Speedomter just quit (Olds 1991 Ninety-Eight Regency Elite)

My speedometer just stopped working while I was driving right after my car suddenly cut off(I pulled off the road and restarted it fine). I then noticed that my AC was not cold. When I came to a stop the vehicle was sluggish in take off, but reached max speed limit with no problem. The next morning all was fine. The speedometer worked and the AC was cold. Now it did it again, but has not “self-corrected”. Any ideas?

Maybe it’s time to open the hood and see what’s going on under there…Also, you might have missed a great opportunity when “Cash For Clunkers” expired…

Absolutely no help. I am aware of the age of the vehicle and I know how much I paid for it a few years ago. Trust me, when it dies, I’ll remove the license plate (and my golf clubs out of the trunk) and call the Kidney Foundation and they can pick it up where it sits. I was really hoping someone might actually know of the problem and had my fingers crossed that the solution would be affordable.

This sounds like you have an intermittent electrical problem. I would guess that there is a corroded ground connection someplace. Be certain that the ground connection to the engine block and to the body are not corroded. A 19 year old car has a right to have corroded connections. Trace the wires going from the negative terminal of battery. Remove the negative terminal and clean every connection. While you have the negative terminal off the battery, remove the positive terminal and clean it as well. Then reconnect the positive terminal and then the negative terminal. If this doesn’t solve your problem, you aren’t out any money, but I would bet even money that it will.

Thanks for the suggestion. I just looked at the battery and there is no corrosion. The wires that go from the battery to the engine look fine, but I can’t see exactly where they go. So, there’s no way I can tell if they are corroded at the ends. Meanwhile the speedomter has started working again, but the air does not blow cold.