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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Speedo woes

I checked the cable was turning by driving down the drive with no speedo fitted and it was turning nicely so presumably its good?

I have checked the connection at the speedo end and its all good.

Karl Bielby

Too tight?
G Lazarus

Hi all,

When I purchased my 1500. The PO had fitted another speedometer prior to its MOT as the speedometer has topped working. The odometer was still functional,which he showed me on the test drive. So I had a speedometer that that the incorrect mileage, but he had recorded the mileage of both when he swapped them. Anyway, all was well and I was researching how to set the mileage to the actual mileage, when the speedometer part of this one died! So I shopped around and found a 'new' one on eBay, wasn't new but had zero miles.. I checked the part numbers and tpm on the clock face and they matched up, price was right so I bought it. Fitted, all good, apart from the speedometer is only accurate up to 30mph. After that it seems something isn't right as it reads slow.
It also seems to change, some days it won't get above 40moh, others it will seem to work fine (can only check when I have someone elses car to check with!)

Am I going to need another speedometer again or does anyone know what it may be? I have pulled the old 2 that I have apart to see if I can see a problem but I can't find anything (I assume magnets must have gone?)

Cheers!
Karl
Karl Bielby

Just send it to Richard Jenkins in Redditch (07747 357044) and get it rebuilt professionally. He's not expensive and will even set the odometer to your request if you want to retain the original mileage.
David Smith

Interesting, how much roughly are we talking?
Karl Bielby

I recently had my Lotus speedo refurbished by Speedograph Richfield. It cost £75 including postage & VAT. Took them about 10 days to turn it around.
Simon
Simon Wood

Richard recently rebuilt, refurbished and recalibrated a speedo for my Lenham, ISTR it was around 50 quid. It came back like brand new.
David Smith

Before sending it off for refurbishment check the cable. Check the connections top and bottom are ok and that the cable follows only gentle curves - no acute angles or kinks. Also remove and clean the inner. It should not have any dirt or accumulated grease on it. Check the wire hasn't frayed and then only slightly oil it with something like a lightweight 3 in 1 oil. Do all of that before spending money on getting the speedo itself seen to as you may find that is no longer necessary.
Guy Weller

As Guy says. I've had a kna---ed speedo but the cable was done in as well at the same time. (car had been layed up a long time before my first mot) I changed the cable first so I knew it was OK. IIRC the gearbox drive end was worn.
Dave Squire

Richard Jenkins every time! Did a proper job on my speedo including a proper recalibration. Brilliant bloke and excellent service.
Graeme Williams

what they all say about Richard [Jenkins]. Was in his workshop only this week talking oil pressure gauges with him.
David Cox

I checked the cable was turning by driving down the drive with no speedo fitted and it was turning nicely so presumably its good?

I have checked the connection at the speedo end and its all good.

Karl Bielby

Checking it while "driving down the drive" won't tell you much since you had the problem around 30mph. I would still pull the cable out of the sleeve & inspect it. Disconnect the transmission end, place it in a bucket or can and flush some solvent thru it until it is clean. Remove the gear drive from the transmission & inspect for worn teeth, etc.
s1

If you do remove the speedo drive pinion from the gearbox also check that the cog does not rotate on the shaft when a little hand pressure is applied.

I had a new replacement fail like this recently when I replaced the g/box (seemed only pressed onto shaft which had received only a light knurling)- faulty new parts again - so reinstalled an old spare and it worked fine.
richard boobier

Yes the test you have done so far doesn't check anything other than that the cable hasn't actually snapped - which you knew anyway. If the inner is frayed, or gunged up with grease and dirt, or twisted, it may well still turn at lower speeds but work increasingly erratically as road speed increases.

Incidentally, you don't need to follow another car to check the speed. There are lots of Apps you can use on your phone. Of course you cannot actually use your phone when driving but can position it on the scuttle behind the centre screen rod, where you can see the speed displayed without distracting you from safe driving.
Guy Weller

Guy, you are making the assumption that everyone has a smartphone, which is obviously not the case.

Trev
T Mason

Did l say everyone? I was assuming only that Karl has one.
Guy Weller

Put it this way Trev, knowing the number of curmudgeons here abouts l would never assume everyone had a smart phone. On the other hand the odds are very much better when applied to one specific individual, and Karl may well have one! ;-)
Guy Weller

A problem which can occur on the earlier cars is down to the pinion in the gearbox turning on the output shaft because it is not positively located. No keyway, just a nut. It slips on the shaft and the drive out of the gearbox becomes intermittent. Yours is a 1500 which will have a different gearbox, but does it still suffer from the same crap way of securing the pinion on the shaft?
Graeme Williams

All valid points and worth checking! Also, while the cable is off I can check all three Speedo's with a drill spinning at the same speed.

I do have a smart phone but always forget to get it out and set up before I set off!!

