Speedometer Stopped Working: How Speedometers Work and What Causes Them to Stop Working

Whether you’re cruising down the freeway or slithering in a traffic jam, few things are easier than glancing down at your speedometer to find out how fast you’re going. Knowing your speed is one of the most basic and important pieces of information you need to drive safely. Have you ever wondered how your speedometer knows your speed?

What Is a Speedometer?

In some vehicles, the speedometer is a circular gauge located on the dashboard, with the smallest numbers at the bottom of the gauge, and increasing steadily as the numbers climb the circle. A needle radiates out from the center of the gauge and points to the number that matches your current speed. Most speedometers have two rows of numbers, indicating the speed in both miles per hour and kilometers per hour. In other vehicles, the speedometer shows your speed digitally, with the number changing as you increase or decrease speed.

A Short History of the Speedometer

The earliest cars didn’t have speedometers, which wasn’t a problem as most early cars topped out at relatively low speeds and it was easy for drivers to keep their speed under control. By the turn of the 20th century, however, top speeds had increased to around 30 mph, leading to an increase in serious accidents. In response, Otto Schulze invented the first speedometer in 1902. These first speedometers were expensive and difficult to find, but by 1910 carmakers began to offer speedometers as standard equipment.

Types of Speedometers: Mechanical and Electronic Speedometers

Broadly speaking, there are two types of speedometers: mechanical and electronic. Mechanical speedometers have been around since 1902 and are based on the designs of Otto Schulze. Electronic speedometers are a relatively recent invention and appeared during the 90s.

Mechanical Speedometers 

Mechanical speedometers are often called eddy-current speedometers because they use magnetic eddy currents to display the speed of your car. Mechanical speedometers are analog devices that attach directly to the transmission shaft of the vehicle. They gave drivers a reliable way to measure their speed at a time when electronic sensors didn’t exist. They consist of several parts:

• the drive cable
• the mandrel
• a spiral gear
• permanent magnet
• speedcup
• hairspring
• needle

The drive cable is wrapped around the transmission shaft and holds the mandrel inside. As the shaft rotates, the mandrel starts to rotate as well. The other end of the drive cable is attached to a spiral gear. This gear rotates with the mandrel, and is attached to the permanent magnet, which itself rests within the speedcup. As the magnet rotates, it creates a rotating magnetic field. This field then creates a drag force that pulls on the speedometer needle. This pull is balanced out by the hairspring, causing the deflection of the speedometer needle to equal the speed of the vehicle.

Electronic Speedometers 

Electronic speedometers use a vehicle speed sensor rather than a drive cable to compute the speed of the vehicle. The sensor consists of a toothed metal disk, a stationary detector and a magnetic coil. The disk is attached to the transmission shaft of the vehicle. When the shaft rotates, the teeth on the disk interrupt the magnetic field of the coil, which triggers the detector and sends a pulse to the vehicle’s computer. The computer then uses these pulses to compute the speed of the vehicle, the distance the vehicle has traveled and how fast the engine is rotating. The vehicle’s speed is then displayed on a traditional analog dial or on a digital display.

Making Large Changes to Your Vehicle can Alter the Accuracy of Your Speedometer

For Example, going from a 21-inch tire to a 24-inch tire can throw off the accuracy of your speedometer. If your speedometer is no longer accurate, you may need to bring your car in so our technicians can recalibrate it. This is usually done using a powerful electromagnet to alter the field strength of the magnet in your speedcup and is not something you should do yourself. Whether your speedometer is electronic or mechanical, it needs to be carefully calibrated to accurately translate the rotation of the transmission shaft into the speed of the vehicle. The default calibration of your speedometer relies on several assumptions about your vehicle, including the gear ratio in your differential and your vehicle’s tire size. Manufacturers perform extensive testing to determine the relationship of these factors to your vehicle’s speed and motion. Using that testing, they set the strength of the magnetic field and the resistance offered by the hairspring to match with the actual speed of the vehicle.

Speedometer Stopped Working? 

If your speedometer stopped working and stays at 0 MPH, you should have your car checked ASAP. The most common causes of a speedometer that stopped working include are a faulty speed sensor, a broken gear on the speedometer, damaged wiring, or a faulty engine control unit. Sometimes you might have an issue where the speedometer is working, but the odometer is not. This most likely means the odometer gears are broken, so you will need to replace them

The Future of Speedometers

One of the biggest disadvantages of many current speedometers is their location, as looking down at the speedometer forces the driver to take his or her eyes off the road. When you’re traveling at 60 mph a moment is all it takes for an accident to happen.  Speedometers on some more recent model year vehicles will be integrated into a heads-up display, directly in the driver’s view. Other technologies, including lidar, radar and GPS, may eventually take the place of transmission-mounted sensors to compute the speed of the vehicle. The speedometer, though not particularly glamorous, serves an important role in your vehicle. Being able to know your vehicle’s speed quickly and accurately is critical to help you navigate the roads safely. If it seems that your speedometer is not accurate or if the speedometer stopped working, schedule a service visit below to have your car checked out.