My New Purchase St24 Few Issues

[rubbedarches]

Hi All

I have just purchased a ST24 on a 97 plate, I sold my mk2 golf as I got bored of the dub scene after 15 years so I thought I would try something new.

I am very pleased with the car but have a few little issues the are niggling me, don't get me wrong I new there would be a few things to sort for the age of the car.

When I first got the car the speedo kept cutting out, I cleaned the connections speedo works now but is reading 10 miles per hour higher than it should be, I am not running stock wheels not sure of the original size but I am running 17'' Momos.

Washer spray is not working, filled it up today and I can here the pump but now spray and the nozzles are clean.

Airbag/seat belt light started flashing today.

Headlights seem noisy sounds light the adjuster is moving all the time.

Any advice most welcome.

[jeebowhite]

Hi Chris,

so to answer your questions:

When I first got the car the speedo kept cutting out, I cleaned the
connections speedo works now but is reading 10 miles per hour higher
than it should be, I am not running stock wheels not sure of the original size but I am running 17'' Momos.

This probably is the wheels, I think they are 15's by default, perhaps 16's at a push but I expect the calibration

Washer spray is not working, filled it up today and I can here the pump but now spray and the nozzles are clean.

That could be a blocked pipe. I would start by sticking a hose in the washer juice tank and set it off on full pelt, that should dislodge anything that may be in the way. Alternatively you may need to remove the wheel arch liner to get access to the bottle, remove it and clean it manually :P

Airbag/seat belt light started flashing today.

That could be a duff sensor wire, wiggle the wires underneath the seats and see if that helps!

Headlights seem noisy sounds light the adjuster is moving all the time

could be a short, I would pull the headlight out, and check the wiring and see where we go from there!

[rubbedarches]

Thanks will give those all a try

Once again thanks for your help

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Ford OC mobile app

[jeebowhite]

No worries Chris, let us know how you get on!

oh, and dont forget the mandatory pictures ;)

[BOF]

Hi All...

... the speedo kept cutting out, I cleaned the connections speedo works now but is reading 10 miles per hour higher than it should be, I am not running stock wheels not sure of the original size but I am running 17'' Momos.

The first thing to do is to check whether this is down to the difference in wheel size from standard. So, find out the standard wheel size (the user manual, ETIS, many tyre purchase sites will work from the reg number, and that should be the original tyre size, or from someone online who has one).

Then, go to a tyre size calculator (eg, this) and work out what the percentage difference will mean to you.

Assuming that it is down to tyre sizes, you then have the decision as to whether you want to correct the situation, or not; at the very least, with a 10 mph difference you should be able to find tyres of a different profile and width that will get you rather closer to the original gearing, but are you that bothered?

And, by the way (...this may be obvious, or useless, I can't tell...) at constant speeds, a sat nav is a good way of getting speed readings and the original speed readings may well not have been absolutely accurate, as the speedo is allowed to over-read by a percentage (I think that its roughly from -0% to +10%).

If it isn't the wheel size causing it, then you have some investigating to do.

[rubbedarches]

Been using my sat nav app that gives me a true reading hence why I found the speedo was out by 10mph at least its a round number. I will investigate the tyre size as looking to get some winter tyes. Pics up soon I promise :D

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[stooge75]

is it 10mph out,at all speeds? the reason i ask is: if you have wheels that are say 10% bigger than they should be,logic says at 30mph on satnav,it'd be 27mph in car & at 80mph on satnav,it'd be 72mph,no.

thats just an example by the way lol

oh no,i have a sore head just thinkin of this one!

ps:ive maybe got it round wrong way but not thinkin of this one anymore-heads about to explode lol

[rubbedarches]

Yep 10mph at all speed when I the sat nav reads 30 the dash is reading 40mph and so on. When I first got the car just over a week the speedo cut out completly along with the fuel gauge so may be the cluster is faulty. But as I paid £310 for the car with 10 months mot and a 4 months tax custom exhaust from powerflow, pipercross induction kit st220 lights and a perfect set of momos I expected a few issues. Also the previous own removed the rust from the rear arches and filled and put rust prevention I need to sort the paint out on these as well, unless someone knows of a nice wide arch kit as I have 40mm spacers I would like to fit!

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[stooge75]

Yep 10mph at all speed when I the sat nav reads 30 the dash is reading 40mph and so on. When I first got the car just over a week the speedo cut out completly along with the fuel gauge so may be the cluster is faulty. But as I paid £310 for the car with 10 months mot and a 4 months tax custom exhaust from powerflow, pipercross induction kit st220 lights and a perfect set of momos I expected a few issues. Also the previous own removed the rust from the rear arches and filled and put rust prevention I need to sort the paint out on these as well, unless someone knows of a nice wide arch kit as I have 40mm spacers I would like to fit!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Ford OC mobile app

strange eh. mines is about 3mph out,but 10 mph is a strange one.you would think if your wheels had an extra 10% circumference,then at 30 it'd be 33,& 80 would be 88mph no? i wonder if the needle on your clocks has been replaced wrong?maybe its something to do with the cluster/speedo, unless im having a mad episode & thinking of this wrongly. anyone else?

so if your going along the rd at 5mph its reading 15mph?i know you said all speeds,but even at single digit speeds?

[rubbedarches]

Even at single digit speeds

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[BOF]

Yep 10mph at all speed when I the sat nav reads 30 the dash is reading 40mph and so on. When I first got the car just over a week the speedo cut out completly along with the fuel gauge so may be the cluster is faulty. But as I paid £310 for the car with 10 months mot and a 4 months tax custom exhaust from powerflow, pipercross induction kit st220 lights and a perfect set of momos I expected a few issues.

OK, well that £310 does set expectations...

Presumably, it is reasonable to expect that, with the price and the various 'trick' bits that have been fitted that the previous owner may have done some weird things, either as ways to avoid spending more money on the car, or because his definition of 'fun' stuff was a bit off.

I didn't really take the 10 mph as a constant offset seriously, at first (but I should have...you did say that, and I assumed that it was just shorthand). Anyway, with an 'old technology' speedo, the positive force actuating the needle acts against a spring, and if that spring is set to give too little restraining force (that is, the initial position is set wrong), then you will have a constant offset.

Any sign that the dash has been out a lot? For example, retaining screws with rounded screwdriver slots, some screws missing, that kind of thing?I just wonder whether the previous owner has had reason to mess with this, perhaps because the original speedo broke, or something, or he was trying to compensate for odd sized wheels/tyres, or something.

I'm not sure how 'old tech' your speedo in fact is; by then, it could be driven by, for example, the ECU or another electronic module, but I can't see any good reason to think that the electronics is the problem, but maybe I'm overlooking something. Most of the other things that I can think of would give a percentage change, and not an offset, so after that, I think I'm out of ideas.

[rubbedarches]

The dash has no rounded screws and looks fine. However I do know that the car sat for a number of years unused. The feed for the speed is magnetic so no electronic witchcraft problems. I think I will buy a set of dials and see what happens.

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[BOF]

I suppose almost anything is possibility (at that age, almost anything is a possibility, in the way that there is a lower chance of, with a one owner, ex-fleet car).

If you are replacing the dials, there might be the possibility of offsetting the dial itself to get the right reading; one question, for you, though: The speedo is out, are the covered mileage readings out by a similar amount, or not? I'd think not, but you never know until you check.

Anyway, good luck!

[stooge75]

I are the covered mileage readings out by a similar amount, or not? I'd think not, but you never know until you check.

Anyway, good luck!

ah lateral thinking.i like it BOF.(never thought o that 1)lol