240 speedo sender connector: does it just pull off?

[John Halford]

Hello all, I have been thoroughly enjoying my "new" (1991) Torslanda estate bought just before the pandemic struck (phew!) It replaces the 1987 DL estate which is still sitting on the driveway in rather a sad state. The B200F injection engine gives actual acceleration, which the 2.3 DL lacked; the Torslanda is also much more economical, giving me 35 - 36 mpg, compared to 29 if I was lucky from the DL.

Anyway, the speedo and odometer suddenly stopped working the other day. Broken cable, I thought, until I did a bit of research online before crawling under the car. I was surprised to find the '91 Torslanda has an electronic speedo, which a quick look at the differential confirmed. (No car I have owned in my 46 years of driving has had an electronic speedo.) Nearly all the advice seemed to be that the speedo unit in the instrument cluster was likely to be at fault, but I wanted to check the easy stuff first. Under the car I went, then, and immediately saw the problem. One of the wires had broken just where it comes out of the sender unit; the other wire had lost an inch of insulation but was still intact.

I jacked the car up a little to give myself a bit more room and tried to solder the broken wire back together. This was very difficult as there's an inch-and-a-bit diameter bar in the way, plus I'm trying to do this lying on my back. The biggest issue. though, was the fact that the solder just would not take. There was a lot of grease around, and the copper had corroded to an extent. The insulation just cracked off when I touched it. I managed to solder a length of new wire to the wire in the sheath (from the boot area) but without being able to connect it to the sender I am stuck.

If I grasp the yellowish plastic in the sender unit with long nose pliers will it pull off? If so, I would be able to make up a new connector. Also, I wonder if all the grease around the unit has been applied by the former owner to protect things and make it easier to remove. It certainly doesn't look as dry as the differential in photos on the web.

A little more background, which may or may not be relevant: the car was well loaded when the speedo stopped working. The wires connecting to the sender unit on the differential looked as if they had been strained, but there was on tension on them when I looked (after unloading the car).