I have a 97 Chrysler Cirrus, and have been driving it for about 5 months. The other day, as I was driving, the speedometer stopped working. It did that one time before, but started back working. However, this time, it still is not working and I have no idea how fast/slow I am going. Often, my car has little glitches where you have to lock/unlock the door a certain way or it does not work right. Everybody jokes that my car has OCD! Also, once you crank the car, you have to turn the key back halfway or certain things don’t work- like the clock, wipers, turn signals, etc. I don’t know if this is related to the speedometer situation or not. The last time the speedometer stopped working, I had the AC on and a cassette tape in the deck; I was trying to hit the rewind button, but kind of accidentally pushed between fast-forward and rewind, and that is when the speedometer stopped working. I am not sure this is related. Do you know if my car has a sensor or a cable for the speedometer? Is this something that can be easily and inexpensively fixed?
Your car doesn’t have a speedo cable. The speedo is electronic, and gets it’s signal through the ECM from the vehicle speed sensor (VSS). If your Check Engine light is not on, the VSS is probably good, and you just have a bad connection to the dash display. Try hitting the dash right above the speedo, and see if it will work again.
As far as the key switch thing, you need a new ignition switch. This is different from the ignition key tumbler you put the key in.