Thread: TD5 130 speedo problems

The TD5 speedo sender is VSS (hall effect, IIRC 4,000ppm), same as Puma and possibly the disco range. You are on track, only things that can intermittently cause those problems is the head unit, wiring harness or sender. Tracing the harness will likely drive you to drink. Make a separate harness to bridge the head unit to sender before digging into the body harness.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

just seeking some hints about the Speedo in my 1999 TD5 130 defender (electronic speedo)

Vehicle is relatively new to me and has an intermittent speedo issue. The speed reads accurately at start of journey and then starts to fall off dropping to zero and may not read for rest of day. Next use it may or may not work but when working has similar symptoms.

Is my first thing to check the speedo head unit or the transducer on the transfer box?

(Am currently using GPS speed as a backup but not very reliable in tunnels )

Not the same but similar:

I had an issue on my D1 a while back.
Speedo started to work intermittently, and oddly.

First it sometimes didn't indicate any speed for the first couple of hundred meters, then snap to speed(eg. if I were doing 40, it would go from zero to 40 instantly).

Didn't notice at first, but odo still worked, so just needle was acting up.

Then it graduated to incorrect speedo readings, for example showing 100, when I know I'm doing more like 70 or 80, and if doing 100 would show 120.
I used to keep track of speed via revs.

But with all it's goofiness, odo still tracked right on!

Then one day when replacing a instrument bulb, I noted that a couple of the screws that hold speedo mechanism to cluster housing were a wee/tad loose.

Tightened them up and now works fine. So I reckon a dash electrical connection issue.

How does the odo work?
I would think that, if transducer is borked, it would affect both speed and klm components, but if transducer is fine, odo could have a separate internal mechanism to the indicator needle.