Having a bit of trouble with the speedo at the moment. After replacing the instrument bulbs, the speedo has decided it no longer wants to work.
I had a play about with the cable in front of the gearbox and have managed to get it working again, although it's not very accurate anymore. It's slow to rise and doesn't take any notice of deceleration![:(]
Anyway, I'm assuming the upper part of the cable is on the way out and am contemplating replacing it. I've read various horror stories about this particular job and would very much like to hear any advice you may have on routing the cable correctly.
I've even been considering drilling through the bulkhead and routing the cable some other way. Has anybody tried this before?[:)]
BX SPEEDO CABLE
Moderator: RichardW
RHD BX'es are reputed for troublesome cabling [:)]
Born as a LHD - then modified for RHD - is prone to give troubles [;)]
Apart from this - there are 2 known problems :
1) the bajonet coupling on rear of instrument - the plastic bit crumbles - making mechanical cable contact un-reliable.
2) the speedo drive on diff may give up on the efforts trying to drive a restricted cable. It's the gear that starts slipping on it's axle. Or the square drive for the cable is cracked. The speedo drive is all plastic bits.
I think we once had an owner submitting the mod you suggests - as this makes things easier to function reliably [:)]
Born as a LHD - then modified for RHD - is prone to give troubles [;)]
Apart from this - there are 2 known problems :
1) the bajonet coupling on rear of instrument - the plastic bit crumbles - making mechanical cable contact un-reliable.
2) the speedo drive on diff may give up on the efforts trying to drive a restricted cable. It's the gear that starts slipping on it's axle. Or the square drive for the cable is cracked. The speedo drive is all plastic bits.
I think we once had an owner submitting the mod you suggests - as this makes things easier to function reliably [:)]
Well,
The speedo cable started making a ticking noise directly behind the instruments, and then snap...No more noise, but no more speedo either!
[:(]
I'm presuming it's snapped by the coupling and so needs to be replaced.
I haven't purchased a replacement yet, so have no idea how long the cable actually is...I suppose what I'm getting at is, will the thing be long enough to re-route into the engine compartment from behind the instruments(been a while since I fired up the power tools[;)])?
I've done a search but can't identify any posts that give detials of succesful cable re-routing... HELP!![:(]
The speedo cable started making a ticking noise directly behind the instruments, and then snap...No more noise, but no more speedo either!
[:(]
I'm presuming it's snapped by the coupling and so needs to be replaced.
I haven't purchased a replacement yet, so have no idea how long the cable actually is...I suppose what I'm getting at is, will the thing be long enough to re-route into the engine compartment from behind the instruments(been a while since I fired up the power tools[;)])?
I've done a search but can't identify any posts that give detials of succesful cable re-routing... HELP!![:(]
See post from Alan S on the old BX Q&A forum (surprised the remnants are still there)
http://members4.boardhost.com/citroen_bx/msg/35995.html
Unfortunately the reference on Alan's posting for a link to photos of the speedo cable replacement job doesn't work any more....
I'm not sure there's much to gain by rerouting unless you want to shift the 90-degree bends to somewhere else.
http://members4.boardhost.com/citroen_bx/msg/35995.html
Unfortunately the reference on Alan's posting for a link to photos of the speedo cable replacement job doesn't work any more....
I'm not sure there's much to gain by rerouting unless you want to shift the 90-degree bends to somewhere else.
Hmmm...
Can't find what I'm looking for either ...
Anyway - then let's try do it ourself (DIO ?) - then we have a thread for later reference [;)]
- as you HAVE to remove the instrument cluster anyway [8D]
First off - lets assume we drill a hole straight out for the speedo cable :
The speedo instrument itself is angled upwards - making the rear cable connector angled downwards.
This means the cable comes out to the rear of engine - approx mid to the engine - somewhere down close to - or even straight onto - the hot exhaust manifold.
That's probably why the cable originally is routed to LHS inside the dash.
Instead we try make a new hole offset upwards to the natural selection.
Just enough to have the cable protruding the firewall bay at least an inch over the bottom (avoiding water ingress).
This would still bend the cable upwards - but at much softer bend than the original LHS sharp bend.
Now we have the cable away from the hot exhaust - but we still need to solve the running.
If we further make a new hole an inch or so to LHS of our upwards hole - then the cable in fact starts pointing towards the point where it has to go down mating the diff.
See the light now [?][8D]
Now we need a second hole from firewall bay - to engine bay.
This hole is then placed a bit further to LHS some 1 inch above bottom.
The cable will now protrude the engine bay quite close over the diff - and now needs to bend softly downwards.
Happily we did not drill any holes - we just assumed [;)]
Before drilling any holes - be sure to mark up the new holes out of harm's way to harness and wiper mechanism - and the cable in fact can take this route softly without any odd bends.
If you punch mark from inside - you shold be able to see the dent outside from firewall bay - judging the suitable location of the hole.
Try testing with cable laid out.
As an extra - you're now able to disjoin the cable in the firewall bay - resembling the method for LHD cars.
You'll need a couple of rubber grommets for the new holes.
The drilling must be done patiently at slo speed for best control.
Can't find what I'm looking for either ...
Anyway - then let's try do it ourself (DIO ?) - then we have a thread for later reference [;)]
- as you HAVE to remove the instrument cluster anyway [8D]
First off - lets assume we drill a hole straight out for the speedo cable :
The speedo instrument itself is angled upwards - making the rear cable connector angled downwards.
This means the cable comes out to the rear of engine - approx mid to the engine - somewhere down close to - or even straight onto - the hot exhaust manifold.
That's probably why the cable originally is routed to LHS inside the dash.
Instead we try make a new hole offset upwards to the natural selection.
Just enough to have the cable protruding the firewall bay at least an inch over the bottom (avoiding water ingress).
