[markmoloney]

The needle on my speedo randomly shoots up beyond the actual speed every now and then Any way of resolving this ?

 

[Dick]

The needle on my speedo randomly shoots up beyond the actual speed every now and then Any way of resolving this ?

Hi, Mark - since you said 'needle' spikes, I'm pretty sure you're talking about an early year model LT. There is a known issue with the speedo/cc wire that feeds into the final drive on those models. There is a brake line ferrule above the swing arm that rubs thru the insulation of the wire(s) that go to the speedo and then causes intermittant oscillation/spiking of the speedo, as well as disabling of the CC at that moment. The fix is to remove the cable tie nearby and open the wires to see where the break is (it'll be at the insulation opening), and then solder those back up and either electric tape secure it, or better yet, use heat shrink material to protect the area. Loosely install a new cable tie nearby and you should be good to go.

BTW, a good test is to run with the CC on and note when it disengages that he speedo also spiked. There is a fix spelled out in the HoW pages - just do a search on a keyword such as 'brake line ferrule', or 'speedo wire repair', etc. I'd search for it, butt I'm on a real slow connection this morning - maybe someone else can help find it. Has pics with it. Good luck.

 

[CharlieVT]

Click on the "Technical" tab on the top bar on this page.
Then click Hall of Wisdom,
Then "Troubleshooting"
Then "Electrical"
Find #10 about erratic speedometer reading.

Read all posts under Erratic speedometer and you'll read a description of the most common cause, also pictures of where to look for the problem. Many of us have had this problem and found it to be a very quick fix thanks to those who posted about it.

 

[DonR]

Re: Speedometer Spiking - Removing right-side saddle bag (’99 LT)

To fix a broken speedometer feed wire that was giving erratic speedometer readings, I had to remove the right-side bag to get reasonable working space. This took more time than the wire repair. But since I didn’t find a listing of what’s required, here’s a summary:
• Remove pillion seat (2 hex bolts)
• Remove license plate holder (2 torx screws)
• Remove one right side torx screw hidden by license plate holder
• Remove top case (see http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/jfbeard/autocom/trunkremoval.htm)
• Remove plate under top case (4 hex bolts, 2 small hex bolts, 2 torx screws) (plate then slides forward slightly)
• Loosen rear lights holder piece (3 torx screws on each side) (does not need to be removed fully)
• Remove right side pillion foot rest (3 hex bolts)
• Loosen right side battery cover (above pillion foot rest) (2 torx screws, and release front right side fairing rubber grommet) (this allows this cover to be pulled away from saddle bag)
• Remove CD changer (two Phillips screws, two plastic torx screws) (remove two wires from changer – press up on clip lever of lower plug to remove plug)
• Remove right-side saddle bag (4 hex bolts – 2 above, 2 below)

 

[Bones1955]

My 2000 was doing it and thanks to this site I fixed it easy!
I just took off the passenger foot peg area and the little side cover.
Took like a 1/2 hour total.

 

[jzeiler]

Mark has a 2005 so these won't help. This is a first for the new style dash to have "spiking" problems with the speedo. It does get its signal from the ABS unit with signal names of TA and TAS. I would think that if the ABS sensor was an issue you would also have an ABS fault. But it could not hurt to inspect the rear ABS sensor and make sure the gap does not exceed 1.5mm (0.059") at the largest point.

 

[markmoloney]

Thanks guys. Lots to check, now all I need to do is to get home and take a look.

 

[mechanic]

I had the same issue once on a trip to Daytona on a 1:30 min stop and go traffic due to a accident on I4 the speedo niddle spiked and the radio also did get really loud, guess the radio did what it was supposed to do, but not the speedo. It has not happen again but if you find a fix let me know. By the way mine is a 07 year model.

 

[Cochinosucio]

Thanks guys. Lots to check, now all I need to do is to get home and take a look.

Did you find a fix?

 

[markmoloney]

Did you find a fix?

Will check this weekend.