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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / October 2007

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scion speedometer died

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Cat - 12 Oct 2007 19:24 GMT
hi.
i have a scion xa 05, 70k miles.
the gas guage hesitated breifly when i started it yesterday, and then
the speedometer quit. it is stuck on zero.

today, the speedometer worked fine until lunch time, and right before
it stopped working, the gas gauge flittered a bit.

the gas gauage and speedometer are grouped together in the same
area... the rpm meter and odometer work perfectly fine.

its a dial speedometer not digital.

everything runs well.

any suggestions.
Tegger - 12 Oct 2007 19:29 GMT
Cat <cathryne@gmail.com> wrote in news:1192213495.491123.309180
@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

> hi.
> i have a scion xa 05, 70k miles.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> any suggestions.

Your car is still under warranty. Plus this would be considered a safety
issue.

Bring the car in to your local Toyota/Scion dealer. Free fix for you.

Signature

Tegger

Pete C. - 12 Oct 2007 19:37 GMT
> Cat <cathryne@gmail.com> wrote in news:1192213495.491123.309180
> @i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com:
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> --
> Tegger

The speedometer is in all probability electronic, even if it's moving an
analog pointer. I don't think they've made a car with a purely
mechanical cable driven speedometer in quite some time.

Symptoms point to a loose wire, connector or similar.
Cat - 12 Oct 2007 21:54 GMT
i was hoping it was merely a loose wire and not something serious like
a sensor.

anybody familiar with this car?? is it something obvious to spot,
willi have to do some serious digging?

omg, trying to change the air filter was like giving birth.
Tegger - 12 Oct 2007 22:12 GMT
Cat <cathryne@gmail.com> wrote in news:1192222498.156739.174080
@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

> i was hoping it was merely a loose wire and not something serious like
> a sensor.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> omg, trying to change the air filter was like giving birth.

Whether it's a loose wire or a bad sensor is of no consequence.

Your car is UNDER WARRANTY and has a problem. The dealer is obliged to fix
the problem, whatever it turns out to be. Either way, Toyota's getting
billed for a warranty fix.

You paid for that warranty as part of your purchase price. It was meant for
such things as this. Use it.

Signature

Tegger

Pete C. - 12 Oct 2007 22:31 GMT
> i was hoping it was merely a loose wire and not something serious like
> a sensor.

Pretty unlikely to be a sensor if two gauges are acting up, since they
have separate sensors.

> anybody familiar with this car?? is it something obvious to spot,
> willi have to do some serious digging?

Not familiar, but most everything instrument panel related in most
vehicles is a bit of a pain to get to. Not that it's overly difficult,
but all the various trim pieces that have to come off to get to the
instrument panel have interesting tricks to getting them off with most
using some variety of hidden fastener for cosmetics.

> omg, trying to change the air filter was like giving birth.

The days when the engineers took serviceability into account in their
car designs seems to be over. I remember when changing a heater core
involved removing a half dozen screws and removing the core from the
engine compartment. Now you have to tear apart half the interior of the
car to do it.
Cat - 12 Oct 2007 21:53 GMT
thanks tegger!!

but when i called the dealer, they hesitated that it might not be
under warranty.  i have a call into the warranty company.... however,
just to diagnosis will be close to a hundred dollars if to find out,
its not under warrant... .... i thought if it was something simple i
could handle, i would avoid the dealer at all cost!!
Tegger - 12 Oct 2007 22:16 GMT
Cat <cathryne@gmail.com> wrote in news:1192222385.365711.326640
@q3g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

> thanks tegger!!
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> its not under warrant... .... i thought if it was something simple i
> could handle, i would avoid the dealer at all cost!!

It should be covered under your standard 3-year factory warranty, not under
any extended warranty you might have bought from the dealer.

Don't let them "hesitate". Your car has a SAFETY problem that needs to be
fixed. Use of the word "safety" is guaranteed to get their attention.

They probably don't want to do the work because Toyota pays less for
warranty repairs than customers do for regular retail work.

Be persistent. Don't let them slough you off. And especially don't try to
fix this yourself. You break something else while fiddling with it and it's
on your dime. Ever priced interior parts?

Signature

Tegger

Pete C. - 12 Oct 2007 22:35 GMT
> Cat <cathryne@gmail.com> wrote in news:1192222385.365711.326640
> @q3g2000prf.googlegroups.com:
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> --
> Tegger

Even when you have something like a 6/60 warrantee that has expired and
no third party extended warrantee, don't assume that you are stuck
paying for anything that needs to be repaired. There are some safety and
emissions related items that are covered for much longer by federal
regulations. My truck had the usual 6/60 warrantee, but I had both cats
replaced at about 80k miles under the emissions warrantee which goes to
100k.
Tegger - 12 Oct 2007 22:38 GMT
> Even when you have something like a 6/60 warrantee that has expired
> and no third party extended warrantee, don't assume that you are stuck
> paying for anything that needs to be repaired.

This particular vehicle is an '05. It's TWO years old and still covered
under the factory warranty.

Either dealer is lazy or OP is a wimp. This SHOULD be a no-brainer.

Signature

Tegger

M.M. - 13 Oct 2007 00:19 GMT
> This particular vehicle is an '05. It's TWO years old and still covered
> under the factory warranty.

