Cold weather causing speedo to slip

[SPUMONI_RT]

This problem only happens when It is cold and my car isn't totally warmed up yet. this problem doesn't happen everyday either.

I get in and when i accelerate my speedo goes up really fast to above what i'm driving at. I'll be going about 60 and it says 80.

The harder i accelerate it worse it is so if i womp on it in first and second the speedo climbs really fast and if i take it easy it does it slower.

I can hear it clicking like a plastic gear grinding. And I can see the pointer jittering too.

Then out of nowhere it will just hook up and go right to where it's suppost to be.

[Mattheww044]

is the noise REALLY loud and annoying?
Mine does the same thing. From what I read, its just the way our speedo's are designed, its going to happen and there isnt much we can do about it.

[sqc151]

check the cable where in goes into the trans. make sure its all the way in. then drive it, if theres no difference after a couple days take the gauge cluster out and see if the cable is plugged all the way in. youll have to unplug from the trans first to do this so make sure your cable is all the way in the trans first before you attempt this. after you check that drive it and see if it makes a difference. if not its probly the gauge cluster itself.

[Legacy777]

You may have grease that made it into the speedo mechanism in the gauge cluster and with the colder temps it's causing things to stick.

Unfortunately, I'm not really sure of a solution other than pulling everything and cleaning & regreasing it.

[Mattheww044]

too much of a PITA for me... it only does it when its REALLLY cold, Im not too worried about it.

[SPUMONI_RT]

Yes its loud and pisses me off.

Well Thanks I'm going to check and see if it is plugged in the trans all the way, but most likely it is probably the grease like Legacy777 said because it seems to be the most logical answer.

[BSOD2600]

I've got a thread somewhere where I took the speedo unit apart with lots of pictures... .

Anyways, the speedo is magnetically rotated via the shaft that comes from the transmission. The two spinning plates sit really close to each other, so if any grease got in there, would be friction issues throwing the speed off. Also, there is a piece of spring steel wound around the speedometer needle shaft, that returns it back to 0. Over time, I bet it gets weaker and has less resistance to the magnatism of the speedoshaft

[AWD_addict]

If you take it apart to clean, be careful reinstalling the gauge cluster. It's easy to pinch the speedo cable inside the dash. I ended up breaking my speedo cable that way, and it was a pain in the back (literally) to replace it.

[Legacy Rally Guy]

I HATE it when it happens..

luckily I've no speedos. :3 hehe sorry, HAD to

[Mattheww044]

Ive went several months without a speedo and never had any problems. I am glad to have a speedo, but the few times a year it decideds to make that noise isn't too big of a deal to me.