Speedometer error (says faster than real speed)

Indicates faster than actual speed, right?

CE standards don't allow it to indicate lower than actual. If you're doing 60, it must indicate 60 or faster.

Models imported to the US would fall under US law, and legally could read slower, but it is extremely rare to find this on a vehicle with stock tires.

 

Think about it.

Even a 10% error is only going to show 36000 miles when you're really at 33,000. That's less than one oil change difference on the warranty.

At 200,000 miles... that same 10% error is only going to report 220,000 miles.
That's insignificant in the "they appear to run forever"


But... if you'll actually put a GPS in your truck and compare the odometer to the GPS, you'll see that the odometer error is only about half of the error displayed on the speedometer.

A few years back, Honda got spanked civil court because their odometers were off by close to the Federal 15% limit. They ended up giving extended warranties to those involved in the suit and settled out of court.

Good luck. It's not going to go anywhere.
There was a class action suit against Kawasaki 3 years ago and it was dismissed because the erroneous readings did not result in an unsafe situation (you think you are going faster than you really are) and the error was not great enough to impact resale value.

You might be able to get your warranty extended... motorcycle warranties are by time, not mileage.


BTW: I've yet to see a successful installation of the Dakota Digital device in a modern vehicle. I have a similar device on my motorcycle and it works just fine, but it does alter the odometer by the same percentage, so I'm now running the speedo dead on with the GPS, but my odometer reads 5% low.

 

Ahh okay.

 

Well if anyone is interested:

I've changed the speed sensor drive gear from an N-29 to an N-30. That has put my Odometer within 1% of actual. So instead of getting 3 1/2 miles extra for every 100 driven I now only get 1 mile extra for every 100 driven. The gear has solved that issue nicely, and it only cost me less than $40.00.

On another hand, the speedometer has become much closer to accurate. Still, I've found that by adjusting the pointer on the speedometer I get indications of doing 25 MPH and my actual speed is 26. Since MOST of my driving is at 40 or higher, I don't see this as a problem. At 50 the speedometer is spot on. And at 75 I'm only one mile per hour slower than indicated. I think I can live with that.

Someone recommended Dakota Digital. For $90 I could have modified my wiring harness and installed a signal conditioner that can adjust for any tire size (within reason) and bring the speedo to spot on across the board. Well, this way I haven't modified a thing. And if ever I want to put the N-29 back in - that's as simple as removing a single bolt (12 mm head), pull the speed sensor assembly out, slip off a clip and pull the driven gear out and replace it with the factory original gear. This all takes less than five minutes.

So in the end I'm happy with how things turned out. OEM tire size and my speedo / odometer are reasonably accurate.

Thanks to anyone who has been helpful. As for those with sour comments - well, I guess thanks for trying.

'av'a g'day mates.

'')

 

A photo-documented write up would be nice... we'd get one of the mods to sticky it and people will be able to reference it regularly, as this comes up a LOT, especially with tire size changes.

 

I have a 2009 4 cyl 5 sp and we have one of those radars on a road where I live that's fixed and tells you how fast you are going.I have made a few passes by it and at 6o KPH it tells me I'm doing 55 KPH.I guess they'll never get me for speeding.

later tig1

 

Hypertech makes a speedo calibrator for our trucks. I have one and it is a simple in line plug-n-play install at the gauge cluster, it comes with a USB cable long enough so you can run the USB down to a serviceable location for future adjustments via a laptop IE: new tires or worn out tires. The software is a complete no brainer to use it simply asks for your stock tire size ( reference your driver door jam for OE specs ) and then your new tire size. If you want to get super precise you can even measure your true tire height and enter that in IE: my 35's are actually only 34.6 new and now barely 34". I was told the hypertech is a favorite of shops that do work for dealerships, they legally have to install something and the hypertech came recommended as the easiest and most reliable.

http://www.hypertech-inc.com/products-results.aspx

 

Those signs are not calibrated and could be WAY off. We have some out on I-15 coming back from Vegas that read about 10mph high.

In your case, it sounds like it is pretty close... you might be doing a bit above 55.

 

A good friend who has a Ford Fusion is almost the same in her car.I suspect ever car/ truck is of one way or another.



later tig1

 

Ya, most are programmed to read a little higher than actual.
Japanese motorcycles are the worst, being around 10-15% fast.

These videos you see a Gixxer running 160? He's really closer to 140.

 

Hi, where can I buy this N-30 drive gear? I have 265/75r16 on my truck, the speedometer should be slower than actual speed, but in my case it's the other way around, when my speedometer says 70mph I'm actually doing 66 or 67mph which is odd,so my speedometer is faster. Can changing the drive gear help me? Any help from you guys would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

That's the way mine is, too. It's better this way, you won't get a ticket for speeding - you'll just piss those off behind you, when you are under the speed limit. Just get a GPS or scan gauge and use them to get your speed

 

The speedometer doesn't bother me, but we're racking up more miles on the odometer than we're traveling, that's not cool. What tires do you have?

 

I have stock size and mine is off, too. Mechanic told me that the speedo being off, didn't affect the mileage

 

I'll have to try that.

 

Just as an FYI, I thought mine was off and figured out that the software program "waze" that has been in the news actually has a gps based speedometer in it. It's one of those free programs for Android or iPhones that track traffic and report traveling issues. It's not a bad program, but I was able to verify the accuracy of my speedometer.
M

 

Yes, I used a couple of those and my speedometer is off for sure. But I have to get it tires, the speedometer should be slower, but mine is faster, makes no sense.

 

Interesting read....Although, I'm not experiencing the same problems. My 2011 OR came with 265/75/r16's. I put NEW 265/75/r16 Duratracs (lr C, 38psi) on the truck a couple months ago. A few days after that, a good friend, who happens to be a LEO, asked me to help him and a few of his fellow officers with a training session on a new speed radar system they were converting to. My "job" was to drive up and down a stretch of highway at various speeds. One of the officers rode with me. He had a hand held radio with which we were altering my speeds on instruction. Granted, an analog speedometer isn't the most accurate measure of speed known to man, but I could hold pretty steady with the needle spot on the requested speeds.

Long story short, with 5 different radar guns used on me, the speed they registered was off less than the width of the speedometer needle at speeds above 60mph. Below that, we could not see ANY variation. With that, I'm am fairly certain speeds (and with that, distances) are as close as it can be.

As my dad used to say about the trucks and drivers used in his contracting business, "So long as the man with the badge and the gun are happy, we'll be happy".