New s13, speedometer slips.

Hi all. Just put away my GSR and got myself a nice new, totally stock 240 ('91). I am so psyched.

Everything seems fine, but the speedometer works intermittently. It mostly sits at 0, but occasionally will sputter and jump up when I am going about 30mph. Any slower or faster and it dies.

I did a search but didnt find anything similar. Any thoughts? Could this be a problem with the speedometer unit that I could easily replace, or is it a more serious problem in the tranny?

Also, does the 240 have some kind of traction control system I don't know about that limits power under sudden acceleration? Either that or my clutch is slipping... heh.

its probably a slipping clutch.. and about the speedo, no clue

having the speedo die is common in S13's. I have it kick in and die out intermittently as well but its never really bothered me so I've never gotten it checked out. I'd suggest just doing some quick guestimating while driving and using the RPM's/Gear to determine what speed you are going, its jumped to 70mph before when I was going 20 in my neighborhood.


And your other problem, I'd have the drivetrain checked out. Other than that I'd think HICAS but I barely know what that even means, just know people hate it.

The powerloss problem is probably your clutch slipping. I had a friend who got in a really bad wreck and his speedo also did that. Id take a look at the speedos cables and everything, or take it in and get it looked at..

Cool, thanks for the input. Im not so much worried about how fast I'm going, mainly I'm concerned with my upcoming NYC safety inspection. Apparently they check the whole car out when you switch titles, I don't want to have to argue about some stupid speed guage when I have a perfectly good tach. ^_^

RK - I thought HICAS had to do with steering managment. I'll do some searching and get more info...

HICAS is 4 wheel steering. It engages over like 60mph or something like that.

your speed sensor might be fucked up... when you are standing behind the car looking at the car it will be near the rear tranny bracket, THE TRANNY BRACKET, not the drivetrain.....
when you look under the car you should see i think 4 sensors and then the very last one at the end is your speed sensor, it takes one 10mm wrench to get it out, it is only one bolt, and when you take it out it will look like something that spins, kinda like a turbo wheel, lol.
but yea that might be it. i dont know how you Couldnt tell if your clutch was slipping, i mean floor it shift hard at 6k and keep it to the floor, if your revs shoot up or it kinda just creeps to the rpm it should be at, then you have a slipping clutch.
-tim

Well there are easier, less destructive methods of testing the clutch. Like just pushing the gas when you are in gear and hearing/wathcing RPM rise with no acceleration. That is a dead giveaway.

lol my speedo is crazy like that too. for no reason sometimes it flips all the way to the right like im going 100000 mph but im going like 20. and then for no reason flips back and works fine again. happens all the time. bad speed sensor probly, or faulty wiring. the sensor feeds varying voltage to the speedo (thru ecu) and if the voltage goes to 0 or 12 from a faulty ground or short or whatever it will see as if im going lightspeed! lol

my car goes into all gears fine, but when i'm driving normal and i shift to second gear, i don't HEAR it but i can feel it in the shifter, its a little grinding feeling, but its super faint, also, i hear this thump when i let the clutch out in second, much much much fainter in all other gears, my friend has an 83 supra an his tranny does that in all gears, but his is in top shape, no props, its that light thump normal?

i think my clutch is slipping a little bit too, i've never replace a clutch before, how much expected to cost to get it replaced???

like 100 - 3000 dollars.

realrayman, its prolly engine/tranny mounts.

realrayman, its prolly engine/tranny mounts.

for the thumping or the light grinding feeling?

Well, my car passed NYC safety inspection even with a useless speedometer. I talked to the safety inspector for a while, and he was like "if you don't care, I dont care". ^_^

As far as the clutch is concerned. It is for SURE slipping now. I was just uncertain at first cause it would only loose a little power accelerating out of turns. Now it is trashed.

So... I'm checking brands. Dont want to spill out the 350 for an ACT. Just need something reasonable till I get the SR20. I'm looking at RPS, ClutchMasters, and Centerforce. Any thoughts?

I would just get whatever they have at your local auto parts store for a clutch.lol Back when I was stock, I picked up a Zoom clutch at Advanced Auto Parts for like $100. It was a shitty clutch, but it held out for 10,000 miles until I did my KA-T and put an ACT in.

Well it might be a while before I put in an SR, or maybe go KA-T...

Anyways, I figured since I was going to the trouble and expense I would spring for the ACT. Hope it's worth it. ^_^

As far as second gear goes, there is a little clicking there, but not too bad yet. I don't drag, so I'm not worried. Thanks for the advice though.