Speedometer Error

[1966DartConvertible]

Took the dart around the block today and noticed that the speedometer needle starts at 10 or 12 mph.

I just changed the speedo cable with a brand new one. Needle goes up and down as it should when I accelerate/decelerate but when i stop it doesnt go down to 0.

Is there a way to adjust the starting point of the needle?

My speedo is the round one like the early 'Cuda :

Thanks for any help.

Syed

 

[65 Dartman]

I would think a speedometer repair shop could take care of that or you could try and remove the speedo from the cluster and carefully rotate the needle so that is reads Zero. Personally I would have the speedo shop clean, calibrate and repair as needed. I just sent a KPH speedo from a 65 Dart to have done. Speaking of KPH speedos, I would have thought with your Dart being an export model, it would have had a KPH speedo.

 

[RonnyB]

Personally I would have the speedo shop clean, calibrate and repair as needed.

x2
Lubrication is also critical. I've had a couple of cars with speedos that bounce around and sound like a hornet's nest. A little oil was all they needed.
If you get a speedo shop to go through yours, you probably won't have another problem with it for several decades.

 

[kaytbugsdad]

my speedo cable had a kink in it and would bounce til I got to about 45-50 mph, then smooth out....... Replaced the cable, speedo is silky smooth now at ALL speeds......

 

[1966DartConvertible]

my speedo cable had a kink in it and would bounce til I got to about 45-50 mph, then smooth out....... Replaced the cable, speedo is silky smooth now at ALL speeds......

Well, I did say this in my original post...

"I just changed the speedo cable with a brand new one. Needle goes up and down as it should when I accelerate/decelerate but when i stop it doesnt go down to 0."

 

[jhdeval]

x2
Lubrication is also critical. I've had a couple of cars with speedos that bounce around and sound like a hornet's nest. A little oil was all they needed.
If you get a speedo shop to go through yours, you probably won't have another problem with it for several decades.

Where do you lubricate it? What kind of lubricant?

 

[RonnyB]

These were on a couple of Studebakers. The speedo heads have a little hole cover in the head unit built in. You have to get a small screwdriver to pull it out, then it uncovers a hole above the gears. I used old-fashioned 3-in-1 lubricating oil. (It was recommended to me, and there was an old can of it in my Mom's sewing machine) Just added a several drops to thoroughly saturate the felt thingy that was down in there. After that, I put it back together and hoped for the best. After a few minutes, things began to settle down.

The 63-64 Darts don't have that nifty cup you can remove, so you have to either add the oil where the speedo cable connects to the speedo, or take the instrument cluster apart and remove the speedo. I had to take it all apart because my gas and temp gauges were destroyed by a bad instrument voltage limiter.

The best way to do it is to take apart the whole instrument cluster. It not only gives you much better access to everything, but you can sit there looking at it and figure out how the speedo works. There's nothing electronic about it except for the light bulbs that turn on with the headlights. In the places that have a moving part that rubs up against a part that doesn't move, just put a little drop of lubricant.

Just be careful to note how the instrument cluster came apart and you should be able to get it back together again. I always make a little drawing of everything. If it all goes bad, you can take it to a speedometer shop and they will make it good again.
Don't let the fear of messing things up stop you from learning how it works.

 

[jhdeval]

I am fearless. The way I look at it is either I fix it or I pay someone to fix it either way it gets fixed.

 

[cudamark]

Took the dart around the block today and noticed that the speedometer needle starts at 10 or 12 mph.

I just changed the speedo cable with a brand new one. Needle goes up and down as it should when I accelerate/decelerate but when i stop it doesnt go down to 0.

Is there a way to adjust the starting point of the needle?

My speedo is the round one like the early 'Cuda :

Thanks for any help.

Syed

The speedo needle has a clock spring that is adjustable. You need to pull it out of the cluster to adjust it. You want just enough tension to return the needle to the stop. Be carefull doing this as that spring and bearing are rather delicate. I think your year has a brass bearing so just a dab of 3 in 1 like RonnyB mentioned should be all it would need in that area. If you have the plastic bearing like some of the later models, you might have to glue it in place once you adjust it. They tend to deteriorate over time and start to spin or fall out. While you have the cluster out, lube the cable and test all the light bulbs before you reinstall it.

 

[1966DartConvertible]

I would have thought with your Dart being an export model, it would have had a KPH speedo.

Being a former British Colony, we didnt go metric till the late 70's or so. The year when my dart was built, we were just a 9-year-old nation (got Indy from the Brits Aug 31, 1957).

Personally I still prefer the Standard US System. Although I graduated from USC in 2001, I still spell and write the "American Way" Hahaha...

PS: Sorry Off Topic...

 

[BillGrissom]

My 65 Newport's speedometer has a little tab on the base of the spring that you can move to adjust the needle, with the cluster installed and the lower dash panel removed. I didn't care about zero, so set it to read 60 mph when I drove 1 mile per minute on the interstate, using the mileage posts.

My 65 Dart cluster is currently out, so I looked it over. Nothing like that. You would have to remove the speedometer from the cluster and probably do like cudamark says.

The cable shouldn't affect the needle. The cable turns a spinning magnet that surrounds a cup, without touching. The needle is attached to the cup. The magnet can touch the cup if the spindle bore gets worn. You see that as a pulsing needle at low speed. When bad it can grab the cup (bad).