Lada USA Discussion Board

[gblackwo]

When I got my Lada earlier this year, I quickly found the speedometer/odometer was not working. I found where the speedometer line connected to the odometer assembly was pretty poorly held together.

The speedometer cable wasn't in good shape, so I replaced it, and quickly lost another one because I tightened down in a fashion that froze it at the dash end, so it was torqued apart.

In the end, I stripped the end of the speedometer line (the tube) to the metal, and JB welded it to the housing that plugs into the odometer assembly. It is solid as a rock.

I've been driving it that way for about 450 miles. I've had flutter in the speedometer, very fine at high speeds, and somewhat larger and a bit more violent at small speeds. Have you guys experienced similar flutter? This is my first car with a mechanical speedometer cable.

I lost my 2nd speedometer cable today. I popped the dash, and sure enough, it had frozen at the dash and- and torqued apart. Thankfully, they are only 8 bucks a pop.

Luckily, before the cable broke, I had compared the speed shown versus my gps, and realized there is a significant discrepancy. The trip odometer turns over about 1.1 miles to every actual mile, and the km/h are off by around 10-20. It will read 120km/hr when the actual speed is around 100km/hr.

I just replaced all the tires, but if they were the problem- then the speed shown would imply that my new tires are too small. This simply can't be. They are 13" tires, they look proportional, and if they were any larger, there would be clearance issues. I originally thought that the flutter may have been due to bearings that are going out, and that oscillations were transferring through the gearbox. But that doesn't explain for the speed discrepancy. The speedometer/odometer itself seems to be working fine.

Any ideas?

[gblackwo]

After some further digging, it seems unlikely that the gearbox connection was modified. And my new tires match the OD of the previous set.

Has anyone experienced a similar discrepancy in their odometer/speedometer? My tires are 175/70R13's.

One of my summer projects may be converting from the mechanical speedo.

[GadgetBoy]

Your speedo is normal. European law states speedos must not under-read and the manufacturers tend to make them over-read to comply. A 10% error is normal.
_________________
GadgetBoy
'96 Niva 1.7i
Belfast, N. Ireland
http://www.ladaniva.co.uk

[gblackwo]

Thanks for the peace of mind. I'm very aware of "lada tolerances" but they still surprise me occasionally.