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is a working speedo an MOT requirement? I've looked at the MOT website linked in the BMW ABS thread and it doesn't mention it. The reason I ask is an MOT is due soon, the speedo's packed in and the sender is refusing to come out the gearbox.
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It's a requirement to use on the road, but it's not tested. My 7.5T horse lorry has just passed its plate with no working speedo, for the second year. I took it to the test centre, and sat in the cab all the way through the test (HGV tests require you to provide a driver to operate the vehicle throughout the test)
I use the rev counter to judge speed, as I've worked out that 1250 revs in top = 30 mph, etc. I find I can now judge speed by engine note...
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A vehicle with no speedo is not roadworthy. The MOT is a stationary test - the vehicle does not move. So it doesn't get tested.
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A vehicle with no speedo is not roadworthy. -
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> definition of a vehicle=A device or structure for transporting persons or things; a conveyance: therefore a cart behind a horse is a vehicle pray tell where the speedo would go?
on the horses tail maybe? lol
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A vehicle with no speedo is not roadworthy.
Can't agree Mapmaker.
A speedometer is a luxury for car users who can't judge speed. Whatever the law may say, it's completely unnecessary.
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Yesterday I was taken to task for proposing a small modification to the dashboard display lights and threatened with manslaughter charges. This in respect of an item that was optional at the time of fitting.
Today I make a bald statement of fact that the law considers a vehicle without a speedo to be non-roadworthy, and I am told that I am making a fuss over nothing.
I love the backroom! ;)
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I wondered if it might have been noted during the brake test when the car's on the rollers. And it does have a tacho so I have a fair idea of the speed I'm doing - probably a better idea than when in some of the cars I have driven with wildly optimistic speedo's.
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while the little needles on the wall are going up and down the man with the clipboard wont be looking at the fireplace
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IMHO the speedo is entirely useless, except as a means of ensuring that you are not breaking the law by travelling at 35 in a 30 etc.
Good drivers will judge speed by external references, and use these to assess/correct speed according to the road conditions.
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I use the rev counter to judge speed, as I've worked out that 1250 revs in top = 30 mph, etc. I find I can now judge speed by engine note...
What about inclines then? rev will be much higher then for same speed :)
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I also know the revs for third, sad git that I am! And it won't do 30 mph in 2nd!
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Many modern speedos don't register anything below about 10 mph so you should be quite safe on a roller brake tester even if the tester is looking!
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Local yokel,
Your days are numbered. New legislation means that eventually all 7.5 tonners will be fitted with a speed limiter (56mph). The HGV test now includes a check on speed limited 7.5 tonners, they just plug a computer thingy into the back of the tacho. All it checks is that the limiter is working correctly. Only one step away from a full speedo test though.
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I had just this conversation with the tester a week ago - he told me the lorry was old enough to be permanently exempt from this bit of the legislation.
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And on checking, only vehicles over 3500kg and regd after 1 Oct 2001 have to be retrofitted with a speed limiter, by 1 Jan 2008.
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well the old bus failed its MOT test yesterday but no mention made of the non-working speedo. Anyone care to guess how much it'll cost me to have the nearside front shocker replaced on a 17 year old Previa? Yes that's all it failed on, well ok rear number plate light too, advisory one tyre near its limit and 22% imbalance on the front brakes. Not bad for £500 last year off e-bay.
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Would a fixed sat nav system that displays speed be acceptable in place of the vehicles own speedometer in terms of it being road legal I wonder?
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Speedo on a car is NOT a testable item on MOT BUT
It is an offence not to have one in a vehicle first used after 1,8,84 ( with exception) that shows either mph or kph or
offence not to maintain in good and efficient order.
Defence:
fault occurred on current journey,or
steps taken to have repair effected within reasonable expedition.
(Reg 35,36 Con and Use Regs 1986)
An rpm indicator aint a speedo...... (Tachometer?)
dvd
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Speedo on a car is NOT a testable item on MOT BUT It is an offence not to have one in a vehicle first used after 1,8,84 ( with exception) that shows either mph or kph or offence not to maintain in good and efficient order.
Yes I know it's a 10-year-old thread, but I was going to ask the same question. Most of us know that a speedo should read within about +10% of the true speed and should not under-read, but it seems that older cars don't have to have one.
I ask the question because I suspect that my 1990 Pug 205, with 147K on the clock, will not read much above 62mph - which normally does not bother me as that is about as fast as I go. The rev-counter works OK so I should be safe, but if a car's speedo is never officially tested, so what (one may ask) ?
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Andrew the world has moved on. A speedo that is clearly not working is now a major fault and Mot fail. You can look at the test handbook online. Its still woolly as a road test is not part of the test and there is no calibration test so many faults will go undetected.
So it looks like you are in the clear as regards the test. However if you are not going to repair the speedo have you checked it versus satnav to see if its actually working within allowable margins at speeds below 62 mph? The fault it has may not just affect higher speeds.
That aside I think the chances of your being detected as having a faulty speedo are close to zero.
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However if you are not going to repair the speedo have you checked it versus satnav to see if its actually working within allowable margins at speeds below 62 mph? The fault it has may not just affect higher speeds.
Having driven 205s for over 30 years I am pretty certain that the speedo reads normally up to 60mph, confirmed by the rev-counter. I just have a suspicion that on the very rare occasions that I enter the upper 60s it may be under-reading. Not a simple problem to test in the normal scheme of things.
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You can buy a matchbox sized Speedo, powered by battery, which works from GPS, doesn't need connection to anything, and can be fixed with bluetac to dash. Quite common on old cars where fixing original equipment is uneconomic.
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Good drivers use their speedometer constantly to monitor speed. It's all very well to say one can use engine note or tell hoe fast you're going by the how quickly the world rushes past your windscreen, but it's not reliable. You might just about manage on a vehicle you drive all the time with a failed speedo (remembering to slow down to a good 10 mph below the limit whenever you pass a speed camera, just to be on the safe side) but what if you have to drive lots of different vehicles, all with no speedo?
PS just realised this is a very old thread so I've wasted my time replying even more than if it had been a current topic!!!
Edited by Sofa Spud on 03/12/2018 at 16:18
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Good drivers use their speedometer constantly to monitor speed.
I'd say good drivers can judged their speed without looking at their speedo, I can, tell me a legal target speed and I'll drive within 2-3 mph of it without reference to the speedo. I've tested myself multiple dozens of times - it's not hard.
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