The warranty is 3 yr/36000. It could be an 05 and be out of warranty.

The 5yr/60000 warranty is drive train. Unless it's a mechanical problem
in the trans a speedo problem may not be covered under a power train
warranty. Most electrical problems probably are not. Gotta read the fine
print...
Tegger - 13 Oct 2007 00:37 GMT
>> This particular vehicle is an '05. It's TWO years old and still covered
>> under the factory warranty.
>
> The warranty is 3 yr/36000. It could be an 05 and be out of warranty.

It's covered, trust me. The OP just needs to approach it in a logical and
aggressive manner.

Now if the OP never brought the car in for any sort of servicing during
those two (or so) years, then she might have to contact the Toyota zone rep
for help. The dealers know what side their bread is buttered on...

Signature

Tegger

Comboverfish - 13 Oct 2007 04:22 GMT
> >> This particular vehicle is an '05. It's TWO years old and still covered
> >> under the factory warranty.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> It's covered, trust me. The OP just needs to approach it in a logical and
> aggressive manner.

> Tegger

OK then, which specific warranty clause would you cite to prove
coverage of an inoperative gauge condition on a 70,000 mile Scion xA?

Toyota MDT in MO
Tegger - 14 Oct 2007 14:12 GMT
>> >> This particular vehicle is an '05. It's TWO years old and still
>> >> covered under the factory warranty.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> OK then, which specific warranty clause would you cite to prove
> coverage of an inoperative gauge condition on a 70,000 mile Scion xA?

I just couldn't see how a car that was barely three years old could have a
piece of "safety" equipment fail and not be covered under some kind of
warranty.

Maybe I should have just kept out of this one.

Signature

Tegger

Pete C. - 14 Oct 2007 23:46 GMT
> >> >> This particular vehicle is an '05. It's TWO years old and still
> >> >> covered under the factory warranty.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> --
> Tegger

A speedometer really isn't safety equipment, it's simply
instrumentation. Nobody should be relying on a speedometer nor the
posted speed limits to determine if they are driving a safe speed.
Cat - 15 Oct 2007 22:26 GMT
i travel in my job. i depend on my car. it has been service as
recommended by the dealer religiously.
this is why i posted, because i want to be able argue my point with
the service dept and not sound like an idiot.  i do health care
insurance recovery for a living... i know how to aggressively argue
and get my point across...but this is unchartered territory for me.

I do appreciate everyone taking the time to respond... you have been
most helpful and i certainly appreciate everyones opinion.

many thanks..

wish me luck... sometimes the darn thing works, some times it
doesnt... ugh.
Pete C. - 16 Oct 2007 01:01 GMT
> i travel in my job. i depend on my car. it has been service as
> recommended by the dealer religiously.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> wish me luck... sometimes the darn thing works, some times it
> doesnt... ugh.

Intermittent problems are also the most difficult to troubleshoot.
Certainly the symptoms point to a problem with an electrical connection
so that narrows down the likely suspects a bit, and the fact that two
gauges are affected narrows it further. Even so it can be difficult to
isolate. Good luck.
Comboverfish - 17 Oct 2007 18:22 GMT
> i travel in my job. i depend on my car. it has been service as
> recommended by the dealer religiously.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> wish me luck... sometimes the darn thing works, some times it
> doesnt... ugh.

I looked at the instrument gauges wiring diagram for your car.  Based
on your description that the fuel gauge and the speedometer
intermittantly quit, and the odometer works during this time, I would
suggest that your instrument panel (IP) has an intermittant open in
one of it's ICs.  About all you can do with an intermittant problem
like this (when it works flawlessly for the technician) is to peruse
the wiring schematic and apply logic to find the one possible culprit.

This schematic's breakdown of components inside the IP isn't terribly
descriptive, but is still helpful towards troubleshooting your
particular symptoms.  Based on the one IC that both the fuel gauge and
speedo "wire" into, and the lack of any common ties elsewhere, and the
fact that the odometer still operates during this failure event, I can
highly suspect the IP as a failing component and disregard the ABS
module speed sensor input, among other lesser possibilities.

Any component testing without the failure occuring is by and large a
waste of time and money.  What I just did equates to about 0.5 hour
diagnostic time, my hands are still clean, and assuming the symptoms
are accurately and fully reported, I feel >95% confident that I am
right.  Something like this should only be done in cases where the
problem can't be duplicated, and the part shouldn't be ordered without
the customer's signed approval that it is an educated guess which is
accompanied by a statement of no guarantee.

Hopefully they will cover this as a one time goodwill repair, given
that you have kept up with services at the dealer.  It will be in the
hands of the service manager or district rep, unless you get no help
and want to push the issue to the national customer service level.
Sometimes in a case like this the dealer may offer to pay the part and
you pay the labor.  Given the cost of the part and your purchase
agreement RE: 3/36 warranty, I would be happy with that if I were you.

Toyota MDT in MO
Mike Walsh - 12 Oct 2007 19:36 GMT
Many vehicles have an electrical speedometer i.e. the speedometer (and odometer) is not driven by a cable, but controlled electrically by a computer using a servo motor or some similar device. You probably have a bad connection that is affecting both the gas gauge and speedometer.

> hi.
> i have a scion xa 05, 70k miles.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> any suggestions.
 
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