Steve Heath Speedo sensor - Help!
Discussion
After the winter layup the Chim speedo wasn't working - nothing obviously wrong so ordered SH's replacement sensor kit which, after the post office screwing up, arrived today.
After a bad day at the office I was looking forward to fitting this. Nice easy job. Erm yeah, right!
First job is to plug in the 7 pronged connector at the back of the speedo which should be easy if there was one. I have searched high and low and there are, as far as I can see, no 7 terminal, pull apart connectors.
Leave that job for later I think and go back to it.
I'll fit the sensor and mounting plate to the back of the diff.
The plate will not fit on the back of the diff because it fouls and will need spacers. I can sort that. A few washers should resolve it.
Let's connect the wires. Blue to Black and red to brown, except the senor has 2 white wires.
I give in. A bad day just got worse.
This should be a simple job.
Anyone else fitted one of these.
Steve, if you're out there have I got the wrong one again a la droplinks?
After a bad day at the office I was looking forward to fitting this. Nice easy job. Erm yeah, right!
First job is to plug in the 7 pronged connector at the back of the speedo which should be easy if there was one. I have searched high and low and there are, as far as I can see, no 7 terminal, pull apart connectors.
Leave that job for later I think and go back to it.
I'll fit the sensor and mounting plate to the back of the diff.
The plate will not fit on the back of the diff because it fouls and will need spacers. I can sort that. A few washers should resolve it.
Let's connect the wires. Blue to Black and red to brown, except the senor has 2 white wires.
I give in. A bad day just got worse.
This should be a simple job.
Anyone else fitted one of these.
Steve, if you're out there have I got the wrong one again a la droplinks?
Edited by Tyre Tread on Sunday 26th November 11:45
Well, I emailed Stev about 10.00pm last night and he called me 9.30 this morning.
It seems my speedo has been 'upgraded' at some point, possibly at the factory, with a different set of internals hence it has a different plug.
Steve has agreed to work with me to sort it out along with updating the mounting plate for the sensor.
Meanwhile, rather then wate this weather I shall be using my phone as the Speedo - using an app called - GPS Speedo.
It seems my speedo has been 'upgraded' at some point, possibly at the factory, with a different set of internals hence it has a different plug.
Steve has agreed to work with me to sort it out along with updating the mounting plate for the sensor.
Meanwhile, rather then wate this weather I shall be using my phone as the Speedo - using an app called - GPS Speedo.
Update.
After wiring as Steve suggested I was getting some V strange readings on the meter - next job, change the battery in the meter.
Using Steve's test unit it became apparent that there is an output until the speedo head and then nothing from the speedo so it looks like the speedo is Kaput.
Long chat with Steve confirmed my suspicions so off to Speedy cables it will go.
Steve was also v helpful about the relocation of the battery to the boot and although his advice was 'Don't' he was most helpful in giving me advice on doing it if I was intent on going ahead anyway.
Thanks Steve.
It is fair to say that without Steve's sensor upgrade kit I would have replaced the sensor and then just had to assume that the speedo head was at fault whereas now I know where the fault lies.
If you have one of Steve's products and are in any doubt then give him a call. He's happy to help even an impatient git like me
After wiring as Steve suggested I was getting some V strange readings on the meter - next job, change the battery in the meter.
Using Steve's test unit it became apparent that there is an output until the speedo head and then nothing from the speedo so it looks like the speedo is Kaput.
Long chat with Steve confirmed my suspicions so off to Speedy cables it will go.
Steve was also v helpful about the relocation of the battery to the boot and although his advice was 'Don't' he was most helpful in giving me advice on doing it if I was intent on going ahead anyway.
Thanks Steve.
It is fair to say that without Steve's sensor upgrade kit I would have replaced the sensor and then just had to assume that the speedo head was at fault whereas now I know where the fault lies.
