# electrical/speedometer problems



## white_chocolate (Oct 14, 2004)

I got a 93 Altima GXE today and I have a couple of problems.

First, The speedometer reads 20mph when you start it up and it goes up until 42 mph and it sticks and won't work.The guy I bought it off of said it was his friends and one day the speedo would work fine and the next day it was acting up and sticking.What can I do to fix this?

Second, When the key is turned into the run position the clock works, but when the car is started the clock stops working.The power windows and door locks work great.The antenna won't retract.The radio will not turn on. I have checked all the fuses and they are good.I have also checked the relays and everything appears to be good.What can I do to get rid of that problem?

Third, The Cruise Control doesn't work.The light comes on when you push the button, but it will not work.What can I do to fix that?

Thanks


----------



## UnkalledFor (Sep 21, 2004)

white_chocolate said:


> I got a 93 Altima GXE today and I have a couple of problems.
> 
> First, The speedometer reads 20mph when you start it up and it goes up until 42 mph and it sticks and won't work.The guy I bought it off of said it was his friends and one day the speedo would work fine and the next day it was acting up and sticking.What can I do to fix this?
> 
> ...



first thing you need to find out is if the last owner if they did any modifications to the car that required wiring or anything electrical.. another thing you can check is for bad grounds...but first find out if the last guy did any work to it,,,


----------



## white_chocolate (Oct 14, 2004)

Just to update...
This is white_chocolate's dad. Just needed to make a couple changes to the details of the post after driving it longer. First, the speedo will top out at 42mph. Sometimes it will stick at 20, and other times, it will come back down to 0 several seconds after coming to a complete stop. I am trying to figure out if the problem is in the speed sensor (or wire leading from it) or in the speedo head itself. The reason I say this is because when you are driving, the tripmeter and odometer (I think that is the name of the meter that shows actual miles traveled since new) will read and change as the miles roll up. Just my assumption, but I am saying it is the speedo head instead. I don't think the miles would roll up if the sensor was not operating correctly, but could be wrong. Also, I removed the speedo from the instrument panel to see if I felt anything like a snag or catch in the needle when it moves. It feels smooth and has no signs of binding. What I did notice that seems strange is that if you move the needle anywhere below 55, it will drop back to 0, as it should. If you move it past 60, it wants to fall forward to the high side (past 120) and will peg out straight down.

I just spoke with a previous owner who had it up until a couple of months ago. According to him, the speedo never worked correctly in the year that he owned it. He said the clock and other electrical problems (wipers, washer, clock, etc) we were having could be fixed by simply turning the key back slightly after it springs back from the start position to the run position.

He said the problem with the cruise was his fault. He said that at 1 time, he was trying to find the problem with the speedo and either broke or disconnected the cruise/brake switch at the brake pedal. I am going to check that out shortly.

The rear windows will not roll up or down and didn't when he owned it so I am going to look for a problem with a disconnected harness somewhere leading to them.

Any other help/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.


----------

