['97ventureowner]

I came across this thread and thought I'd post my on the subject. I'm not familiar with Windstar speedo cables but many years ago I saw an episode of "Motorweek" that airs on PBS. The mechanic covered a similar issue. He removed the cable from the vehicle and placed it in a bottle of motor oil for a short time. He then removed it and replaced it in the vehicle and the problem was solved. From what I read here in this forum previous to my post it seems that this would be difficult to do but it might be an option if you were to get it out. (That episode came out about 15 to 20 years ago when it was easier to access these cables. Also when he pulled the cable out of the oil, he had a rag or paper towel to remove the excess oil and to keep the area fairly clean.)
On some of the vehicles I've owned in the past, no matter what make, I noticed the speedo cable made noise in the winter, but that noise disappeared come Spring. My theory is that the lube that is used from the factory gets old over the years and becomes thin ,( plus all that movement inside the casing removes some of the lube from the cable itself.) When it's cold it doesn't do it's job very well , thus crating the "noise". Once it warms up in the Spring, the noise tends to go away because the lube is more viscous, and gets back it's original properties.