I will set to pull the cable out next time I get chance to fiddle!

The odometer is still ticking over, and it was on the other two speedo's but I guess I don't know at what rate!
Karl Bielby

Karl,

If the odometer is still working then the drive is likely to be good. Probably the main spindle that indicates speed is stuck. The odometer is mechanically coupled to the input but the speed needle uses a magnetic coupling so if the shaft has stuck the needle won't move. They're fairly simple to dismantle if you can get the bezel off, unscrew the guts from the back and pull them out of the case. You can then have a look and see what's up.
David Billington

Hi Dave,

Yeh the speedometer is a spring and magnet affair but all three that I have pulled apart have been free and iv not been able to see anything wrong at all..
Karl Bielby

it wasn't me but I think there was a post about 6 months ago about the needle catching on the glass of the gauge above a certain speed

- might be worth checking that there's clearance - maybe even increase it slightly as it's intermittent, so maybe is just on the borderline
timmyk

Karl,

It seems rather odd that they don't work if they seem OK. Regarding losing the magnetism have you tried a compass near the magnet bit, I think it unlikely that it would suddenly become demagnetised as they go one working for many decades. I did re-read your original post and noticed that you had mentioned dismantling them and not found anything wrong but you also mentioned things altering from day to day so I think it could still be a problem with the spindle bearing sticking and may just need a drop of decent oil applied.
David Billington

Two valid points there, I will make sure it's not catching the glass and il look to get some light oil on the spindle. I'd imagine that it will be really sensitive to any friction as the magnets and spring both seem to be weak.
Karl Bielby

Anyone heard from Richard Jenkins or have an alternative number to the above.

Sent my Speedos over a week ago now and i cant get hold of him to even ask if he has received them!?
Karl Bielby

David might have.

A week is nothing my mate sent a speedo to Speedicables (a real misnomer) and it took eights weeks to get it back, I've heard (don't know) that speedicables normally takes six weeks anyway.

Here's the details he posed for me -

RICHARD JENKINS,
UNIT 49H, PIPERS ROAD,
PARK FARM INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
REDDITCH,
B98 OHU

email woodykeys67@msn.com

phone 07747 357044
Nigel Atkins

Yeh cheers mate that's what i have.

I just want to make sure he got them ok, they have been signed for by a drunk spider from what i can see!
Karl Bielby

How bizarre... Two posts at the top with today's date, three posts at the bottom wit today's date and everything in between is from last November!
Dave O'Neill 2

all OK here (latest at top)
davidsmith

How odd. I thought it might be my iPad, but iPhone is the same.

I will have a look on the PC and see if the old fashioned tech is any better!
Dave O'Neill 2

No, PC is exhibiting the same symptoms.

David, you obviously have yours set differently, as I have the newest post at the bottom.

Scroll to the bottom and see if you have posts from the 28th.
Dave O'Neill 2

That's right....

2017 at the beginning then 2016 and now back in 2017. How strange.

Before I sent my speedometer out, I would, as has been suggested, check the whole system out. Only then would I send it out.

When I had a sudden problem with mine, (the needle fluctuated wildly), and the odometer stopped although the trip odometer worked. It cost me $50.00 and was done in a day and the mileage set to what it would have been.

The place was a mess. Instruments of all sorts in boxes everywhere and the fellow worked on a workbench with about 12 square inches of space.

I heard his family supposedly got him committed but I don't know. All I know is it worked perfectly and he showed me it was calibrated correctly.

Truly he was someone who knew his stuff, a rare breed today.

Clare
Clare Ravenwood

Dave, I did and I don't. All 10 March posts are at the top (now 11!)
davidsmith

I know Dave, i don't know what I'm earth has gone on there! It's the same on mine though.

Cheers Clare, i have checked it out. Cable span nicely when i moved it with no speedo. Also the odometer part of all 3 Speedos worked perfectly.


Still can't get hold of him!!!
Karl Bielby

Have you emailed perhaps he's away?

I must admit self interest as I need to contact him too so are checking your posts here.
Nigel Atkins

Tried calling again, hopefully he is just away, but then I'd have thought his phone would be off if he didn't want to speak to anyone!?

Just sent an email over. See what happens, pretty annoyed to be honest!
Karl Bielby

I thought this might be of some help:
http://www.szott.com/lotusinfo/Smith-jaeger_speedo_repair.pdf
s1

Cheers s1, i think i saw that ages ago but could never find it again!

Looks like i have broken hair springs.. professional repair needed.

I hope rich has been away and will contact me soon! Is it an actual company or is he just doing it on the side kinds thing?
Karl Bielby

Got hold of him today, he's been mad busy with it coming up to/being show season.

Seems a top guy, very apologetic for not informing me what was going on. Looking forward to getting it back!
Karl Bielby

This thread was discussed between 28/03/2017 and 04/04/2017

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