Hey everyone! I have a 1978 Toyota Celica. While I was out of town last year, my husband took it to an auto shop to get a bunch of old hoses and wires replaced. Ever since then, the speedometer has not worked at all. Unfortunately, the shop owner closed up shop and moved away almost immediately after working on my car, so we couldn’t just take it back and ask him to fix it.
I’ve been driving it frequently since then without any other issues, so I’m guessing that the mechanic just forgot to reconnect a wire or something. I’d appreciate some advice! Is this a simple fix? Is it easily accessible? If I do need to replace a part, how difficult/expensive could that be?
I have a 1979 Celica (essentially same as yours). As Tester indicated, there is no wire. The speedometer cable connects to the transmission. On mine (5 speed W50 tranny) the cable connects to the transmission near the back of the case (by the rear support member)
Did you notice if the speedometer needle vibrating at all before failure? That would indicate a loose cable.
I wasn’t the first person to drive it, but my husband says he did not see it move at all. I ordered a new speedometer cable; once it arrives I’ll switch it out and see if that fixes it.
Your prior shop may have disconnected it to gain access to something they were fixing, and forgot to reconnect it. That could happen either on the transmission or the dashboard end.