Been looking at my speedo/odometer for three days. I get a speed with the needle but the odometer is stuck transitioning from a xxxx99 reading to a xxx100 reading.
Time for a vote. Change out the whole speedo, Yes or No? Sound to me like another salvage yard search. Or, anyone out there with a spare to unload? The current stuck readout is 94,500.
Thanks, Paul
Paul,
We have had an occasional odometer rollover problem in my wifeās 1990 XJ-S convertible ever since we got it 14 years ago. It has happened about a dozen times. The first few times it happened I removed the instrument cluster, removed the speedometer, pushed the odometer through the rollover, and tried what I could to clean and fix it to no avail. That took an hour or so each time it happened. After that I drilled a small barely visible hole in the clear plastic over the speedometer and when it happens now I poke a long metal pin that I store in the glovebox through the drilled hole to coax the rollover. If you look closely at the attached picture you will see that hole circled in red. Coaxing that stuck odometer now takes a few seconds.
Thanks Paul, I must say, that is an innovative fix. Is there anything special about the ālong metal pinā? (Just joking. Sometimes these posts need that.) This is the 2nd time this has happened to me and this is the replacement speedo retro fitted in approximately 2001. Many decades ago in LA there was a guy who had a speedo shop and he would repair these things. I highly doubt he is still around. That was in the early sixty or maybe even the fiftys.
I wonder ā¦ is this another thang that we can lay on Lucas design and manufacturing practices?
anyway Is there anyone out there with a speedo with mileage of 95,000 or just a speed that I can take apart and put back together to see if anything can be done?
Thanks, Paul
There is a repair shop in Michigan that is highly rated in the Corvette world for repairing speedometers and other instruments, but they are not Corvette specialists. I havenāt had personal experience with them, I just know they have a good reputation. You would need to remove the speedometer and ship it to them.
Bobās Speedometer 800-592-9673
10123 Bergin Rd.
Howell, MI 48843
https://www.bobsspeedometer.com/1/120/index.asp
I think that if you take the speedo out, most probably all it would need is some light grease or oil in a few critical areas. Fiddly but not difficult.
I repaired my non zeroing trip odometer issue this way.
This happened on a 1985 Honda Accord I had, in fact within a few hundred miles of buying the car second hand. I took that odometer completely apart, cleaned up the individual numbered wheels and lubed it. When reassembling, I had the choice of setting the mileage to anything I desired, but I went ahead and put it somewhere close to where I figured it would have been had it not jammed up. Never had another lick oā trouble with that odometer, and probably put close to 100K miles on that car before selling it.
I have two extra gauge clusters if you decide to replace. Iāll check to see what mileage is on the speedometer.
You can PM me if you decide you want one. I canāt attest to their working or not but if nothing else maybe youāll have one to send out for repair while still driving the car if need to.
How strict is California on enforcing the federal law on odometer mileage changes.
Probably not 
Jaguar typically used Smiths gauges back then. Although, circa 1983, Jaguar transitioned to Veglia gauges in the Series III sedans, at least
I canāt remember what the XJS used, specifically. I wanna say Smiths.
Cheers
DD
I bought my 88 that looks like the odometer was stuck for 8 years. I started by removing the blue motor looking thing that turns the odometer (itās held in by a clip), sprayed a little silicone on odometer wheels and spun a hundred miles or so by finger, sprayed silicone in blue motor stem and turned that back and forth a lot, put it all back together, and it worked.
Just kidding. I was in a funny/strange mood last night after 3 days of no electricity and therefore no electronics and no hi tech electronic social activity.
The early barrel gauge cluster are marked made in UK and Delco. Presumably this was GM/Vauxhall AC-Delco?
You guys are far more āfussyā than I. I tolerate a speedo that is about 25 % overspeed. So, the odometer does work. But, over indicates the miles driven. I care not.,
But, Insurance is mileage rated in part!! so, I just advised my insuror of the present odometer numbers. It works. But, if I racked up a lot of miles, which I no longer do, it could be an issue in premium dollars!!
Does the state or the Feds have speedo cops ?? Nope. Get nailed in another manner, Possibleā¦
Not sure if the speedo shop is still here, once in townā¦
Iāve not been that way in a spell.
So, suppose one chose not to have a speedo at all or one that was not working at all. Speed limit issue. Two solutions. The tachometer. GPS!!!
Carl
Carl
In the UK insurance companies can be picky about the yearly milage being recorded, not sure why as it recorded on the MOT for cars older than 3 years.
When looking for a replacement for my first XJ6, I came across a low milage SIII that had done less than 1,000 miles in the last 3 years - āI only drive it once a month to the golf club, look at the MOTsā. While taking it for a test drive, the speedo gave up after less than 2 miles, just like mine used to do before I replaced the speedo transducer. The seller claimed no knowledge of the problem. I declined making a purchase.
Greg,
I did the same cleaning and lubricating to our speedometer three times and then came up with another solution. The rollover problem occurred once a year or so, so not a big deal. But I was concerned about the durability of the instrument panel flexiboard and didnāt want to keep removing the cluster every time the odometer got stuck.
The odometer hasnāt gotten stuck recently, but after this email string I suspect that it will stick again shortly.
BTW, I have a spare clear plastic instrument panel cover to replace the one that I drilled the hole in and I plan to install it when I decide that the problem is fixed.
Paul
I called Bobās speedometer like Wayne mentioned below. Just to fix the odometer was $800-$900. Thatās toooo crazy.
Hi Greg, Looks like Iām going to give it the olā grease em up and see if that works. Pretty simple and a lot cheaper than the $800-900 from Bob at Bobās speedometer.
By the way I messaged you on how the B&M shift kit worked out for you. No answer so far. Still like to know and get the part # if that will work for my 1990.
I messaged you back 12 days ago about the B&M shift kit. ?
Btw, I bought a used instrument cluster in excellent shape, but swapped in my working speedo.
So I have a used speedo from a 88/89 (Vin 145xxx), which means it should work for late 88-91 with speedo transducer on rear diff like yours. It has 71,426 miles on it. I was unable to test it. I also broke the trip odometer push button rod, but that would be easy to swap over from another.
If your lube fix doesnāt work, I could sell you this one for $50 + shipping cost?
Hi Greg. I found your reply. Itās on the Jag-Lovers site. I was expecting it to go right to my email.
Paul
