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Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
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Author:  Bih [ Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:06 am ]
Post subject:  Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
I have a Renault Safrane Phase 2 car, and the speedometer is toasted. Having acquired second hand unit with less miles on the clock, can I transfer the odometer logger from old unit to newly acquired unit?

If answer is yes how can I go about it.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Simon
Author:  Saffles [ Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
Hi Simon, welcome to the gang ;)

How exactly is your speedo toasted? - whats the symptoms? - Does anything work at all?

I did try swapping a speedo once from a scrapyard vehicle as my speedo needle kept sticking. The scrap unit barely lit up but the mileage display and the rest did come up clear as a bell. When i test drove it the speedo unit refused to budge and the mileage didn't do anything either. From that i concluded that it was either shot simply because it was a scrap unit or that they simply cannot be swapped. The latter seems most likely.

There used to be a guy i swapped messages with on http://www.renaultforums.co.uk who used to fix speedo units for a living. Unfortunately it's been moons since i've been on that site and i have no idea what his username was. All i can say is that he was very knowledgeable and could swap mileages, security codes, reprogram chips etc.

Just in case you have the sticky needle thing and thats your only glitch, this is typically caused by the clear plastic cover fitted over the speedo unit. They warp with heat (the heater pipe behind is made of cardboard, splits open with age and warms the unit). The cure here is to remove the black plastic surround (starting with the long piece above it with 3 screws) and remove the plastic cover. Then remove the speedo unit itself (you have to play twister due to the cables) and take off the front plastic. A tad unsightly but then just leave the speedo unit uncovered until you can find a straight plastic cover. That or you dismantle the speedo, remove the needles and drill the holes out a bit bigger... then you need to make sure you somehow recalibrate it lol.

I've taken you off moderation so you can post away..

Saffles
Author:  Bih [ Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
Hi saffles,
Thanks for the information, and yes I had taken off clear plastic cover and still no joy. The speedo needle is just unreliable, I could be doing 30 -50 mph and needle will be stuck at 70 or just above zero. I raise speedo needle to 12 O'clock position and it sometimes drop clockwise or anti-clockwise to 6 O'clock position. You tap dashboard and needle jumps as if electrocuted.
Used speedo works fine all lights come up and car is just a joy to glide with.
All I need to do now is set old mileage to new dash.

Thanks
Bih
Author:  SAFRANEV6RXE [ Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
Hi Simon and welcome to the forum!
As far as i know you can,t change the mileage over but maybe one of those speedo correction people can but i don,t think so.
Be interesting to know abit more about your car,give us a rundown of its condition etc in a new thread and maybe a few pics?
Theres a few people on here with Phase 2 parts at the moment so (i,am a Phase 1 owner)they should be able to help.
Author:  Saffles [ Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
Bih wrote:
Hi saffles,
Thanks for the information, and yes I had taken off clear plastic cover and still no joy. The speedo needle is just unreliable, I could be doing 30 -50 mph and needle will be stuck at 70 or just above zero. I raise speedo needle to 12 O'clock position and it sometimes drop clockwise or anti-clockwise to 6 O'clock position. You tap dashboard and needle jumps as if electrocuted.
Used speedo works fine all lights come up and car is just a joy to glide with.
All I need to do now is set old mileage to new dash.

Thanks
Bih


Ah ha.. I thought i might be right - sticking needle is a common problem with these cars. Renault were aware of it when the model was new but never worked out what was causing it - holes that are too small for the needle wouldn't have crossed their mind at all would it..

Basically, the front plastic cover warps (and quite possibly the rear section of the plastic too) which then bends the black panel with the markings and this causes the spindles on the needles to catch on the side of the holes that they poke through. What you might want to try is actually swapping the circuit boards over in your two speedo units instead. I have a hunch though that the needle solenoids / servos might be soldered onto it (been a while since dismantling one) which would make it tricky as you'd then need to somehow recalibrate the needles. Anyhow if you can swap the PCBs over, your good unit would then contain your correct mileage while being inside a set of plastics and holes that work - if that makes sense.

You may also find that your heater causes it to stick. One of our safranes would stick on a hot day but on a cold day (or hottie with air con turned on) it would be fine. Again like you, if i continued tapping it, it would jolt around and give a rough idea of the speed. I'd recommend you have the speedo out and check the heater pipe behind it since they are usually made of cardboard, the seam is at the front and opens up with age allowing hot air straight onto the rear of the speedo unit. Quick fix is to staple it back together, wrap with newspaper and then sticky tape the hell out of it all the way round. That or you find some plastic pipe of the same size and put that in place - again sealing it in nicely with oodles of tape or something. The passenger side suffers from it too but you need to remove the electrically triggered airbag to get to it so you need to disconnect the battery for a good hour before taking that out.

Hope that helps..
Author:  Bih [ Sat Apr 04, 2015 1:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
I had taken speedo out, and low and behold the vent pipe was split. Used Aluminium tape to hold it back and also put some insulation to stop any heat dissipation to back of speedo.
Even with acrylic plastic cover off and needle freely rotating, I am having the same unreliable speedo performance.

My advise would be for all to inspect the ducting at the back of the speedo and take remedial action if necessary.
Author:  Saffles [ Sun Apr 12, 2015 3:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Safrane Phase 2 speedometer change
Unfortunately it appears that once affected by the heat the plastic warps permanently. Some cars are worse than others while some never suffer from it at all. Out of the three we've had, two suffered it with one being worse than the other. One never had a problem at all with the speedo (and it was that one that i compared the plastic parts with which led to the discovery of the warping).

With ours it was literally the front panel of the speedo - the clear part that had warped. When unscrewed from the rest of the speedo the back part seemed to relax back into shape. You may want to try another clear part from a breaker safrane that is known to have a reliable speedo. To test the theory, just remove the clear plastic from the front of your speedo temporarily and refit back into the dash. You'll soon know as you'll either suffer unreliable speed or you'll be hassle free. If the latter then you know your clear plastic is warped.
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