DeTomaso Mailing List: March 1997, Message #114
     



From: Andy Poling <andy@realbig.com>

Subject: Shrieking Speedo

Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 07:16:53 -0500 (EST)



My Pantera's speedometer is failing in a particularly obnoxious manner.



I was traveling at (ahem) slightly above the speed limit on a back road when

out of nowhere comes this shrieking siren.  When it started, it sounded like

a State Trooper cruiser had just landed in the seat next to me.  I almost

had brown trousers.  A second later I started thinking that some

high pressure hose had split.



After a few moments' panic, I finally realized it was the speedometer.  It

was *shrieking* - loud enough that when it started I nearly jumped out of my

skin.



Now it comes and goes, and it has developed a ticking sound in between.

When the shrieking fades, it turns more into a sound of plastic gears

grinding, and then finally subsides almost completely. And when it's

happening the speedo needle looks like a scene from the X-Files.



Is this the typical failure mode for the speedo?



This is already a replacement speedo (installed by a former owner), so I

find myself wondering how long the next one might last.  Are there any

alternative speedo's I can install instead?



-Andy



72 Pantera: power             91 Miata: quickness              96 A4Q: traction

84 RZ350: all the above