speedo not working

Post Mon May 23, 2005 3:29 pm

Hi all,
New to this forum and to the BMW scene. I have a 316i and I recently had a new diff fitted as the old one was in sh1t and threw me off the road...oops. Any way the old one used to cause speedo to only work intermitently, I used to give the dash a little slap and it would click back in, but since the new diff went in it just doesn't work at all. Is this an easy thing to fix, as I think it's just the connection behind the dash.

Post Mon May 23, 2005 3:44 pm

Sounds like a connection behind the dash, or a dodgy speedo cluster.
The commonest fault is dodgy connections to the sensor on the diff though, get undderneath it and give them a clean, or if you didn't put the diff in your self check they are actually plugged in

If your dash is dodgy I have a spare 318 dash, you should be able to use the code plug from yours to make it read correctly.

If you need to know how to get the cluster out just ask, cos my arms are hurting

Post Mon May 23, 2005 3:59 pm

Mine was doing the same & in the end...stopped working.
Do a search on this forum (just type speedo)--there is enough information here which will solve ur problem.

Post Mon May 23, 2005 4:13 pm

Cheers lads,
Great help, yeah someone put it in for me, is it easy to get to the connections at the diff??? I'll have a bash at it this evening.
Thanks again

Post Mon May 23, 2005 4:15 pm

They are on the back about half way up, should be really obvious.
good luck

Post Mon May 23, 2005 10:26 pm

You've got two faults. The original one, which is probably a cracked solder joint or other poor connection in the cluster, and a new one at the rear end.
It is very common for the wiring to the diff speed sensor to break internally just outside of the yellow plug. Sounds like who ever chamged the diff finished off an already fatigued wire, or the plug could be corroded and not making contact properly.
If the wire is broken, get a similar two pin plug from a scrap BMW,( plenty around the headlamp area), with about a foot of wire attached, change the yellow plastic bit over if necessary, and splice onto the shortened old lead with soldered joints protected by heat shring sleeving.

Post Tue May 24, 2005 8:26 am

I had the dry joint in the head unit problem. Went into the unit and re-flowed the solder on all the joints and it worked faultlessly after that.

I did try the connector on the diff and even bought a new sender, but it didn't work for me