Some trick to inserting the speedometer cable in the Transmission?

[DOCTORBILL]

Been going to look into the Speedometer cable going into the Transmission -
haven't gotten to it.....

This morning (27° F), the speedometer itself was buzzing and didn't work.

SO - the problem may be in the speedometer in the dash.

I started thinking - (Dangerous!) - and thought maybe the cable shrinks in very
cold weather and recedes from the housing on the speedometer!

Got out, wiggled the cable and pushed it forward into the firewall.

Speedometer now works!

NOTHING is ever as you think it is !

DoctorBill

[DOCTORBILL]

I keep having this problem with my Speedometer cable - it buzzes behind the
dashboard when it is cold out - below 20 ° F and the Speedometer doesn't work.

Been having to drive based on the Tachometer reading versus speed - a pain
in the butt !

I am assuming the cable shrinks in the cold and comes out of the Speedometer
hole in back of the Speedometer just enough to not engage the slot in back.

Question - is the speedometer cable one of those wound spring types of "flexible rods" -
essentially like the ones used to clean drains out - only tighter ?

If it is a wound spring, I may be able to take it out of the Sheath at the
transmission and "Pull" it enough to stretch it slightly so that when it is cold,
it will still be long enough.

If anyone has pulled the inner cable out - can you tell me what the inner cable
is made of....

I would appreciate it.

I'd rather not unhook it just to find out that it is a real cable that I cannot stretch...

Thanks in advance.

DoctorBill

[leonbentz]

yea, I found it is easier to mate up the cable at the tranny end first, then run it through the firewall, to the speedometer. When youre mating it up on the tranny end, all you need to do is twist the cable until things drop right in. Mine has a spring wire clip too and a rubber boot that goes over it.

[DOCTORBILL]

Can you pull the inner cable out of the sheath ?

If so, I will endeavor to unhook the whole thing and stretch the inner cable a "tad."

I tried to reach up under the dashboard, but my hand wont fit around all the crap
up in there.

I was able to feel the ferrule that tightens onto the back of the speedometer.

It feels tight - but unscrewing it and taking it out is not going to be easy.

And I don't even have big hands....just big...feet.

Can't imagine how a large guy could work on it.

I hope the buzzing sound doesn't presage the end having become worn down and rounded.

DoctorBill

[leonbentz]

I'm not certain. I do have a spare one, so I can check it out for you. I know if it does, it would have to go out through the bottom end, because of the little driver tabs.

[Woodie83]

If it does come out of the sheath, you could disconnect it at the transmission, stretch it out straight, and slide it out. No need to go under the dash. The speedometer end doesn't screw on, it just kinda snaps on. No worries about the metal end of the cable being worn, it goes into a plastic socket, if anything is going to wear, it would be the plastic inside the speedometer head. There are different cables for tach or non tach clusters, probably half an inch longer or something. I've never heard of anyone needing to change it, but there is some difference.

[DOCTORBILL]

I think you just named my problem !

"There are different cables for tach or non tach clusters"

I had a non-tach cluster in the Phoenix before and bought a tach cluster online.

So I am using a non-tach cable in a tachometer cluster !

Holy RPM's, Batman!

Are you sure...?

That means I have to find a tachometer type cable somewhere.

Argggg....

DoctorBill

[Woodie83]

It is for the new style cars, don't have a parts book for the 89 - 94 models, so I can't tell you for sure. I've never heard of anyone needing to change it though, I sure didn't. You might try just pushing the cable a little further through the firewall, so there's more slack behind the dash.

[DOCTORBILL]

That is what I have been doing lately.

Sometimes it works - sometimes not.

Once the engine compartment warms up, it starts to engage the speedometer.

The inner cable is just barely long enough to work.

When spring comes and it warms up outside, I have a lot of work to do on The Phoenix.

DoctorBill

[DOCTORBILL]

While removing a '94 5 speed manual transmission from our Pull & Save, I saw the
Inner Speedometer Cable laying about.

I went back a few days later to get the Driver's side Seat belt mechanism and grabbed
the cable before someone else got it...

Here is a photo of it coiled so I could carry it....



I took a "Close Up" photo thru a 3x Eye Loupe to show that the inner cable is
a tightly wound spring. The Speedometer end is squared off.



The inner cable pulls out of the sheath from the Transmission side and from the
hub which goes into the Transmission - you can get it completely free'd up.

This means that I can take mine out, wipe it clean with solvent and try to
stretch in by maybe 1/4 inch, then lube it with powdered GRAPHITE !

Live and learn !

DoctorBill

[DOCTORBILL]

I took out my Speedometer cable by pulling it out of the sheath from the Transmission end.

After wiping it clean I tried to pull on it with one end clamped in my vise. Couldn't pull hard enough !

And - if it had stretched, I couldn't have controlled it.

Then I remembered something from The Boy Scouts Manual....my son was a Boy Scout.

If you want to pull something heavy, tie a rope to it and then to a tree.

Then pull sideways on the rope - the mechanical advantage is tremendous !

So I tried that by clamping the cable to my workbench with wood blocks (to protect the cable) and "C"-clamps
and Bingo - stretched almost too easily !



I clamped the cable taught then pulled it gently and let go - when the cable was no longer taught,
I knew it had stretched a little - about 1/8 of an inch.

....later

I just drove to work. The Speedometer works now immediately - no "warm up"
period required.

Job done - all fixed.

I am a genius.

DoctorBill

PS - If you carry some good rope in your Metro's back end, you could use
this method to pull yourself out of a ditch - if a tree or telephone pole is close enough.

[RossT]

Just a bump to confirm that doctorbills method solved my speedometer problem. When it gets cold out (below 10F) my speedometer would bounce and make all kinds of noise at low speeds.

I initially just lubed the speedo cable with no luck.

So I took it out again and did the "stretch". Lubed it again with black
liquid graphite speedo lube and no more problems. It's been as
cold as -25f and no more issues witht he speedo!

Thanks doctorbill. Now update us on the phoenix....