Picture of my new speedo
Discussion
Here is a pic of my new speedo:
http://home.flash.net/~hess/crystal_princess.htm
And here is the writeup:
So, like most of this vintage, my odometer went out at about 50K miles. So, what to do? Get it repaired for $150 and have a repaired speedo good for who knows how long, or just replace it with a better one that I might actually be able to see? Well, on my last trip to Sturgis, I stopped at the Harley dealer in Souix Falls, S.D., and was talking to the parts guy about the last year when I stopped there to buy yet another speedo cable, and he told me of Dakota Digital, who make speedos for bikes, cars, etc. They even had a display set up at Sturgis, so I looked at their stuff then. I decided to just put one of their units in and dump the VDO POS all together. A talk with their tech support guy and it looked like the ODYR-01-1 was what I needed. Not wanting to mess with the vehicle speed sensor (VSS), I opted for the speedometer cable sender adapter thingie for an extra 20 or so and also had them set the mileage to what my now dead odometer was (another 20). About $240 with shipping. The main PITA is that the hole in the dash/VDO guage is 4-1/8" and the new speedo is 4-3/8".
I took the instrument pod off, which is 4 bolts, 3 plugs, one speedo cable and about 5 minutes on the 89 non-SE. Really easy, and aproaching that flip-top dash concept. Then about an hour with a Dremel brand moto-tool and an air die grinder and the hole was just right. Wiring was easy: Switched +12v, ground from the dead clock plug, night instrument lights (dims the speedo display) from the no longer needed VDO speedo light bulb plug, and two wires (power and signal) to the cable sender adapter thingie. The cable sender adapter thingie didn't quit fit the end of the speedo cable, but I had anticipated this and the Dakota Digital guys said that most people just wrap tape around their sender until it fits the nut thing on the cable. Did that. Calibration is easy. You hold the button in, start the car, release the button, push it when AUTO shows up, drive exactly 1 mile, push the button again and you are calibrated. I measured off 1 mile by Camry and by map to confirm, and calibrated it that way.
Problem: The speedo cable does not move at a constant rate. It binds a little, so it moves fast/slow/fast/slow, etc. At a steady rate, this is OK, but when accelerating, the digital display would jump anywhere from +/- 5MPH to +/-20MPH. This kinda makes it about useless, especially in the cold. It is worse when the weather is cold, as the grease in the cable gets thicker and exacerbates the problem. So, what to do? Well, a look through the schematic showed that the ECM has a VSS input after all. I didn't look into it too thoroughly, as I didn't want to mess with the ECM wiring and with running the extra wire. As the sender thingie was not working out, taping into the VSS started to look better and better. The PO had an early 90's cell phone in the car, which I removed, but I left the wires in place. There was a head unit in the cabin, a shielded data cable going to the boot and a transceiver back there. So, I just used one of the wires in that cable. I tapped into the VSS at the ECM. There are two wires that run to the VSS from the ECM. They are purple and yellow and are twisted together and go to the middle plug. Remember this is on a 89 Non-SE. I would expect SE's to have the same colors and be twisted, but I don't know what plug they are on. Lotus (English) wiring has purple as in general being fused +12v, so I figured the yellow one would be the one I needed. I tapped into the wire near the ECM plug. After re-calibrating it, it is now working great.
A nice thing about this speedo is that you can actually see the difference between 70 and 80 MPH. And you can actually see the thing when it starts to wind up there. Actually, you can see it all the time, which is kinda nice. It also gives you 0-60 times, has a trip and service odometer and is in general, pretty nice. I am happy with it. I do now have an extra sender thingie, if anyone wants it.
