Possible to convert speedo to cable drive?

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Bodgit et scarpa

New Member
Posts
7
Location
Bulgaria
Hello all.
I'm on a seriously low budget and trying to repair my shed of a 300tdi so need a little help please.
The speedo is knackered but I can't afford the transducer, my tacho is also useless as I don't have the correct alternator. Is there a cheaper way, maybe converting to a cable that fits, if there is a cable that fits? I'm not bothered about looks, as long as I've got a more accurate way of gauging speed than a wet finger out the window.
 
Seriously £40 is too much money?
FOR LAND ROVER DEFENDEROVERY Mk1 300 Tdi 1989-98 GEARBOX SPEEDO SPEED SENSOR | eBay
You could try one of these
Bearmach Land Rover Defender 90 110 130 200 300tdi Speedo Cable - PRC6022 | eBay

But then you wouldn't be able to make it work on your dash as it requires an electrical signal to work so you'd need one of these
Land Rover Discovery 200 TDI Speedo Clocks Speedo Unit Speedometer

If not that then an aftermarket speedo gauge that'd work with it and read correctly, so basically it is going to cost you more than the transducer any which way.

Failing that, use your phone, open google play, download speed app and install on your phone, I use one when testing the speed of the nitro cars, cable tie it to the body and it measures speed and top speed is saved.
 
Yeah dead serious unfortunately, I'm on £30 - £50 a week, which is plenty normally but when things go wrong it isn't enough and I've already shelled out loads on welding, bushes, UJ's and rod ends. Cheers though, if that cable fits then I'm sure there's a way to find a clock that will fit it. Might be cheaper to buy a basic smartphone.
 
Bodgit et scarpa said:
Yeah dead serious unfortunately, I'm on £30 - £50 a week, which is plenty normally but when things go wrong it isn't enough and I've already shelled out loads on welding, bushes, UJ's and rod ends. Cheers though, if that cable fits then I'm sure there's a way to find a clock that will fit it. Might be cheaper to buy a basic smartphone.
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Feel your pain :(

Scrap yard, find an Austin/Leyland/Rover/Jaguar of 1980s vintage, they will all have the same speedo drive cable and maybe you could try and grab the clocks too and cobble a speedo out of that? So long as you can accurately time yourself through a known distance at a given speed you could work out what numbers correspond on the dial?
 
jamesmartin said:
exactly ive quite a few used transducers from lt230 builds over time ,worth nothing to me
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That^^^ might be even better cos even if UK is not so close to Bulgaria IMO the "classic" Royal mail fees are the best in the world and can be cheaper than from a neigbour country with a sh*t postal service(like ours) :)
 
sierrafery said:
That^^^ might be even better cos even if UK is not so close to Bulgaria IMO the "classic" Royal mail fees are the best in the world and can be cheaper than from a neigbour country with a sh*t postal service(like ours) :)
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i thought it was very nice of you to offer,which reminded me i have several
 
That is really kind of both of you and I didn't expect an offer like that! Thankyou, I will take one of you up on it after checking that's all I need and a little research into that bike sensor. I can't remember off hand but is the original transducer two wires and if so would you have any idea how to connect the bike sensor to my existing speedo or would it require a digital clock to go with it? Sorry, I'm terrible with electrical things.
 
Bodgit et scarpa said:
That is really kind of both of you and I didn't expect an offer like that! Thankyou, I will take one of you up on it after checking that's all I need and a little research into that bike sensor. I can't remember off hand but is the original transducer two wires and if so would you have any idea how to connect the bike sensor to my existing speedo or would it require a digital clock to go with it? Sorry, I'm terrible with electrical things.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be modifying things you don't have to - keep it as original as possible IMHO. Transducers last a while normally, and are plug and play, so I'd just take one of the kind and brilliant offers above :)
 
just a quick thought try get to the wires for the transducer with a tester. i get a new transducer and new clocks and ended up being a screwed wire from the transducer to the clocks replaced them and all been fine since.

note if your going to change the wiring the loom for the transducer it shares its earth with the reverse light.
 
ceffyn said:
just a quick thought try get to the wires for the transducer with a tester. i get a new transducer and new clocks and ended up being a screwed wire from the transducer to the clocks replaced them and all been fine since.

note if your going to change the wiring the loom for the transducer it shares its earth with the reverse light.
Click to expand...

The transducer doesn't have any earth connections it's a plastic encased unit. As this transducer is passive sensor it therefore has a single electrical supply in, off the top of my head that's from a D1s fuse14 in the dash fusebox, then there's a wire onward from the transducer to the instrument cluster.
Although not important, there is tappings in the instrument cluster to the EDC and cruise control ECU, if the vehicle has those items fitted.

As mentioned above the transducer can last a while, in my case still using the original, and if it does fail its not a big issue to replace.





Sent from my iPad Air on a train.
 
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