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Cadillac Repair/digital speedometer repair

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Expert: - 6/4/2011


Question
I have a 1986  FWD Cadillac Fleetwood whose digital speedometer stopped working at 345,000 miles...is there any way to repair or  replace it ?....tried contacting a couple of services here on line ...they could not repair...

Answer
Hello,

In this case, call a parts department at any GM dealer and find out who does their stereo and speedometer repair. I think they still sub this work out. They used to. If they still send these repairs out locally you can go to that shop and get a price on repair.

Now, before you do that, check all fuses. Go on Ebay or Craig's list and find two service manuals- 1986 Cadillac Deville Fleetwood electrical and a mechanical manual. Shouldn't cost you much, but if you are driving this car, will save you tons of $ on any service work.

You need to make sure the problem is not in the cluster and something else. You wouldn't want to spend all that money on repairing the cluster and that wasn't the problem.
When checking fuses, don't just look at them for a blown center. Use a test light.
Could be this simple or a connection issue under the hood. No sense in guessing. Good luck!


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Rob Painter

Expertise

Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?

Experience

Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.

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