C6 - The adventure continues........in blue

[CitroJim]

It was just something nice to do on my day off by helping somebody else.

Yes, and making them very happy on their special day... That's wonderful

[myglaren]

Didn't your dad have similar problems with the display?

[Trainman]

He did Steve, It came back on, though................ there's a guy in Somerset who is offering speedo repairs for £50 so it will be going down there........

[Stickyfinger]

He did Steve, It came back on, though................ there's a guy in Somerset who is offering speedo repairs for £50 so it will be going down there........

I can recommend "the guys" personal reputation....a well know CCC member

[Trainman]

That's never been in question, I'm just going to get the CCC National out of the way and then the dash is coming out.

[Trainman]

So the next job on the agenda, is to tackle the faulty speedo, this has completely failed, it's totally blank. I understand they are prone to a couple of blown resistors and some potential dry joints........ lucky a fellow Citroenist has repaired a few of these and will be getting this job too..........

[Trainman]

I've been without the C6 for a couple of months due to a fault on the speedometer, basically it stopped working, I sent it away to be repaired, and was told that there was an intermittant fault with the CPU (the display). I was told if I could get my hands on another unit the CPU could be swapped over and my speedo could be up and running.

This turned out be a mammoth task........... I managed to acquire another speedo, however, it was down on the east coast, luckily the chap was heading up to Morecambe where I duly collected it and sent it off to Somerset to be utilised as a donor, this turned out to not be the case as the CPU is not compatible with my speedo........ the CPU is different.......

It did throw up the quality of 'proffessional repairs' though......... The top two pictures show what the back of the speedometer should look like.....

The bottom two pictures show the "repair" that had been carried out by somebody, prior to Robin acquiring his car. {rant!

So at the moment I'm still without the C6, although it can be driven with just the Heads Up Display........... oh and before you ask........ a new speedo is £900

[GiveMeABreak]

Utterly, utterly silly money, a new instrument panel for the X7 is just under £1100 - so don't feel too downhearted Steve!

[Stickyfinger]

It is this type of fault with these parts of the cars which will kill "classics cars of the future......there will just not be any medium or low end cars that will be able to be kept.

[CitroJim]

£900 for a speedo!!! I'd want a whole car for that

Those repairs don't look good at all Steve...

Shame the parts from both cannot be used to make one good one...

There has to be a market here for a solution to this - perhaps using a Raspberry Pi and a display to mimic the original speedo...

I, as I suspect many of us, will be interested to hear how this all pans out and resolves itself...

[CitroJim]

It is this type of fault with these parts of the cars which will kill "classics cars of the future......there will just not be any medium or low end cars that will be able to be kept.

But as I hinted above, ingenuity will come to the fore to keep them going in some way or another...

We already use much mechanical ingenuity on our old cars now and with the likes of the C6 rather than mechanical it'll be IT and computer...

Way beyond my abilities but well within the skills of a lot of other people I'm sure... The likes of Simon (Mandrake) for instance...

[Hell Razor5543]

I wonder if the CPU is a custom chip. If it is not, my first step would be to contact the chip manufacturers to see if they can help.

[Michel]

I believe Malcolm at Savoy had a similar problem with some of his C6s, and sent his speedos to somewhere in Spain (!) to get them repaired at a reasonable cost. It might be worth contacting him to see if he can help.

[Trainman]

Well, I never thought I would say this but the C6 is off to pastures new

I've decided that rather than spend the best part of £2,000 on her, it's best to let her go to a new home, and yes I do mean a new home, she's off on her farewell tour from Preston to the Southwest in the early hours of Thursday morning.

I've been pondering for a while what to do with her, and found an enthusiast who was looking for a project, the agreement is mutual and he knows her history.

So from Thursday, I'll be C6 less......

To answer some of the comments

£900 for a speedo!!! I'd want a whole car for that

Those repairs don't look good at all Steve...

Shame the parts from both cannot be used to make one good one...

There has to be a market here for a solution to this - perhaps using a Raspberry Pi and a display to mimic the original speedo...

I, as I suspect many of us, will be interested to hear how this all pans out and resolves itself...

I wonder if the CPU is a custom chip. If it is not, my first step would be to contact the chip manufacturers to see if they can help.

The company who make the CPU are BORG, and it seems, well known for not supplying replacement parts.....

Shame the parts from both cannot be used to make one good one...

That was the original plan, alas BORG changed some of the componant's and there not compatable with each other now.........

I believe Malcolm at Savoy had a similar problem with some of his C6s, and sent his speedos to somewhere in Spain (!) to get them repaired at a reasonable cost. It might be worth contacting him to see if he can help.

Yes, I know about the chap, but given that parts are non-existant it seems pointless to waste more money............ incidently a new speedo is £1037 + VAT (I checked)

So come next year, I'll be looking for another motor........... haven't decided what yet though

[white exec]

Try a call to Speedy Cables (they're in South Wales). They are masters at speedo and instrument repair, but I don't know whether their expertise extends into digital. Worth a call, though. They have an excellent reputation.