Hi all, i have a 2001 fiat brava 1.2 16v. I was having problems with the needle on temperature gauge and found when i tapped the dash it would fix problem then i did this 1 day and my speed gauge then stopped working. has anyone any idea as to what i can do to sort the problem as my m.o.t is due in couple of weeks.
thanx

Take it apart and repair the contacts.
Guide from BOO:
http://fiatboo.co.uk/photogal/guidepics/jumpingtempdial_2.pdf
The guide is for the temp gauge, but do the same stuff on the speedo. Apply some contact cleaner on the way.
Also disconnect the battery, far safer that way.

thankyou so much, will have a go at this tomorrow. wish me luck lol xx

hi again, i tried doing what you showed me and after putting it all back together it still doesn't work. have you any other ideas for me to try?

How hard did you punch it...?
Does the trip/odometer work?
If they work, the dash is getting signal and only the speedo clock does not work.
You could try replacement gauges from scrappers (straight swap, any mk2 round clock from same trim level 1.2 or 1.6 should do, not sure about 1.8). If the replacement does not work, its propably the wiring or gearbox sensor.
Cabling for sensor to dash is Orange-Black and Grey-Orange (chassis for ground).

If your radio has VSS line going to it (not sure, only tested this with higher spec marea), you can check if the radio is getting the signal from the gearbox with multimeter at frequency setting.
Attach probe to the VSS line (Block A pin 1, reads on the radio if you got factory one) and ground the other probe on cigarettelighter/chassis and drive.
Frequency goes up as speed goes up (above 1Khz at 80kph I guess, did that long time ago when setting up cruise control).
This way you can be sure you got working sensor even if the dash is dead.

it was more of a hard tap than punch. done what you said again today cos didnt think i pushed pins enough, the engine management light has been on ever since speedo stopped working and after trying it again the light went off for about a minute but then came back on. trip/odometer is working but obviously not clocking any mileage.

I've beaten my dash with good force and driven on bad roads so whole car vibrates and havent had problems for years (last tap couple years back seems to have cured the temp gauge).

Being 2001 I assume it has OBDII interface, so you could have error for vehicle speed sensor. Theyre not uncommon to break.
Some older ECUs did not need speed information at all so they would not show errors.
Atleast you should be able to read vehicle speed via the OBD interface when on move to diagnose the fault (and get the fault code for the light).
Odometer having lights and old milage but not counting means its broken, just as is your speedo, possibly no signal to it.

I dont have OBDII myself so forgot the whole thing.

Looking at the wiring diagrams the speed sensor is powered by the gauges and there is no direct line from sensor to the ECU like on my Marea, so the gauges must pass the information to ECU
I would still recommend scrapyard clocks, but being OBDII with that kind of setup, I think nonOBD gauges wont work (unsure about this).

took your advice and got clocks from scrapyard but after changing them still got the same problem, where do i go from here?

I would get the errorcode for the light, might give some insight on the issue.
Also the frequency measurement from radio VSS line (if it is possible) should tell if the sensor is intact or not.

If is same as punto boxes the sensor is on topside at the right side of differential.

Cant help anymore I think, seems just wierd that tapping on dash could have killed the sensor itself.