Hi all, the speedo of my fiorino has recently decided that its not going to show me what speed i am doing , so i need to fix it in time for the mot (10 days time). Does the speedo have a connector that also goes to the temprature guage as thats stopped working at about the same time, as has the trip meter, and mileometer. The only things that still work are - the clock, the fuel guage (sort of swings all over the place), the oil pressure guage (goes to just over 4 bar), but i dont know about the tyre sensor things. Is it easy to remove the dash to find out the problem ?

christopher watson said:

Hi all, the speedo of my fiorino has recently decided that its not going to show me what speed i am doing , so i need to fix it in time for the mot (10 days time).

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Aha, mk1 instruments! My speciality

Believe it or not, the speedometer is not actually tested as part of the MOT, so technically it could pass. However, the laws says that you must have a working speedo, and the reset trip meter kind of gives the game away to PC Plod that all is not functioning as it should.

christopher watson said:

Does the speedo have a connector that also goes to the temprature guage as thats stopped working at about the same time, as has the trip meter, and mileometer.

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No. The speedometer is totally mechanical. It runs a cable down the back of the dashboard, then across to the passenger side before going into the engine bay through the bulkhead. It is then screwed into the gearbox near the back.

The trip meter and mileometer both run off the speedo cable, so by the sounds of it your speedo cable has broken or come out of the back of the speedometer. You need to check the ends of the cable to see where the problem lies.

The temperature gauge is electronic and takes a signal from a sender attached to the engine - nothing to do with the speedometer. Try and find the sender on the engine and make sure there is a wire connected to it!

christopher watson said:

The only things that still work are - the clock, the fuel guage (sort of swings all over the place), the oil pressure guage (goes to just over 4 bar), but i dont know about the tyre sensor things. Is it easy to remove the dash to find out the problem ?

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Your speedo, mileometer and trip meter all run off the same cable so that's just one fault. The temperature gauge is electronic - check the sender and cable.

The 'tyre sensor things' I take it are the two warning lights at the bottom right of your dash? Some Uno's had brake pad wear sensors and a warning light, which could be one of the lights (does it come on with ignition? Is it a glow plug warning light?) but I'm sure the other light (to the left of the overhead diagram of the car, at the bottom right of your instrument cluster) is actually a brake fluid level warning light. There is a little button near this, similar to the reset button for the trip meter. I notice yours is missing its little button! If you push it, it should illuminate the left hand lamp red to show that the bulb is working. On top of the brake fluid reservoir filler cap inside the engine bay is also a button to push that shows that the warning light on the dashboard is working. All this to save someone from lifting the bonnet and checking the fluid once a week themselves

Removing the instrument cluster is easy, removing the whole mk1 dash is a pain unless you know a few tricks!

I assume you just want to remove the instrument cluster to check the speedo cable:

Reach round the back of the top cowling that covers the instruments. You should just be able to get your fingers under the edge of the cowling. Gently but firmly pull upwards from the back, and you should find that the cowling pops out of its two locating lugs. Tilt it forwards and you should then be able to draw it off the two spring clips located either side on the two switch clusters. It should now pull completely away.

You will now see the top of the instrument cluster, with a series of plug connnectors along the top. If you look round the back you'll also see where the speedo cable fits into the speedometer. Check first to see if it is secure before removing the instrument pod.

If it is secure and you want to remove the instrument cluster/ pod, first of all remove all the wiring plugs from the top/ back. These have a simple plastic lug you push in then pull the plug off. They are designed to only fit in the correct sockets so don't worry about getting them mixed up.

Now you need to remove the speedo cable. It will have an outer casing where it fits into the back of the instrument cluster - if you grip it and push it away from the cluster it should pop off, then the speed cable can be removed.

Look to the lower left and right both sides of the instrument cluster and you'll see two screws holding the lower part of the housing down. Undo these and remove them. Now the whole instrument cluster can be removed by pulling it upwards out of the dashboard.

Refitting is simply the reversal of above!

It sounds complicated, but is in actual fact very easy and you can remove an instrument cluster in a matter of minutes.

With the instrument cluster out you can check to see if the speedo cable is working. You'll see a square end on the inner cable. If you can move the car in gear, or even drive it backwards and forwards on a driveway, you can see whether the inner cable is turning or not. If it does, then your whole speedo unit is faulty. If it doesn't, the problem lies with the cable or the drive end in the gearbox.

My money though is on a faulty speedo cable and an electrical problem causing the temperature gauge to not work.

Best of luck with getting it sorted!

Applause, please!
What 1986Uno45S did was a thorough description that deserves to be cut in stone - no kidding. And it was served in a manner that is easy to understand even for a non-technical person
BTW, christopher, if you happen to pass through Whitley Bay, give my regards to a second-hand book dealer in Gateshead. It was 5 years ago and although I still may have his card somewhere, I do not remember his name correctly. He had a great SH bookstore ranging from dime-novels to Kant, still one-man enterprise with CCTV etc.
Great bloke - he sold me a nice collection of early 1800 etchings for the lousy sum of GBP 50. They would be 5x more where I live. After some restoration, they are object of adoration of all my visitors.

1986Uno45S, the only smilie i can think about using for that fantastic guide is - :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:. Many thanks mate

edit - here is the changed picture of the dash, so it says what the lights are for (thanks to 1986Uno45S for this ).

A truly excellent write-up from Chas, that covers all the bases...

Those pictures were *huge* - I tend to leave my digital camera set to 640x480 these days, but that's just me I guess

The instrument panel was certainly interesting for the Uno-spotters. The first non-Uno Turbo oil pressure gauge I've ever seen, and the first tyre pressure indication that shows the front tyres having more pressure than the rear tyres. Which makes me wonder if you have a diesel engine?

Anyway - the speedo cable can be very difficult to re-fit properly. My guess is that someone removed the instrument cluster at some time, and failed to get the cable fully engaged. There is a collar that has to be pulled back as the cable is pushed into the clips. Fiddly, when you can't exactly get your head in there to see what's happening.

That's the best-case scenario, confirmed if you can see the cable turning as you push/drive the car with the cluster removed.

If the cable is not turning, then hopefully it has been dislodged at the gearbox end - though this is unusual.

Have there been any noises from the gearbox? e.g. roaring or whining noises, maybe changing when cornering and still present when coasting in neutral?

I say this because, in theory, if the differential bearings have worn out (unusual) then it would be possible for the plastic speedometer drive gear to be chewed out very quickly by the differential moving around. I have seen this happen on other cars (not FIATs). If this is the case, you are looking at an expensive repair...

Alternatively perhaps the plastic drive gear has simply broken. You can remove it from the gearbox quite easily to check. I think there is a small Allen screw (hex bit) to remove.

The temperature gauge sender is usually on the cylinder head (what size engine are we dealing with?) With the FIRE engine (999cc), it's on the back of the cylinder head near the cambelt cover, with the 1116cc/1301cc it's on the front, slightly above and between the spark plugs. But I have a feeling that the Fiorino has the 903cc pushrod engine - I don't know where the temp. gauge sender is for this one... perhaps look near the thermostat where the radiator top hose connects.

If you have the diesel - I have no idea... But in all cases it will probably just be the single wire (grey with yellow stripe) that has fallen off.

So... let us know how you go?

Cheers,
-Alex

Hello Alex, the fiorino has the 1697cc diesel engine. I took the speedo cable off today, and the wire inside the cable shaft came out by about 1 foot (i guess this is bad), and after refitting the clock now buzzes :bang: