Would anyone konw which wheel the speedo takes its reading from, ive disconnected both of the front asr/abs connectors and it still reads the speed


trying to find a loose connection,

The speedo gets its messages from the body computer
The body computer gets its speed messages from the ABS unit
The ABS unit gets its individual wheel speed messages from all 4 ABS sensors
So if you lose one ABS sensor it isn't fooled into thinking you're not moving

Deckchair5 said:

So if you lose one ABS sensor it isn't fooled into thinking you're not moving

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Damn....damn.....my plan has been foiled!

cheers decks

its just going to make it 4 times as hard detecting the loose connection now

im sure its one of the abs sensors, at around 3500 rpm doing 70-75 it will keep flashing loose connection randomly, at the same time, the speedo counter will drop to say 50 and then back up, as well as show the traction contol/abs/warnig light on th rev counter..

this is whats happening..

Think I'd have a look at the ABS unit connector and give it a clean up. It's pretty easy to get to

right d4 connector has been cleaned, both ecu connectors, the asr connector too, all the fuses have been removed checked cleaned and put back in, all asr connectors cleaned, and it still does it, on the way back from work it was every 20 to 40 seconds, on the motorway, the steering wheel icon came on at the same time at one of the loose connection warnings, does this give any clues!??,


This is the first time since i bought the car that its startig to **** me off, i would gladly see the back of it , Im at crossroads, its costing so much each month since problems keep arising, 4 new coils, new cat, new map sensor,


what do i do?? i cant locate the problem,

Ben, I'm only guessing but in your position, I'd start looking behind the dash.

I suspect it will be one of those jobs where you don't find the fault but when you put everything back it cures itself.

Look for any earthing issues related to the instrument cluster and you might just see something up.

Look on the bright side - you can cure those instrument rattles at the same time

if you remove your instrument cluster you might check the circuit board inside with a magnifier glass - sometimes there is corrosion on it which can cause all kind of strange faults .......
you can clean the surface with a toothbrush or something similar.
i repaired a cluster this way which cut out several minutes after start-up...

well had the clocks out, and near on every connector, still playing up, more often too now, went to fiat, £70.50 to put it on examiner, fighting a losing battle, I dont know what to do, im not outlaying anymore money on it,


gsr and powerflow might be up for grabs then!

bad to say im getting so many problems on a car with 45k on the clock,.,,

Fancy going car hunting next week Ben

Steely said:

well had the clocks out, and near on every connector, still playing up, more often too now, went to fiat, £70.50 to put it on examiner.....

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That's a bit pricey for one hour on Examiner

Did you at least go out for a run with Examiner connected and see what it reports when the fault occurs?

right another update,

had all connectors out again, incluidign the d4, and all others related, had the clocks out, cleaned the contacts, still does it

battery??? hmmmm i tested the voltage this morning and it was holding 11.5volts 14v when running, (alternator charging), but tonight its 12.8v so its losing 1.3volts overnight???

what should the alternator be kicking out on stilos??, because im possibly thinking either the battery is duff, or the regulator rectifier on the alternator is dickie!,

any advice would be great, cheers Argo for the help, they be so frustrating!!! sameto everyone who's helped so far!,

Those figures sound fine. as long as it's holding 12.5v with everything heavy switched on then the alternator is fine. It'll only go to 14v whilst it's charging then it will drop back to around 12v after you stop the engine

Think of "loose connection" more as "lost connection" which is what it is technically e.g. lost signal/voltage

Does the gremlin happen in 4th and 3rd at the same rpm too?

Deckchair5 said:

Those figures sound fine. as long as it's holding 12.5v with everything heavy switched on then the alternator is fine. It'll only go to 14v whilst it's charging then it will drop back to around 12v after you stop the engine

Think of "loose connection" more as "lost connection" which is what it is technically e.g. lost signal/voltage

Does the gremlin happen in 4th and 3rd at the same rpm too?

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yes exactly, around 4k in either gear, mostly 3-4 and 5th


is it something you know of???

just to add i have found out also it happens only when the car is under load, as in foot to the floor , never whilst decelerating

As it's rpm related and not car speed i'd look more at the engine electrics/ sensors and connectors.

I recall someone had a coil that broke down at a certain rpm and everything went haywire at that point. A certain rpm and only under load sounds like a coil problem. It's just that if the coil's high voltage breaks out to earth it's like a dose of lightning to the rest of the electrics

hmmm well i have no miss-firing, and its just had 4 new champion coils , so i'll have to have a look into it,,

I'd check the plugs as a largish gap will make the coils work harder and find an easier route home. If you have the old coils I'd try substituting one at at time and see what happens. Intermittent faults are always the most difficult. Keep working on the clues
RPM related =engine
only under load= fuel/ air/ ignition

nice one cheers decks, will keep you updated

Deckchair5 said:

I recall someone had a coil that broke down at a certain rpm and everything went haywire at that point. A certain rpm and only under load sounds like a coil problem. It's just that if the coil's high voltage breaks out to earth it's like a dose of lightning to the rest of the electrics

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I remember that one Decks and was thinking along the same lines myself.

Seems a long shot indeed but certainly worth swapping out the coils one at a time to make sure.