speedo cable

Hi to you all ,New member here with a new to me 81 caprice two door. It is in great shape but has a few minor problems like most .
Have any of you changed the speedo cable on one . I can't seem to figure it out .The one in it bouncing now .
And the trunk lid is it springs or ??? It won't stay up .
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me .
John

as far as the trunk i think its springs, mabye they are worn out. all i have to do is turn the key on my 78 and it pops right up

The spring rods in the trunk are adjustable.

I have a LOT of speedo experience with my 84. If your needle is bouncing all over the place, it's the speedometer head itself.

You can lube the cable two ways. Under the car or from the IP cluster. It may help, but my guess is that it won't.

Lemme know exactly what it does (noise, where it bounces, where the needle "rests" when you're doing 0 MPH, etc.

Hi again!!
Thanks for the replys . The speedo cable rests at 0 and does not bounce a whole lot , but does bounce slightly pretty well at all speeds and makes a very annoying clicking sound , I was thinking that the end may be rounded . I did pick up a replacement cable " core " but I can't figure out how to get at the back of the instrument panel . I tried to get it out from the tranny end but it would not come so it must come out the other end .
In the trunck I see what looks like mini shocks,,,is that what I adjust ? and how ?
Thanks guys
John

If you have mini shocks in the trunk, you need new shocks. The ones you have are weak

I'll help you with the cable on another post

Sent you a PM on the speedo issue

Never received a PM..I'm still learning this site so maybe it takes a while to come..
John

I know how it is. Up at the top of the site where it welcomes you, there's a block to the right. Mine looks like this:

Welcome, TommySS. You last visited: 11-24-2004 at 10:17 PM
Private Messages: Unread 0, Total 4.

All you gotta do is check there. If you didn't get the PM, let me know and I'll post the response here. (It's kinda long).

Never got one . It says 0 messages , You can email it if you [email protected]
John

Here's 'tis:

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by caprice84
I saw in a post that you have had experience with the speedo cable on an 84. Mine doesn't bounce a lot, but doesn't rest at zero. Rests at about 8 mph. Do you know how to fix that?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi. Apologies for the delay in response. What you're describing is a dry speedo cable (noise), and a tired speedometer head (needle rests at 8mph).

Let's lube the cable first and see what happens. There are two ways to get at it: Transmission end, and the speedometer end.

The transmission end requires less effort, but you get dirtier. Anyway, all you have to do is unscrew the cap on the cable housing that's attached to the transmission. It's not hard, but you may need pliers to get it loose enough to turn it by hand.

Once it's off, the cable is inside the housing. Note the position of the cable as it sits inside the housing. That's where it needs to be when you're done.

Now, use needle-nose pliers to pull the cable out of the housing. Trust me, it'll come out.

The cable should have a rectangular nub on each end. Remember which end is which because you have to reinstall it.

OK, now, inspect the cable. Besides being dirty and kinda greasy, does it have any permanent kinks? Is the cable frayed anywhere? If either is the case, get a new cable.

If you use the same cable, you need to clean it really well. I use brake cleaner. Spray the cable liberally and with a rag in your hand, pull the cable through to wipe off the old grease.

Now, it's time to re-lube. Any parts store will have speedometer cable lube. You can use graphite powder (really messy). In either case, coat the cable with lube. Wipe off excess. Some say a thin coat, others say pack it with as much as you can. I've had best luck with something in-between the two.

Now (w/o dropping the cable and getting it all dirty)feed the cable back into the housing, spinning/twisting the cable as needed to work it back up to the speedometer head. It will appear that you can't make it go any further and you'll have excess cable that won't fit into the transmission. Don't worry, you just need to get the needle-nose pliers and gently twist the cable in the housing and continue to press the cable until the nub at the end engages with the slot in the speedometer head.

Done properly, the end of the cable should just barely protrude from the cable housing tube. When it engages, you'll won't be able to turn the cable by hand very easily. If the cable spins in your hand, it's not engaged.

Then, you need to engage the cable in the slot in the transmission and tighten down on the knob.

Drive it around. If it still makes a racket, repeat and use more grease, but don't put too much on the speedometer head end of the cable.

You should also check to make sure the speedometer needle is indexed properly. Run it to 60 and hold it steady. Start the clock and drive exactly one mile at that speed. At the end of a minute, you should have gone one mile. At 55mph, the mile takes 1 minute 5 seconds.

Lemme know how it comes out.

TommySS