Did your speedometer stop working in your vehicle all of a sudden or you bought a car with it not working? Well not to worry because there are a couple of ways to fix the problem without having to spend a fortune.
A speedometer measures the speed your vehicle is traveling. So knowing your speed will reduce your chance of getting into an accident or receiving a ticket. Always try to figure out why your speedometer isn’t working, so you aren’t doing extra work. Make sure your speed sensor is not broken. This is the most common reason that speedometer would stay at zero when speed sensors fail to work properly. They will typically cause the Check Engine light to come on, indicating that there is an issue. Make sure there is no bad wiring or fuses, that can also cause the speedometer not to work. Furthermore, make sure the ECU (engine control unit) is not malfunctioning. Those are the most common problems that would cause your speedometer not to work.
Cars used to be very simple, they used to have a cable that would go into the speedometer head, and it spun and would make the speedometer move. Modern cars stopped using speedometer cables about 20 years ago. Modern cars have something called a speed sensor that bolts into the transmission and sends electrical impulses into the dash to make the speedometer work. You start by using a scan tool to analyze and find out what is wrong with the system. You plug the scan tool into the computer control module, which is usually under your dash depending on your vehicle. Next, put your scan tool on data and watch the speed as you drive. Now in the case, if the speed staying at zero you know that the sensor is broken because it is not sending any information to the computer. Find where your speed sensor is located and replace it with a new one. Now if the scan tool reads the speed you are going then the sensor is not broken, but there is something wrong inside the speedometer itself.
If there is a problem within your speedometer, then you can always send it into a shop like Safety Restore that offers fantastic services for speedometers. Send in your speedometer and save up to $600 compared to buying a new one at the dealer. They can rebuild your speedometer to better than new condition using proprietary stepper motors & state of the art technology.
