Hi guys,

Im new here. I have been looking at getting a wrx for myself. Recently, i found a wrx thats within my price range but it has a speedo problem. The speedo read fine from 0-100 km.hr but starts to behave weirdly (drops from 100-0 and then stays at zero...not all the time though) when it goes above 100 km.hr. Has anyone had this problem before and if not... what do you guys think this may be due to? And the car has a engine and gearbox rebuilt. Anything i should look out for beside proof of receipt?

Cheers...your help will def be appreciated.

yong

Could be speedo cable or could be the speedo assy in the dash. but more likely the speedo in the dash. Im pretty sure they are a eddy current speedo, and sometimes they can become weak and not operate correctly at some speeds (jumping around)

With the engine/gearbox, just makesure the gearbox oil is clean, doesnt grind, and is easy to shift, engine, make sure it has been regulary serviced, and that the cooling system etc is in good cond

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Speedo cable coming from gearbox could be on its way out. The lubricant inside might be dry. Or it could be the cable is not pushed into the back of the cluster properly. It can come loose when trying to push other things through the grommet in the firewall.

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RS Liberty - Because WRX's are only good for parts...

whats the problem you cant go faste than 100 k's in the perth metro area????

how much will the repair like what u have mentioned above cost?

If the cable needs to be replaced. I don't know. I have never priced up a speedo cable. Subaru stopped using cable driven speedos for a long tome. all modern WRXs AFAIK are electronic speedos. If its just a little loose then all you need to do it grab the cable at the firewall and push it in towards the dash. You should feel it "click" into place. Other wise, you may need to get your hand up behind the dash cluster and push the cable in like that.

its what happened to me when I put my EBC in. I bumped my cable and it took me half an hour of fumbling with my gigantic hands amongst the tight bundles of cables behind the dash to push it in.

Do you get the CEL light coming on when the speedo drops back to zero?

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RS Liberty - Because WRX's are only good for parts...

i will ask the owner about that. thanks for the infor... by the way... the wrx im looking at is 1996 model. What mileage should one expect for that?

Cheers, you guys have been great help!

200,000+ km is not out of the question on a 96 model. But dont be worried. As long as it has a good service history it should be fine. Do a compression test if your not sure.
There are RS Libs going around with 350,000+kms on them with the original engine.

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RS Liberty - Because WRX's are only good for parts...

I went to have another test drive of the car today. The owner also produced a receipt of the rebuilt engine (done in tassie though with a subaru dealer back in 05/06), My question is... will a compression test tell my much about the rebuilt? If so, what kind of results should i be expecting for each cylinder? I will be taking the car to RMS for a mechanical check. They told me that it will be a 100 points check. So that should include checking for knocking and compression right? Almost getting there guys... your replies are golden!

Cheers
yong

My my00 produced i think from memory it was between 158-162 (think its psi) on all 4 cylinders. Wheather it should be the same im not sure but that was a normal comp test as was stated by my garage. The comp test will show you that all cylinders are not leaking pressure and will also tell you that all 4 cylinders are not literally welded to the block. That being said, if they were locked up, you wouldnt be able to start the car.

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