This would still bend the cable upwards - but at much softer bend than the original LHS sharp bend.
Now we have the cable away from the hot exhaust - but we still need to solve the running.
If we further make a new hole an inch or so to LHS of our upwards hole - then the cable in fact starts pointing towards the point where it has to go down mating the diff.
See the light now [?][8D]
Now we need a second hole from firewall bay - to engine bay.
This hole is then placed a bit further to LHS some 1 inch above bottom.
The cable will now protrude the engine bay quite close over the diff - and now needs to bend softly downwards.
Happily we did not drill any holes - we just assumed [;)]
Before drilling any holes - be sure to mark up the new holes out of harm's way to harness and wiper mechanism - and the cable in fact can take this route softly without any odd bends.
If you punch mark from inside - you shold be able to see the dent outside from firewall bay - judging the suitable location of the hole.
Try testing with cable laid out.
As an extra - you're now able to disjoin the cable in the firewall bay - resembling the method for LHD cars.
You'll need a couple of rubber grommets for the new holes.
The drilling must be done patiently at slo speed for best control.
Here you go mate; check this out. I think it should cover it OK for you.
I'll be up for another couple oof hours so if you have any questions, just post & I'll try to sort them for you.
We now have it for posterity on this forum.[:D][;)]
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... IC_ID=6418
Alan S
I'll be up for another couple oof hours so if you have any questions, just post & I'll try to sort them for you.
We now have it for posterity on this forum.[:D][;)]
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... IC_ID=6418
Alan S
Thanks for that Alan, you make it sound so easy!!![;)][8D]
But like most of these BX jobs, they're straight forward enough when you've finally plucked up the courage to stick on your overalls and crack open the tools!(Except that bloody cambelt, absolute pig of a job)[:p]
I'll keep you posted on the outcome.[:D]
But like most of these BX jobs, they're straight forward enough when you've finally plucked up the courage to stick on your overalls and crack open the tools!(Except that bloody cambelt, absolute pig of a job)[:p]
I'll keep you posted on the outcome.[:D]
-
jack.dempsey
- Posts: 116
- Joined: 05 Mar 2003, 17:57
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars: BX TZD @ 250K miles (J reg),
Xantia TD @ 165K miles (R reg),
Xantia 2.1 TD (R reg)
and tow a caravan with them all (not at the same time)
When I changed my bulbs on my BX dash, my speedo developed a mind of its own - refusing to register over 60MPH and sticking at various speeds between 0 and 60 and waving about all over the place around the important 30-40 MPH. I worked out that I'd got some sideways forces between the cable and the speedo head which were causing this grief. As far as I recall, the upper cable is routed along the back of the dash, and removing the little clock/fag packet tray (on centre top of dash) reveals it. Grabbing hold and pushing/pulling as necessary to remove stresses from speedo head cured my problem. That was about 180K miles ago and its been OK ever since. Worth a try don't you think. Cheaper and I guess a hell of a lot easier than replacing the cable.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by jack.dempsey</i>
When I changed my bulbs on my BX dash, my speedo developed a mind of its own - refusing to register over 60MPH and sticking at various speeds between 0 and 60 and waving about all over the place around the important 30-40 MPH. I worked out that I'd got some sideways forces between the cable and the speedo head which were causing this grief. As far as I recall, the upper cable is routed along the back of the dash, and removing the little clock/fag packet tray (on centre top of dash) reveals it. Grabbing hold and pushing/pulling as necessary to remove stresses from speedo head cured my problem. That was about 180K miles ago and its been OK ever since. Worth a try don't you think. Cheaper and I guess a hell of a lot easier than replacing the cable.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
This is the logic behind the zip tie on the bulkhead; may be worth a try but usually if it just stops & there's been no recent work in the vicinity, it usually means the plastic holding clip has broken & the strain taken out the inner cable. The clicking followed by the sudden silence & no more go sounds a bit too ominous, but stranger things have happened.[;)]
Alan S
When I changed my bulbs on my BX dash, my speedo developed a mind of its own - refusing to register over 60MPH and sticking at various speeds between 0 and 60 and waving about all over the place around the important 30-40 MPH. I worked out that I'd got some sideways forces between the cable and the speedo head which were causing this grief. As far as I recall, the upper cable is routed along the back of the dash, and removing the little clock/fag packet tray (on centre top of dash) reveals it. Grabbing hold and pushing/pulling as necessary to remove stresses from speedo head cured my problem. That was about 180K miles ago and its been OK ever since. Worth a try don't you think. Cheaper and I guess a hell of a lot easier than replacing the cable.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
This is the logic behind the zip tie on the bulkhead; may be worth a try but usually if it just stops & there's been no recent work in the vicinity, it usually means the plastic holding clip has broken & the strain taken out the inner cable. The clicking followed by the sudden silence & no more go sounds a bit too ominous, but stranger things have happened.[;)]
Alan S
I always thought this would be a pig of a job - so I haven't done it yet as I haven't been forced to. I found that after taking my instrument binnacle off enough times I persuaded the speedo cable to sat in an appropriate position - all it does is click and wobble a minor amount which I'm quite happy to live with. Seems to depend on the type of speedo-cable fitment at the dash as to whether you have a problem or not. However I have seen plenty of broken or impossible-to-move plastic speedo-cable fitments on BXs - the normal reason for doing the job.
I always thought this would be a pig of a job - so I haven't done it yet as I haven't been forced to. I found that after taking my instrument binnacle off enough times I persuaded the speedo cable to sat in an appropriate position - all it does is click and wobble a minor amount which I'm quite happy to live with. Seems to depend on the type of speedo-cable fitment at the dash as to whether you have a problem or not. However I have seen plenty of broken or impossible-to-move plastic speedo-cable fitments on BXs - the normal reason for doing the job.