Well, I've had my car for less than a week and already today I experienced a problem. It's okay, I still have high hopes for the car.

Today after my 20 minute commute home, I went inside and let my car sit for about an hour. Later I jumped in my car to drive to class and upon starting the car I immediately noticed the tachometer was completely dead. I drove about a block and it was still dead. Then I turned off the car and restarted it, still dead. After a few minutes of driving, the tachometer finally came back to life and has been working fine ever since.

The only thing that seemed noteworthy was that the outside temp. gauge read 104F when I started the car and then quickly climbed down to about 95F. Yes, it's the Florida summer and it really is about that hot. Maybe this caused the tachometer to fail? Who knows.

The other thing to note is that the engine RPMs were kind of "surging" at this time. I could hear the motor rev down, then rev up, then rev down, then rev up. I also seem to recall each time it has done this, a distinctive "clicking" sound, like the compressor relay turning on and off repeatedly. Does a such thing as a "compressor relay" even exist? I'm pretty car stupid LOL. I've noticed the car do this a few times now, I think it is related to having the A/C running but it doesn't always seem to happen with the A/C on. I think it has only done this on start-up.

--Dan

 

i am having that same problem, ive had my car for over 2 years and it only started about a week ago, its the weirdest thing

 

Alot of times it really pay's to read the sticky's before posting. I think most of your answers will be answered in that thread. Most likely your speedo didn't actually quit working. It probably got stuck, it's pretty common. The next time it does it slap the top of your instrument panel and it will probably pop back up. Almost like Fonzie hitting the jukebox. You can impress your friend sitting next to you in the passanger seat when you can fix your car by slapping the fash like in the movies.

As far as the surging goes, turn the A/C off when it starts doing it. If it stops then you know it's probably related to your issue of your compressor engaging and disengaging. If not you have other issues. Some ECM problems with past car's, namely '95's and really early '96's, caused the motor to die after longer drives and caused engine surging. Since your's is a '99 I doubt it's an ECM issue but who knows. I fixed alot of problems with my '96 by replaced the ECM. How many miles are on your car?

If the surging only happens with the A/C on you know where to look. Since your A/C system uses an expansion valve instead of an orifice tube, the compressor does not cycle on and off to hold a constant pressure. One reason it could be cycling is out of spec clearances on the clutch, or low refrigerant. Is your A/C blowing cold, or not so much? The system is designed to not allow the compressor to engage below a certain pressure and if it's right on the edge it could be causing your compressor to click on and off.

-Kelly

 

Kelly,

I'll check the stickies in the future. In my defense, I did search before asking but probably used cruddy search criteria. If I have to hit the cluster often to revive my tach then I'll be looking into a permanent solution.

Regarding the A/C, I think you may be right -- I've had a gut feeling recently that the air is not quite as cold as it should be. I guess I'll have the dealership check the refrigerant level soon. Nice analysis.

Thanks!

--Dan

 

Try the slapping the top of the cluster a little when the needle sticks, it'll give you a good laugh.

 

My tach and speedo will stick when it gets hot outside. I find that the patented "slap" on the dashboard fixes the problem every time.