalled as i was doing this (clutch in) and the ****ING STEERING LOCK PIN CAME ON!!! so i was stalled, freewheeling with steering stuck on hard lock.
    :ranting::ranting::ranting:
    fortunately there was nothing there to crash into so i only mounted the curb (a bluestone one, so not as high)
    it could have been worse, but no damage done (i'll check the rims properly when i get home) and no-one hit.
     
  3. jas98

    jas98 Active Member

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    hey mna glad you are ok

    as for the stearing lock comming on....dindt think it was supposed to unless the key is taken out...maybe casue the car stalled you lost power steering an that may have been what happened. as for the problem with the speedo etc...cant help ya there..mine a executive :( lol
     
  4. 88GreenVN

    88GreenVN Next Exit Left

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    Could be ECU or speedo sender thingo that goes into the gear box. The stalling does point to the ECU with all the other dash lights and warnings going mental.

    If you have not fiddled with the dash I'd suspect the ECU first. If it was just the speedo - speed sensor.
     
  5. pow3rslave

    pow3rslave DoNothing Member

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    so i can just grab a new ecu and chuck the foam chip i got now in it?
     
  6. 88GreenVN

    88GreenVN Next Exit Left

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    Yep. Get a temp ECU/Memcal and just swap the cables over - see if it stops the mental attacts:thumbsup:
     
  7. pow3rslave

    pow3rslave DoNothing Member

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    i'll try that, but i also found some way to test the speed sensor with a test light, so that i might do that before i spend cash on it.

    i also just cracked out aldl, and i had the usual o2 errors (damn pacies) and also a speed sender error.
     
  8. pow3rslave

    pow3rslave DoNothing Member

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    ok, so i took it in to get it looked at, they did the speedo sender, and reckon the stall was from the IAC valve, which they cleaned out.

    pretty ****ed off, i got new rotors and pads up the front last week, now this. i hate having to spend money on a car i don't really want anymore. i'm going to get everything rwc-worth and sell it.
     
  9. fnlow1

    fnlow1 Member

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    So the speedo works now mate?
     
  10. pow3rslave

    pow3rslave DoNothing Member

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    haven't picked it up, but yeah the guy says it's working now, and that it's idling better after cleaning out the throttle body.

    i coulda gone to a wreckers and gotten a 2nd hand one for about a 10th of the price, but i'm just stupidly busy, plus no way to get there :(
     

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