96 Miata speedometer failure

Cable, would be my guess. Frank Sawin

Mine too. Though they should last forever as long as you never exceed the speed limit.

Leon

Would a bad speedo cable shut down the cruise control also?

-- Tonyrama Crystal White '93 A

They probably have an electronic speedo sender unit at the gearbox. The same signal drives the speedo and the cruise control.

In the '96 Miata the speed sensor is in the speedometer unit. There is a cable running from the trans to the speedo. Chances are either the cable's broken or the speedo unit's bad. As written above, I'd check the cable first.

As Leon implied, running at extra-legal speeds puts the cable under much greater tension due to the greater load it has to lift. If it broke, you're lucky it didn't kill anyone or cause major damage. ;-)

John McClary ('94 Miata) jsgmcclary at cox dot net

I would think so. It is one of the trouble codes in the cc self test.

Leon

Can you define "forever" in this context?

I exceed the speed limit frequently. I did so in a Nissan Sentra that went 170,000 miles before the clutch softened up.

I've done so in a Chevy Monte Carlo with 110,000 miles, no problems.

I'm just looking for numerical bounary to "forever".

And... what's an RX-6?

;-)

Dana

My 1986 VF1100S motorcycle had an electronic sender (a little magnet spun near a Hall-effect device) and the speedo was a conventional slipping-clutch kind - driven by a microprocessor-controlled stepper motor.

It was quite reliable and accurate at 145MPH, though. I have to say, my helmet was trying to come off at taht speed, with no windscreen of any kind.

Dana

Dana, "forever" is one number

Wooops!

I hit the wrong key !!!

Dana,

"forever", is one number after "infinity"

Bruce RED '91

Absolutely. I am surprised Dana did not know that.

Leon

Well, I was a little uncertain whether you were speaking metaphorically or specifically in this context. Thanks for the clarification.

Dana