MPH needle shakes too much..?

Hello everyone,

I have been away for awhile. I actually gave my 2001 MP3 #905 to my brother and moved to a Mini Cooper. Now that I have a child, I have am selling my MC and looking at a decent 1991 Protege LX with 78,000 miles, the price is great. There is some problems with this MP and I want to know how much of my time and money will I need to spent after I purchase it.

1). the MPH needle shakes while drive on the Hwy. Why is it shaking? How much does it cost to fix? Where can I purchase the needle/parts?

2). The heater takes a while to heat-up, maybe 15 minutes of driving? Is it normal? (I know that on my 2003 civic, it took a while to feel the heat)

3). what else should I take into consideration?


I know it's a reliable car. I also know the performance possibilities and the potential the car has. The goal I have for it will be and engine swap BP GTX or GTR.

Thanks.

My needle does that too when it's cold. I have a 0-buried-in-dash time of approx 0.023 seconds, LOL. When it gets cold the needle vibrates, purrs and bounces all over the place. It actually buried itself so far and hard that the needle snapped off. I now have a nub for a speedometer. I haven't bothered to checked into it as it's just a beater, though. Let me know if you figure anything out.

A new speedometer cable and thermostat should solve both problems. Genuine Mazda part for the cable and a parts store t-stat should run more than $120est.

For the speedo, your cable is getting dry. It doesnt need to be replaced, just take the dash cluster out, get some white lithium grease, and shoot a generous amount of that down the cable. Make sure to work it in real well. This will solve that problem.

For heating, 10-15 mins is pretty normal fro a cold engine to warm up to operating temps. But, if you dont know its previous maintinance history, i would recommend a ful tune up. Change oil, spark plugs, spark plug wires, coolant, thermostat and gasket, and skim over yur cap and rotor to see its condition.
Regards
Kyle- Chrysler Tech

88323GT said:

For the speedo, your cable is getting dry. It doesnt need to be replaced, just take the dash cluster out, get some white lithium grease, and shoot a generous amount of that down the cable. Make sure to work it in real well. This will solve that problem.

For heating, 10-15 mins is pretty normal fro a cold engine to warm up to operating temps. But, if you dont know its previous maintinance history, i would recommend a ful tune up. Change oil, spark plugs, spark plug wires, coolant, thermostat and gasket, and skim over yur cap and rotor to see its condition.
Regards
Kyle- Chrysler Tech

Click to expand...

Thanks Kyle,

I actually did that without the intentions of giving it a tune up. It happend that the oil needed to be change, spark plugs were giving up, and while I was changing the thermostat - i changed that coolant. The car is running really well.


Meng