Seepometer quit working. Went and bought a new cable. Took out the old one, it was fine! (of course. You'ld have to know me) Put in the new cable (why not) Speedometer doesnt work! Disconnect cable from trans. put on an electric drill, speedometer works like a champ. Hook cable back up to the trans., speedometer doesnt work. Put truck up on stands, disconnect cable, put trans in neutral, turn drive shaft, everything is turning that is supposed to turn. Hook cable back up, speedometer doesn't work. Take cable loose from the back of the gauge, fire up truck, put it in gear, cable turns just fine. Hook everything back up, speedometer doesn't work. WTF, is it just me or do I have the truck from hell? What is the secret? Hope ya'll can help, the truck is about to go on death row!
Speedometer Could it be that the nylon gear in the trans is stripped? Maybe it is getting enough contact to turn without any load but will slip when you hook up the cable. Just a thought.
The nylon gear could be striped but the cable could be too short and not be reaching the speedometer. I've seen this happen more than once especially if it is was a universal one that somebody cut to fit.
The transmission had a "thing" on it that changed the direction of the speed cable by 90 degrees. This was broken so I removed it. The piece that had broken off was inside the trans. I removed the speed. housing and there are only steel gears. They are in fine shape. When I put the drill on the cable from the trans. the speedometer ran fine up to 50 or 60 mph. When I pushed on the cable while the drill was running the speedometer would go funky. When I pulled out on the drill the speedomenter would run fine. There is a "nut" crimped on to the cable about 1.5 inches down from where the cable connects to the speedometer to keep the cable from falling out, I assume. I'm wondering if the cable is having pressure put on it when I install it on the trans.? I'm thinking of triming a small amount at a time off the square drive inside the cable sheath. What say ya'll?
When I was messing with the drill, and I pushed on the drive, the speedometer would quit working. It took a good amount of pressure but it would quit.
That is exactly what the cable needed. I trimed maybe 1/4" off of the square drive and the speedometer works fine!
I hate to hijack someone elses thread, but I am also having speedo trouble. Mine seems to work up to about 45MPH then it starts to become really erratic it will sway back and forth from 50-70MPH while driving. I replaced the cable, and it didn't change. Is the speedo bad, the gear in the trans, or could it be the cable?
Nope, didn't know the cable needed to be greased... Do I grease the ends of the cable? Would wheel bearing grease work?
use graphite wheel bearing grease, Pull the insert completely out of the cable housing and start feeding it back in as you add grease to it. don't be afraid of over greasing it. you will have to do this from inside the cab of the truck. cover the seat and the floor and don't wear your best white t shirt. Make sure that when the cable bottoms out you give it a twist to make sure it go's back in to the speedo gear in the Trans. I hope this helps Big Tim
