Speedo Cable

-

Gator

Mopar or No Car
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
290
Reaction score
80
Location
Meadville, Pa
Hey guys, ok heres my problem. My speedometer bounces around pretty good in my "A" body from 10mph up to about 30 mph then smooths out. I was thinking about replacing the whole thing from the tranny to the dash. I was told that if I was to unscrew the speedo from the tranny that I would be able to pull the speedo cable out from the casing, clean the cable up and then when re-inserting it add a little white grease or even graphite to allow for the cable to turn freely. He said this would eliminate the bouncing speedo needle. Has anyone ever done this? or can this be done? He said he done it in his Chevelle and it corrected the bouncing speedometer....
Thanx
 
Yes I've lubed a few a-body speedo cables.
DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE !
If you remove the column cover ( 4 phillips screws ) you can get some light in where it connects to the instrument. It will have a hex collecter screwed on the end just like the one on the trans end or it will have a plastic end with a hooking keeper that is similar to one half of a wooden clothes line pin.
I have removed the one screw holding the fuse box to the dash for hand /arm room.
Once the cable housing is off the gauge you can reroute it down toward the pedal area. Grab the cable end with needle nose pliers and pull it out of the sheath. I use white litium to lube the cable between 2 fingers as I work it back into the sheath.
Now the hard part... the sheath turns nearly a 90 degree radius under the drivers seat and the end doesn't want to go around it on the way back in. It will but it can be a fight. Right there is where the bounce is generated too. I've seen the cable woren through the sheath in that corner.
Anyway... clean all the excess grease from the connecting end cavity with a tooth pick or something so you don't get too much grease in the instrument.
Route it back up there the way it was and reconnect it.
Alternatively there are zerk fittings especially made to screw on the sheath collector at the trans end. With that you can use a grease gun to inject 3 or 4 pump strokes. Finding a service tech today that has one of those zerk adapters might be a challenge. Hope this helps
 
hey RedFish thanks for the reply. Yea I know it is going to be a bear getting my arms and hands up into the instrument area. Was hoping that I didnt have to mess with the dash but guess this is the only way. I'm just windering if it would be easier to replace the whole cable from tranny to instrument panel. On my car from the cables that I have seen the cable has a snap clip at the instrument end and not a nut. I'll have to explore this situation more... Once again thanks...
 
The nylon clip replaced the nut at speedo in 68.
 
-
Back
Top