New Owner, Few Problems

Hi Folks

I became the owner of a 1989 A500 last week and have been driving the car as much as possible to see if I can get rid of the engine gremlins.

It had a running problem when cold that I worked out was a very dirty carb, I gave it a good clean and it seems to have helped slightly - I think I will have to get it stripped and rebuilt to fix the problem totaly.

My main problem is the speedo, it just wont work - I think the cable has fallen off behind the unit (is it cable driven or is it electrical??) I can hear a noise when driving that sounds like a speedo cable turning but cant be 100% sure.

How do I get the instrument cluster off the car to check this? I can see screws that seem to hold it on but I dont want to break anything.

Also the reverse lights dont work.... ahh electrical gremlins, you would think after owning a Delorean for the last 5 years I would be used to them!

I think my best bet is to get the car looked over, I want the car to run properly and be able to tell me how fast I am going, all the other jobs can wait untill the summer is over!

Firstly , it’s an electronic speedo so no cables involved.

Speedo not working is a common problem and likely to be caused by a bad connection somewhere along the line. Is also possible that a diode on the instrument cluster has failed and or the speedo pick up in the gearbox is contaminated but firstly I’d check the electrical connections. These are at both the instrument cluster end and underneath the car at the offside rear end just behind the rear wheel (there should be three connectors in a line, the one closest to the wheel is the speedo one (well it is on my car) disconnect it and spray with switch cleaner).

To clean the connection at the instrument cluster. You need to remove the top half of the instrument binnacle. Disconnect the battery. Undo the screws at the bottom of the instrument binnacle. Remove the steering wheel (need two M6 screws I think to pull the boss off) and remove a couple of screws from the panel directly underneath the where the steering wheel enters the dash; just makes it easier to ease the binnacle off.
Then carefully prise off the top part of the binnacle taking care not to yank too much on the cables locating to the bank of switches on both sides. These cables will need to be disconnected so you can remove the unit completely. Also, remove the two air vent covers as it helps to remove the unit without causing damage. Once off you’ll see the main connector on the LHS of the speedo – it’s a large (ish) white connector block. Disconnect and again spray with switch cleaner.

First time I took mine apart it took about an hour. But I find I need to clean the connections every couple of months or so and hence I’ve got it down to 5 mins !

If the speedo doesn’t spring into life then your looking at either the pick up being dirty and needs to be removed and cleaned (not a difficult job but just a sod to get to if you haven’t got access to a ramp) or the diode on the cluster being blown.
But my money is on bad connections !

Good luck
Paul

Well I worked out that the noise was actualy the interior fan, its cowling has come off and is fowling on the body as it turns, just pulled the plug of it for the meantime.

The car is a bigger to start from cold, it turns over ok but wont catch untill maybe the 5-6 crank. Everytime you turn it you can hear the flywheel or the starter spinning and then "clunk" when it comes to a stop, I have tried pumping the pedal a few times before turning but it does not help at all. Once she starts she will go all day and drive great, once I work out why she wont start in the morning (I am thinking new starter) I will be all set.

I will be getting the speedo and the reverse lights looked at tomorrow by Richard Walsh from this site (simonsays), I am having problems with the DVLA sorting the export of the car to Northern Ireland so that I can get her taxed, so I dont mind if I have to leave the car with him for a few weeks.

If it clunks then its starter yes. Dont pump the throttle on a GTA, never helps. You always find they start second time around.

Well my speedo started working again

I had a play with the wires in behind the right hand air vent and it fired into life.

I will see how much fun the car is tomorrow when I try to start it.