Hi Gabriel,
Absolutely, I have this problem :-(

Mines a 64 Diesel Lounge, so the instrument cluster without the TFT.

I went out yesterday to see my parents and realised almost as I got back that the speedo was under reading. What's worse is I have no idea if it started on my outbound journey, or on the way back as it seemed to come on gradually. I do know that by the time I realised the speedo didn't want to go much above 20mph, even when I was in 5th! Even more worryingly I passed 5-6 speed camera's throughout the day, so I now have two weeks to wait to see if I've been caught inadvertently speeding!

My plan is to contact my local FIAT dealer tomorrow/Tuesday and see if they can take a look. I have had this issue before, about 3 years ago. Then it only occurred on very hot days, when the car was left in direct sunlight. The issue would clear as soon as the cars interior cooled. On that occasion the garages were little help as they couldn't reproduce the fault. I'm hopeful that it may be a lot more repeatable now. It certainly wasn't very hot yesterday!

How did you get on with yours? Was it solved? What was it and what were the costs? I'm expecting, from previous conversations with the main agent that it's going to be diags and a new cluster (so could be £800 - £900 by the time labour and VAT is included).

Regards
Andre

 

Hi Gabriel,
Absolutely, I have this problem :-(

Mines a 64 Diesel Lounge, so the instrument cluster without the TFT.

I went out yesterday to see my parents and realised almost as I got back that the speedo was under reading. What's worse is I have no idea if it started on my outbound journey, or on the way back as it seemed to come on gradually. I do know that by the time I realised the speedo didn't want to go much above 20mph, even when I was in 5th! Even more worryingly I passed 5-6 speed camera's throughout the day, so I now have two weeks to wait to see if I've been caught inadvertently speeding!

My plan is to contact my local FIAT dealer tomorrow/Tuesday and see if they can take a look. I have had this issue before, about 3 years ago. Then it only occurred on very hot days, when the car was left in direct sunlight. The issue would clear as soon as the cars interior cooled. On that occasion the garages were little help as they couldn't reproduce the fault. I'm hopeful that it may be a lot more repeatable now. It certainly wasn't very hot yesterday!

How did you get on with yours? Was it solved? What was it and what were the costs? I'm expecting, from previous conversations with the main agent that it's going to be diags and a new cluster (so could be £800 - £900 by the time labour and VAT is included).

Regards
Andre

Hi Andre,sorry to hear of your problem. It does appear that the instrument cluster is susceptible to faults on the Fiat 500. Before you spend big money it might be better to get a basic check with a local garage. My car was put on an analyser and it proved the speedo was good up to where it meets the instrument cluster,so proving the speed sensor was good. I removed the instrument cluster myself,easy job and there are a couple of YouTube tutorials on the subject.I then sent the unit off to an instrument cluster repair facility but they said they couldn’t do anything with it and suggested getting a new or reconditioned unit. Anyway it arrived back with me and I thought I would pop it back in and try it and it now works without a problem.Seems the fact that the unit was taken apart and reassembled has cleared the issue.Obviously a mechanical/sticking issue. When it was assessed by the analyser at the local garage the speedo was put through a needle deflection test and you could hear a slight grinding noise,so was obviously sticking.If you have to get another cluster reconditioned ones are available on eBay for a fraction of the new price. Any new /reconditioned unit would have to be aligned to the car. Seems Fiat term it ‘proxy alignment’ but I think it is just resetting the mileage. Let us know how you get on Andre. Regards Gabriel.

 

Since everything, is run by software on cars today. The speedometer software might need updated. Might be corrupted.
Hook up a code reader, see if you pull some codes.

You can run you car by a speedometer shop too. Have them look at it.

 

Hi all,
This week I took a trip to the local FIAT dealership. I explained the issue and they didn't seem particularly surprised by it. I guess it's more common than I thought.

They admitted that it was likely to be the cluster, but insisted on running diags first (£96inc VAT). These confirmed that the cluster was the fault. They did update the ECU and fixed a recall on the car (I didn't know there was any outstanding) within the fee, so I feel like I got a little something out of it.

A new cluster has been ordered, the part worked out £750 inc VAT and then it's another £100 inc VAT labour to fix and program it up. So total for the diags, cluster and labour is about £950 inc VAT.

The clusters have to be ordered in from Italy, so there is a 10-14 day delay before it arrives and can be fitted. The cars booked in for next Friday, so hopefully that will the end of the issue.

Regards
Andre

 

Hi guys, I had your same issue and I found this italy based company called Minitools.

Apparently the issue is related to a defective stepper motor within the speedo, "VID28-05", and in my case replacing it worked as a treat.

Those guys have the replacement stepper motor, and they made a guide and a pretty straightforward DIY tutorial, which you can find on their website.

Saved a lot of money!

 

Hi guys, I had your same issue and I found this italy based company called Minitools.

Apparently the issue is related to a defective stepper motor within the speedo, "VID28-05", and in my case replacing it worked as a threat.

Those guys have the replacement stepper motor, and they made a guide and a pretty straightforward DIY tutorial, which you can find on their website.

Saved a lot of money!

Here's the link if you're interested Fiat 500, Abarth 500, 595, 695 speedometer and rev counter repair