[deadinohio]

Malfunction light came on & speedometer stopped working. Next day, lost battery charge while driving. Was told the battery was bad... replaced it, drove away and lost power again then was told the alternator was bad. Had mechanic take it off to fix but it was good and he said speedo fuse had blown and that the speed sensor was bad causing the fuse to blow. Okay... he replaced speed sensor & fuse. Drove it for about 30 miles and the fiscious cycle started all over again... speedo stopped working, malfunction light came on, lost charge again, and fuse was blown. I'm thinking there's a short somewhere but mechanic says "no, you gotta bad speedometer", I think he wants more money which I don't have. HELP

[Jamodu]

Hi. It's been a while since your post so I imagine you have solved the problem (or binned the car!). If not - here's the very likely problem you're having and the solution:


If you look under the intake manifold at the rear of the engine there is a pack of wires. This pack rubs on the bottom of the intake and creates a short circuit which screws up the speedo, sets off the check engine light and gives a trouble code for the O2 sensor. And causes the headlights to surge and alternator to stop charging the battery.

Just crawl under the car when it is up on stands and gently turn over the pack of wires under the intake to expose the bare wire or wires. Tape them up with insulation tape and away you go.

Hope this helps...