This car has been great. It's been abused and passed thru the family since new. I've had it for the last 5yrs and fixed it up because it's a great little car that owes me nothing.
The speedometer went from 70 to 0 on the highway the other day. Got to my destination and it had time to sit for a couple hrs. Got back on the road and it worked for about 10 miles.....but fluctuated quickly within a few mph at a steady speed. Then it went dead again. I took out the Speedometer sending unit and the gear looks fine. I spun the gear with a drill and the speedometer registers the movement just fine. This leads me to think there is an internal problem in the tranny.
If anyone can shed some light on this for me it would be great. I'm going to pull the tranny and take it apart one of these weekends if I have to.
Sorry for the long thread and Thanks in advance!!
Tim
there is a plastic drive gear in the gearbox that fails
the 'box has to be taken out to replace it unfortunately
easy fix once the box is out and the part is cheap
i had a volvo 740 with the same problem. That being said...try this just to see something...
When my speedo went dead on my 740 all I had to was smack the top of the dash right above the speedo. It would come back to life. Rather than pull the tranny, I thought it mught just be an error in the cluster, so I went and bought a 100 dollar used cluster and just swapped it back in, it took 10 minutes....and voila...it worked for another 5 years.
Even though the gear might work, it might be a problem more inside of the cluster.
I hit the dash when one of the gauge lights goes out. Works like a charm. But unfortunately, I think it's the plastic gear inside the gearbox. I stuck my finger in the speedometer sensor hole and had someone turn a tire. I could not feel anything that would contact with the plastic gear on the sensor. Does anyone know what and where I should get/order this plastic gear? I'm a mechanic, pulling engines and trannys is routine. But I don't know much about manual transmissions. Thanks, Tim
I hit the dash when one of the gauge lights goes out. Works like a charm. But unfortunately, I think it's the plastic gear inside the gearbox. I stuck my finger in the speedometer sensor hole and had someone turn a tire. I could not feel anything that would contact with the plastic gear on the sensor. Does anyone know what and where I should get/order this plastic gear? I'm a mechanic, pulling engines and trannys is routine. But I don't know much about manual transmissions. Thanks, Tim
When I used to hit the dash on the Volvo, I had to be in motion to get the speedo to kick in...
Well the plus is this, if you pull the tranny/engine, you could redo some seals at the same time...even if they aren't leaking you might as well do it.
As for the rest of this, I cant even act like I know, but it might be worth spending 30 bucks on the Haynes/Chiltons guide if you can find one.
Did you replace the removable sending unit when you tested the speedo with your drill? It's a ~$20 part that could be the difference between a $1800 rebuild and a working speedometer.
If it is the internal gear, then you are hosed. Yes it costs about as much to replace that little gear as you would spend on a reconditioned box. The good news is, the car will run. Bad news is it runs on a safe fuel map and you don't get quite the boost you are used to. I think if your car has TCS though, it doesn't run at all. My 94 Aero had this problem and I was able to drive for quite a few months before I replaced the trans.
I'm fortunate that it's not a daily driver and that I can pull it out myself. The car doesn't run that great since the speedo stopped. So I'm gonna park it and hope I make time this weekend to tear it apart. If I can find out what internal gear I need to order before tearing it apart that would be good, but either way I am hosed and need to pull it out and take it apart.
My spedo also stopped working and feared i would have to remove the gearbox, but whist investigating there is a bullet type junction for the spedo atthe back of the engine bay. I found that these had come apart. Once i had reatached there the spedo worked correctly an the car drove ok. As the ECU needs a feed from the spedo else the car keeps stalling when going back to idle.
I'm fortunate that it's not a daily driver and that I can pull it out myself. The car doesn't run that great since the speedo stopped. So I'm gonna park it and hope I make time this weekend to tear it apart.
Oh, you're fortunate then to have the Saab specific tools to dismantle the transaxle. Most people don't. It's not like that gear is in the bell housing; it's a job where you need to remove everything and then you can get to the gear. You're more adventurous than I am though. Good luck.
No....I don't have the special tool needed. But I work at a transmission shop where I can get help If I run into a problem. What special tool will I need?
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