If you have one of Steve's products and are in any doubt then give him a call. He's happy to help even an impatient git like me
SILICONE KID said:
What ever you do don`t have a LS engine conversion,they take up to 2 years and im not joking
FYI Daz, we are about to deliver a car that has taken about 21 months to complete but you should be aware that it was not a 'straight' conversion. OK, it did take a bit longer that anticipated because it was the first Speed Six conversion we had done but perhaps more pertinently, the work schedule for the car kept expanding and changing during the project i.e the 'job list' kept being added to and changed. The car was running its LS engine months ago.
So, what started as a 'simple' conversion ended up expanding to include a complete suspension and chassis overhaul, custom exhaust and manifolds, traction control, uprated clutch, custom dashes, additional instrumentation and a host of other things.
That also hasn't been 2 years.
I bet Bernard didn't tell you how much additional work we have had to do to get his car driveable. The car was damaged in an accident before we got it. It was repaired before it was shipped to us - a rear section was spliced into the body, which took some time. We were expecting a roadworthy car, but it was far from it. The alarm had been ripped out and the body ecus bypassed or butchered so that most of the controls didn't work. We even found that the steering column switches didn't work because there was no connectors for the ribbon cable to plug into in! Wiring looms were missing or cut. The fuel tank had been dumped in the boot with the fuel piping missing. Boot hinges were missing. The rear lights had not been bonded in and the plugs were not connected. The wrong size wheels were fitted and the tyres were rubbing on the body on all four corners. Components that we expected to be there were not. Result was a job sheet two A4 pages long, on top of the LS conversion.
This turned out to be a "semi-restoration" job as well as a conversion.
It passed its MOT two weeks ago and is awaiting collection.
I bet Bernard didn't tell you how much additional work we have had to do to get his car driveable. The car was damaged in an accident before we got it. It was repaired before it was shipped to us - a rear section was spliced into the body, which took some time. We were expecting a roadworthy car, but it was far from it. The alarm had been ripped out and the body ecus bypassed or butchered so that most of the controls didn't work. We even found that the steering column switches didn't work because there was no connectors for the ribbon cable to plug into in! Wiring looms were missing or cut. The fuel tank had been dumped in the boot with the fuel piping missing. Boot hinges were missing. The rear lights had not been bonded in and the plugs were not connected. The wrong size wheels were fitted and the tyres were rubbing on the body on all four corners. Components that we expected to be there were not. Result was a job sheet two A4 pages long, on top of the LS conversion.
This turned out to be a "semi-restoration" job as well as a conversion.
It passed its MOT two weeks ago and is awaiting collection.
Twelve and a half years and 40K miles on and the speedo has been working fine. It twitches on startup and returns to zero but I kinda like that as I take it as a car telling me it's ready to go. 
Anyway, I'd been messing around behind the dash to resolve an immobiliser issue (but that's another story) and the speedo has stopped working so I think I must have disturbed something. I've had a look and there's nothing obvious. All connections look good etc.
I've dug out of my archives the original fitting instructions which mention an interface box which I now can't find so i must have buried it somewhere
While looking for additional information I found this old thread and thought I'd update it with how well it's worked so far as I was disappointed at the moaning old scrote of 12+ years ago so credit where credit is due and all that.
Right, now, into the garage to work out how I've screwed it up
Anyway, I'd been messing around behind the dash to resolve an immobiliser issue (but that's another story) and the speedo has stopped working so I think I must have disturbed something. I've had a look and there's nothing obvious. All connections look good etc.
I've dug out of my archives the original fitting instructions which mention an interface box which I now can't find so i must have buried it somewhere
While looking for additional information I found this old thread and thought I'd update it with how well it's worked so far as I was disappointed at the moaning old scrote of 12+ years ago so credit where credit is due and all that.
Right, now, into the garage to work out how I've screwed it up
All sorted.
Either there was a bad connection that I have inadvertently resolved or, more likely, the switchable box that I'd hidden behind the steering wheel cowling, has a middle position which is "off". I'd forgotten it was there. I think I must have caught it when fixing the immobiliser issue.
