Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Cat. Converter and Speedometer

First off...a big thanks to horseydug for pointing out my Catylitic converter carries out a 8 year/130000km warranty. The dealer sur didn't know that it was covered under warranty. Almost paid over a grand for nothing. Question is...why did it go? What causes a catylitic converter to go after only 4-5 years? Did I cause more dammage by driving it like that for the past 7 months?

Next, every once in a while (4 months or so), my speedo drops to 0 while driving...but comes back after a few seconds. The "gas light" also comes on while the speedo reads "0" but turns off once the speedo comes back to life.
Is the speedo 100% mechanical? Meaning something in the gearing or cable is screwed?

Thanks

in reference to the speedometer

I had the same thing happening then it got worse and efected all gauges. Found that twisting my fuse box brought the gages back up. Again got worse. Went to junkyard $20 for used fusebox out of pre 98 I have a 2k not a problem since.