Dr.Hess
http://home.flash.net/~hess/crystal_princess.htm
And here is the writeup:
So, like most of this vintage, my odometer went out at about 50K miles. So, what to do? Get it repaired for $150 and have a repaired speedo good for who knows how long, or just replace it with a better one that I might actually be able to see? Well, on my last trip to Sturgis, I stopped at the Harley dealer in Souix Falls, S.D., and was talking to the parts guy about the last year when I stopped there to buy yet another speedo cable, and he told me of Dakota Digital, who make speedos for bikes, cars, etc. They even had a display set up at Sturgis, so I looked at their stuff then. I decided to just put one of their units in and dump the VDO POS all together. A talk with their tech support guy and it looked like the ODYR-01-1 was what I needed. Not wanting to mess with the vehicle speed sensor (VSS), I opted for the speedometer cable sender adapter thingie for an extra 20 or so and also had them set the mileage to what my now dead odometer was (another 20). About $240 with shipping. The main PITA is that the hole in the dash/VDO guage is 4-1/8" and the new speedo is 4-3/8".
I took the instrument pod off, which is 4 bolts, 3 plugs, one speedo cable and about 5 minutes on the 89 non-SE. Really easy, and aproaching that flip-top dash concept. Then about an hour with a Dremel brand moto-tool and an air die grinder and the hole was just right. Wiring was easy: Switched +12v, ground from the dead clock plug, night instrument lights (dims the speedo display) from the no longer needed VDO speedo light bulb plug, and two wires (power and signal) to the cable sender adapter thingie. The cable sender adapter thingie didn't quit fit the end of the speedo cable, but I had anticipated this and the Dakota Digital guys said that most people just wrap tape around their sender until it fits the nut thing on the cable. Did that. Calibration is easy. You hold the button in, start the car, release the button, push it when AUTO shows up, drive exactly 1 mile, push the button again and you are calibrated. I measured off 1 mile by Camry and by map to confirm, and calibrated it that way.
Problem: The speedo cable does not move at a constant rate. It binds a little, so it moves fast/slow/fast/slow, etc. At a steady rate, this is OK, but when accelerating, the digital display would jump anywhere from +/- 5MPH to +/-20MPH. This kinda makes it about useless, especially in the cold. It is worse when the weather is cold, as the grease in the cable gets thicker and exacerbates the problem. So, what to do? Well, a look through the schematic showed that the ECM has a VSS input after all. I didn't look into it too thoroughly, as I didn't want to mess with the ECM wiring and with running the extra wire. As the sender thingie was not working out, taping into the VSS started to look better and better. The PO had an early 90's cell phone in the car, which I removed, but I left the wires in place. There was a head unit in the cabin, a shielded data cable going to the boot and a transceiver back there. So, I just used one of the wires in that cable. I tapped into the VSS at the ECM. There are two wires that run to the VSS from the ECM. They are purple and yellow and are twisted together and go to the middle plug. Remember this is on a 89 Non-SE. I would expect SE's to have the same colors and be twisted, but I don't know what plug they are on. Lotus (English) wiring has purple as in general being fused +12v, so I figured the yellow one would be the one I needed. I tapped into the wire near the ECM plug. After re-calibrating it, it is now working great.
A nice thing about this speedo is that you can actually see the difference between 70 and 80 MPH. And you can actually see the thing when it starts to wind up there. Actually, you can see it all the time, which is kinda nice. It also gives you 0-60 times, has a trip and service odometer and is in general, pretty nice. I am happy with it. I do now have an extra sender thingie, if anyone wants it.
Dr.Hess
Well done no excuses for speeding now huh 
Just like to point out what a great website you have very informative esp on the parts list, will definately come in handy
The partner not long ago bought a complete set of these gauges set in their custom made dash, flames of course for his Hot Rod. He couldn't beleive what such good quality and so many features on them with demo modes top speed what gear your in etc etc.
Apart from giving you the speed, does it measure other things as well?
Just like to point out what a great website you have very informative esp on the parts list, will definately come in handy
The partner not long ago bought a complete set of these gauges set in their custom made dash, flames of course for his Hot Rod. He couldn't beleive what such good quality and so many features on them with demo modes top speed what gear your in etc etc.
Apart from giving you the speed, does it measure other things as well?
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