Speedo Calibration - fixed (nearly)

Speedo Calibration - fixed (nearly)

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Discussion

rdl001

Original Poster:

82 posts

66 months

Wednesday 10th April 2019
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The speedo of my 1996 Chim has always read over 20% too fast through the whole speed range. After reading many threads around speedo calibration it seems that about 10% is acceptable to most people.

This is what I found,
When measuring the gap between the sensor read head and the 'teeth' of the diff I had variation in the gaps between 0.2mm to 1.4mm. I found that one of the 'teeth' was bent up and three of the 'teeth' were bent down which gave the variation. The sensor is an inductive proximity switch which picks up the leading edge of each 'tooth' for an 'on' pulse and the lagging edge of each 'tooth' for an 'off' pulse producing a square wave. Most inductive proximity's have a slight hysteresis between the 'on' and the 'off' trigger distance so the consistency of height and width of very 'tooth' is very important.
I spent many hours bending a filing my 'teeth' until the gap with a feeler gauge was exactly the same on EVERY 'tooth'.

The accuracy of my speedo instantly improved to 8% through the whole range. Also, I increased my sensor gap from 0.3mm to 1mm and still get 8%.
Now I am happy, this may help other with a similar problem.

Regards,

blitzracing

6,394 posts

221 months

Thursday 11th April 2019
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Check the back of the speedo- you may find a calibration sticker covering a hole so you can tweak it for the last bit.

rdl001

Original Poster:

82 posts

66 months

Thursday 11th April 2019
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Unfortunately my speedo does not have any trim adjustment on the back

phillpot

17,140 posts

184 months

Thursday 11th April 2019
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rdl001

Original Poster:

82 posts

66 months

Thursday 11th April 2019
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Tried it, this item does not work well with a 2 wire proximity device

450Nick

4,027 posts

213 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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Put some smaller profile tyres on the back wobble

spikep

471 posts

283 months

Sunday 14th April 2019
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Who you not need higher profile tyres? That would increase the distance of 1 wheel rotation and therefore the speed.

Dalamar

252 posts

76 months

Tuesday 23rd April 2019
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Speedycables do an inline calibration box that worked for me when my refurbished speedo was still way off from reality (compared to GPS values). I let Speedycables know what diff, gearbox and tyres etc that my car had but still my speedo was way off (>10%). The box allowed me to dial it right in and I settled for about 2% error.

Handy for any future changes too.

Attached is the set up instructions that were supplied and cost was around £60.