Speedometer not working

gengiant

New Member
Oct 5, 2006
268
Sacramento, CA
Boat Info
1994 270 DA
Engines
7.3L BRIII
Hi all,

Seems like I've been asking a lot of questions of all of you lately, but since there's been so much good advice coming back I figured I can't go wrong by keeping going. :grin:

Here's another repair I am faced with yet don't know how to fix. :smt017 My speedometer quit working some time ago. :smt100 I suspect that I may have a plugged pitot (?) tube, but this is purely a guess on my part. I have a 2001 BRIII outdrive... Any suggestions on where this tube might be located, how I can check to see if it is indeed plugged and then, if it is, how I could clean it out? Could there be other issues with the speedo that someone like me who is only somewhat mechanically inclined could fix?

Thanks!
 
Trim up your drive and look just above the bullet. You should see the hole. The hose runs in the middle of the drive up into the transom. In most cases a stopped speedometer is because the hole is plugged. A couple of tricks are to:

1. Get a under sized drill bit and use it as a auger, turning it back wards as you work it into the hole and dig the dirt and other mess out.

2. Get a cigar pipe cleaner or small round wire brush and insert into the hole and draw the dirt out.

Good luck. :grin:
 
PS:

It would not be a good idea to have a drill attached to the drill bit when trying this, your drive might spin on you and flip the boat upside down. :smt043
 
I've also heard that a 22Cal. Gun Barrel cleaner is just the right size to clean the piton tube out.

PS: Richard it thought you would be flipped not the boat if the drill turned on. :lol: :smt043 :lol:
 
I cut the bottom part of a wire hanger off. It's the right diameter to fit in the hole. Sometimes the passage is really clogged and you have to really jam the wire in and out to clear it. You will know it's clear when the wire goes in deeper all of a sudden and water will come out when you pull the wire out.

Another trick is to file the end flat on two side almost like a little screwdriver. Then you can put the other end in a drill. That will break up the clog and clear it quickly.

Be careful with a dril bit. They are brittle. It a piece breaks off in the hole, you will have a problem.
 
The pitot tube will terminate at the back of your gauge, you can pull it off there and shoot some air through the tube to eject anything on the other end too.
 
admin said:
The pitot tube will terminate at the back of your gauge, you can pull it off there and shoot some air through the tube to eject anything on the other end too.

GG, here is what it looks like at the back of your gauge. I know you have limited time access to your boat to go check it out, so this is what you should expect to see.

Notice also from our discussion of the electrical part, there are only two wires to the gauge. The black wire is negative ground, the blue wire is instrument lighting from your lighting rheostat and the nav switch.

Admin, I take it then that one can expect there will be enough flexibility in the tube that it can be removed and replaced without worrying about it coming loose afterwards?
 

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Great advice everybody! Anyone know what type of material the pitot tube is made of? I amagine it to be either a brass or aluminum tube, but I honestly don't know.
:smt017
 
It is not really a tube like you may be thinking of on an airplane. It is just a hole near the leading edge of the hub on the lower outdrive unit.
 
Dave M. said:
It is not really a tube like you may be thinking of on an airplane. It is just a hole near the leading edge of the hub on the lower outdrive unit.

Sorry Dave! I meant the tube at the back of the speedometer.
 

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