Either there was a bad connection that I have inadvertently resolved or, more likely, the switchable box that I'd hidden behind the steering wheel cowling, has a middle position which is "off". I'd forgotten it was there. I think I must have caught it when fixing the immobiliser issue.
Well done, and good to see updates!
I had a completely different thing, but also ended up bypassing the ignition part of the immobiliser, then discovered the hot start kit had a very broken connection, which led to a discovery of the relay being wrongly connected, and I might, might possibly, have fixed the battery drain.
Unplugged the maintainer, and the voltage has remained at 14.5V for two days, whereas usually it dropped into the 13s after a couple of days.
That was a little win, akin to yours maybe. Not trying to derail, this post is useful in itself.
But I’m glad to see you still got the car!
I had a completely different thing, but also ended up bypassing the ignition part of the immobiliser, then discovered the hot start kit had a very broken connection, which led to a discovery of the relay being wrongly connected, and I might, might possibly, have fixed the battery drain.
Unplugged the maintainer, and the voltage has remained at 14.5V for two days, whereas usually it dropped into the 13s after a couple of days.
That was a little win, akin to yours maybe. Not trying to derail, this post is useful in itself.
But I’m glad to see you still got the car!
Yeah, had the car since 2006 and in the last 8 years it's been to Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Portugal.
Glad to hear you've maybe solved a bug.
The hot start issue had never been a problem until this year in Portugal and all of a sudden it's been an issue ever since, hence I've bypassed the ignition circuit using a hidden switch.
Anyway, the speedo sensor is still doing it's thing and in diagnosis it was really helpful to be able to see the LED lighting under the car when the wheels turned so I knew the sensor was working and then having the "test" switch allowed me to show the speedo was working.
Shame Steve Heath isn't still producing stuff.
Glad to hear you've maybe solved a bug.
The hot start issue had never been a problem until this year in Portugal and all of a sudden it's been an issue ever since, hence I've bypassed the ignition circuit using a hidden switch.
Anyway, the speedo sensor is still doing it's thing and in diagnosis it was really helpful to be able to see the LED lighting under the car when the wheels turned so I knew the sensor was working and then having the "test" switch allowed me to show the speedo was working.
Shame Steve Heath isn't still producing stuff.
PabloGee said:
Well done, and good to see updates!
I had a completely different thing, but also ended up bypassing the ignition part of the immobiliser, then discovered the hot start kit had a very broken connection, which led to a discovery of the relay being wrongly connected, and I might, might possibly, have fixed the battery drain.
Unplugged the maintainer, and the voltage has remained at 14.5V for two days, whereas usually it dropped into the 13s after a couple of days.
That was a little win, akin to yours maybe. Not trying to derail, this post is useful in itself.
But I’m glad to see you still got the car!
Nice you think you've solved a battery drain, but what are you reading those voltages on? An over-optimistic battery gauge or meter perhaps? A fully charged battery is 12.6V - 12.7V. When just removed from charging, the open cct potential will be in the high 13s yes, but will settle back after a few hours. I had a completely different thing, but also ended up bypassing the ignition part of the immobiliser, then discovered the hot start kit had a very broken connection, which led to a discovery of the relay being wrongly connected, and I might, might possibly, have fixed the battery drain.
Unplugged the maintainer, and the voltage has remained at 14.5V for two days, whereas usually it dropped into the 13s after a couple of days.
That was a little win, akin to yours maybe. Not trying to derail, this post is useful in itself.
But I’m glad to see you still got the car!
Even with the engine running, the alternator output across the battery will be in the 14V region at most, charging it.It's a fair question, it's my Draper charger/maintainer shows a voltage, then eventually sits there saying 'full'
gets up to 14.4-14.6V
I might be completely wrong, but I understood that batteries get up to 14.4V when fully charged?
Either way, it seems to be holding charge, which is better than not...
gets up to 14.4-14.6V
I might be completely wrong, but I understood that batteries get up to 14.4V when fully charged?
Either way, it seems to be holding charge, which is better than not...
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