Some trick to inserting the speedometer cable in the Transmission?

About a year ago (?) I took the speedometer cable out of the Transmission when
I changed to a Tachometer-Speedometer unit from the Speedometer only unit
that I had.

I must have not gotten the cable back in very well, since my speedometer always
jumped a little bit after that.

Now, the speedometer simply stops working for a while then comes back on....when it is cold outside.

I vaguely remember that the square cable didn't want to match up and go into
the hole easily.
Then the little "clip" that holds it in place didn't want to seat.

You can't see a damned thing - it is way back there and is a back strainer to
try reinstalling it.

I hope the square cable hasn't been worn round by now.....

HELP !

DoctorBill

As long as the gear is seated properly, then I suspect the square end of the cable may be rounding off. You might be able to build up the cable end with JBWeld or something and see if that works.

I remember - As I pushed the Cable end into the transmission coupling, it didn't
want to "slip right in there."

Would it help to have someone rock the vehicle in gear so that the square hole
lines up with the square cable end?

The clip didn't want to seat - should it just 'pop' into place if everything is lined up?

Problem was - I couldn't see what I was doing nor feel much - the connection is
back there and I was stooped over in an odd position - old man stuff...

DoctorBill

Have someone push the car while you are laying under the hood and inserting the cable. This worked for me when inserting the actual gear, but not the cable. My wife pushed the car about 10 feet before it popped in. This might work for the cable portion so it seats and the clip will go right in.

Since I am "taller than average" and I usually work alone this might or might not work for you but what I did was to jack up the front of the car so the front wheels were off the ground and put the car in gear. This allowed me to spin the drivers side wheel while leaning over (not nearly so far now that the car was raised) and get the cable to go into place. When it went into place it lined up easily and literally fell into place leaving plenty of room to get the clip into position.

This also worked out better for me as no one at my house appreciates pushing a vehicle, especially while I'm trying to line up some reluctant parts.

Also "back in the day" you could purchase the inner speedometer cable by itself without having to buy the entire housing. I'm assuming that would still be possible and probably considerably easier than trying to build up the flat with JB weld. Alternatively you could snag a new inner cable on your next trip to the wrecking yard.

Good luck

You know, while I was writing the last posting, I was thinking about maybe
jacking the front end up!

If the car is in neutral, the speedometer cable still rotates with wheel movement,
so it ought to be easy to rotate the front wheel with my foot (a foot job as it were).

Yes, I will try that....

I was wondering if I could build up the cable end with silver solder (or those aluminum
solder sticks you can buy at Harbor Freight) and file it square.

When I had the cable out before, I wanted to lube it with Lithium Grease,
but I couldn't so I tried to get Graphite powder into it - not easy...

I have written down the "Speed / Gear / RPM's" just so I can get from here to there
and not go over the speed limit with my speedometer going in and out!

Thanks!

Now, off to find a replacement car for my daughter's Deer Destroyed car...

DoctorBill

Wow!

Johnny Mullet - you keep saying that your wife helped with this and that!

Nice!

Mine helps, but I get that "face" if I ask too often....and I worry she may ask me
to help with the ironing or clothes washing.

What happens if you say, "Honey...would you mind changing the oil in the Metro? I'm watching the game today..."

DoctorBill

Wow!

Johnny Mullet - you keep saying that your wife helped with this and that!

Nice!

Mine helps, but I get that "face" if I ask too often....and I worry she may ask me
to help with the ironing or clothes washing.

What happens if you say, "Honey...would you mind changing the oil in the Metro? I'm watching the game today..."

She is not mechanically inclined, but if I step her through something, she can do it and does not mind helping. One day she blew the radiator on our 1980 Dodge Aspen and called me at work. I stepped her through it and she removed it herself and got the replacement from the junkyard so I could put it in after work :biggrin:

She can also determine if something is wrong with any of our vehicles while driving and is always right on the diagnosis such as "creaking suspension noise", "bucking like it's running out of gas", "humming noise in left front", etc

The Metro trans swap was a nasty experience for her when the coolant started dripping on her face while trying to slip the axle shaft in laying on her back with me holding the trans up top. The starter slipped down and jammed the axle and all kinds of stuff went wrong, but we got the job done.

I will try jacking my car up next time I have to reinsert the speedo cable. Easier than getting my dad to roll it forward at just the right speed while I fit the cable in.

The Metro trans swap was a nasty experience for her when the coolant started dripping on her face while trying to slip the axle shaft in laying on her back with me holding the trans up top. The starter slipped down and jammed the axle and all kinds of stuff went wrong, but we got the job done.

This is funny, cause when I did my trani swap last week, I forgot to disconnect the negative cable and the starter wire grounded out near my helpers face. He laughed it off but inside I was picturing all that could have gone wrong if he were a few inches closer...

Jai

you know if you take out the speedo gear by removing the 10mm bolt you can get cable and gear up where its easy to work on, push inside cable as
far toward dash as you can, slide gear onto end on cable, spin till it slides into hole. put the clip in and put gear back into hole

you know if you take out the speedo gear by removing the 10mm bolt you can get cable and gear up where its easy to work on, push inside cable as
far toward dash as you can, slide gear onto end on cable, spin till it slides into hole. put the clip in and put gear back into hole

This is exactly what i did when I lubed my cable (getting it ready for winter) last week!! Much easier to do it this way then try and match up the ends down at the tranny level.

OK...I'll bite.

How do you take the Speedometer gear out of the Transmission ?

Never did that....

DoctorBill

its held in by one 10mm bolt that goes in from the top, easy to get to with long extenion. once its out might have to twist gear housing back and forth a bit then pull it straight up. just look down where cable goes into tranny, will see the bolt

Also before you remove the speedo gear housing make sure you remove all the dirt and grease from around the base so that it doesn't fall into the trans.

My speedo cable is held into the housing with a wire clip, the housing is held into the trans with the 10mm bolt.

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

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

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.:smokin:

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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....

http://alkaspace.com/usr/3754/Speedometer_Inn.jpg

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.

http://alkaspace.com/usr/3754/1959Speedometer_Inn.jpg

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

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 !

http://alkaspace.com/usr/3754/Stretching_Spee.jpg

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.

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....