speedo question

[daddyo23]

Hey all, I have a question on the speedo. I've went through the old posts and tried various fixes but nothing has worked yet. When I start out, the speedo jumps up to 15-20 mph. It seems to run 10-15 mph faster than I'm driving. Does a little for the ego ( ) but I would like it right. When I pull to a stop, it stays at 10-15 mph. I can tap the glass and sometimes it will drop down, but once I move, right back up. Once in the garage it was sitting at 15 and I disconnected the cable and it dropped. So, I pulled the inner cable out and lubed the snot out of it. Didn't seem to do much. Should I re-grease the inner? I have oiled the gauge the best I could as it is hard to get up in there. Should I keep oiling both in hopes it will wotk itself out? There is no real sharp bend in the cable, although as you push the inner back in the last few inches it does require a little more pressure to go through the bend at the tranny.

Any thoughts will be appreciated and tried. Thanks, Wayne P.

[builtfercomfort]

Does it register correctly otherwise (i.e. 20 = 35, 40 = 55)? Or is it off by an increasing amount?

Can you just move the needle to make it point to 0 when at rest, and will that fix the problem?

[BobT-47P15]

Mine does about the same thing.......reads approx 15 mph faster than am

really going. Checked the variance with the wife in her car behind me.

About the needle staying at some speed when stopped.....I simply leave

the cable nut on back of the speedo a little bit loose. That seems to

allow it to drop to 0. I have two or three more speedos I hope to try

when weather is warmer. It's just a pain to get in there and change them.

Also, you might try spraying the connection area of the speedo with

WD 40. I know it's not supposed to be that great a lubricant, but

I found it certainly helped with a couple door locks/plungers at home.

[Norm's Coupe]

I would pull the cable, clean it off, then apply some fresh white grease to it. At the same time, I would also put a couple of drops of 3 in 1 oil in the back of the speedo to lube it. (WD 40 wouldn't last long as a lube). Then take for a spin. It may still jump around a little at first, but should calm down after a few miles and work right, if that is all that's wrong with it.

[windsor8]

I would pull the cable' date=' clean it off, then apply some fresh white grease to it. At the same time, I would also put a couple of drops of 3 in 1 oil in the back of the speedo to lube it. (WD 40 wouldn't last long as a lube). Then take for a spin. It may still jump around a little at first, but should calm down after a few miles and work right, if that is all that's wrong with it.[/quote']

Did this and got my speedometer working smoothly.

[hkestes41]

Mine unfortunately reads slow.

At 20 it reads 15

At 45 it reads 30

At 65 it reads just over 45.

It also jumps some once it gets over 45. When I got the car it was jumping no matter how fast I was going. Took it out cleaned it up and then lubed it with 3-1 Oil and it helped a lot with the jumping.

[daddyo23]

Does it register correctly otherwise (i.e. 20 = 35, 40 = 55)? Or is it off by an increasing amount?

Can you just move the needle to make it point to 0 when at rest, and will that fix the problem?

It seems to be fairly constant with the speed it's off, usually 10-25. I can tap the glass and it will go down to 0, or loosen the cable and it drops. But once I start moving, right up to 15-20.

I'm gonna pull the cable and clean it like Norm said and lube them both again. We'll see what happens. Thanks for the help.

[Brendan D25]

I can tap the glass and it will go down to 0, or loosen the cable and it drops. But once I start moving, right up to 15-20.

I wonder if you filed a little of the end of the inner cable. It might have been a universal one that was cut a slight bit too long.

[BobT-47P15]

Now, there's a thought........

I'll check mine when the weather warms up.

[daddyo23]

Well I lubed both the inner cable and the speedo. Worked the lube in the speedo by twirling the drive in the back. Took it out for a short ride and it's the same. I may have to try cutting a little off like Brendan said. That may just do it.

[greg g]

The cable spis a magnet, the magnet spins against a chynk of metal conected to the needle. So the faster the magnet spins the more it moves the needle against the spring. There might be some dirt or dust betweent eh magnet and the piece on the needle. or there might be some dirt and dust in the windings of the needle spring. You might see if you can gain an access through the rear of the speedo assembly and blow some low pressure compressed air into the unit. Might get lucky and dislodge what ever is causing the jerkiness. If not you can bull the entire unit, take it appart and clean it up. You can even redo the Safety sentinal feature which causes the

Speedo to turn colors from green to yellow to red as you speed increases. there is a color wheel which rotates with the needle to make the light change color when the dash lights are on......UH Huh does so!!!!

[Norm's Coupe]

Greg,

I don't think you can get access to the speedo springs without removing it from the dash. Once it's out of the dash you can get to any part of it. You don't have to remove the whole gage housing. The speedo will come out by itself by removing just a few screws in the back. Then gently pull it out. You may have to twist the speedo unit a little to get it out though. Also be careful not to break the speedo needle. That's how I got mine out of my coupe some years ago.

I also had a gage assembly I bought at a swap meet. The speedo needle on that one did the same thing as daddy023 said his did. Did the same thing with that one. Pulled it out of the housing and put it on the bench. Lubed it with penetrating oil (real stuff, not WD40) and let it sit overnight (or maybe a day or two), then came back and started working it. First by hand, then by drill for more and constant speed. Then it started working like it should. Sold it on ebay and the buyer said it worked great in his car.

[BobT-47P15]

I have two or three spare speedos sitting around now....one in particular

looks good. Will try them this summer after some lubrication. Bought

some graphite liquid today for such things. Am also going to pull the

cable and clean it......may even have too much litho on it. Will check the

length of the end as well.

[mikesinky]

hey i need to know how to get the needle off the speedometer. i need to clean it up and stuff and i was trying to get the needle off but i was wondering if it just pulls off or does something hole it on i dont want to mess it up by prying on it,,thanks

[busycoupe]

Be careful! I had a spare speedometer for my D24, and I tried to take it apart to clean it, and touch up the color on the needle hub to make the safety colors at night more visible. It thought that I could pry the needle off, but when I tried it simply broke the needle shaft. That speedometer is now junk. I don't think they come apart.