Replacement speedometer lubrication

...ofcourse, You must Lubricate it! That's why Your Doing it a Second Time! Grease it up as You slip the Cable into it's Sheath. The 'Law' is, You NEVER Run any Metal against Metal, Dry!!
When in Doubt, Lubricate!!

I don't like Graphite, it's for use in Locks.

When installing a New Cable, You Grease it up with Teflon Grease as You slide the Cable into it's Sheath. Teflon Grease is Thin and Does Not Freeze.

If You want to take the 'Easy way Out', the Cable You have now, MAY be saved. Unscrew the Cable at the Transaxle, Hold up the Sheath and Squirt some 5 Weight Oil down into it with a 'Oil Squirter'! Wait a few Minutes and squirt some more in. Reassemble the Connection back to the Trans. Drive the Car. The 'Screw Action' of the Cable, itself, will flow the Oil all the way to the Speedometer; when in Use!
I did that Years ago, My Original Speedo Cable, Still runs Smooth and Silent, after 58,000+ Miles!
Be advised, the 'Jumping' of the Speedo Needle can also be caused by a Broken Tooth on the Nylon Drive Gear! AND I DO NOT recommend removing the Drive System from the Transaxle to Inspect for it!!...

The bouncing of the needle is probably caused by the oem grease, which gets very gummy with age. A spritz with WD40 down both ends of the speedo cable may dissolve the gum enough to smooth the needle out again. The purpose of the WD40 is not to lubricate the cable, just to replace the solvents which have long evaporated from the original grease, allowing the original grease to do its job again.

If that doesn't work or if you want to perform a more thorough repair, pull the cable, clean the old grease off of it, and relube with a light grease as Marlin suggests. I used the red general purpose synthetic grease I keep in my grease gun, I think its made by Mobil One. The important part is to select a light grease that will not thicken in cold temperatures.

x2 - Graphite is not for speedo cables.

-G

Okay X 2...
I will try to salvage my 3 year old replacement by oiling at the transaxle.
Thanks!!!

Can you disconnect the cable at the Trans? I thought there was an issue with something falling out.

Steve

Yes you can disconnect the cable at the trans. There is a bolt head on the outside of the trans case directly below the port where the driven gear sits - removing this bolt could drop the driven gear into the trans.

Uh oh dare I say another discussion where I beg to differ...

The speedo cable should be sheathed i.e. some type of polyethylene coating the inner cable. Graphite powder is a good lubricant for such a cable (however not for a metal cable) that is bouncing. You can get graphite powder suspended in a light solvent that you spray in the cable and the solvent evaporates to leave the graphite powder lubricant. It's called "kable ease"

This is my opinion, however a web search will bring up some corroboration, equally it will get you many opinions.

The myth around disconnecting the cable is another Pantera falsehood. It is perfectly okay to disconnet the cable from the angle drive. It is also perfectly okay to undo and remove the angle drive (you might want to clean and grease it too). Do not undo the 10mm bolt underneath the angle drive that holds the ZF speedo gear drive without knowing what you are doing as it can fall into the transaxle.

Good luck,
Julian

Julian,

Yes, I have used fine graphite in a 1971 Cuda speedo cable that was going crazy and it worked like a charm -- the needle reading is EXTREMELY smooth now. I made sure to clean off the grease off the cable itself, and I used a solvent with pipe brushes on a wire to get the inside of the sheath as clean and grease free as possible. As I put the cable in the sheath, I made a "cone" out of my fingers and kept the graphite loaded up as the cable went in.

Now I do not have to worry about the grease being too thick, or the other way, too runny that would run to the low spots and not lube the other areas of the cable. Again, I know it works as I have done it myself, and the sheath and cable is just like a Pantera -- so I would think it would work well for Pantera owners too.

Best of luck with whatever option you choose.

Mark

I went the graphite route after a ruined pair of jeans on the way to the Fun Rally one year. The previous owner loaded it with molybdenum grease and in the hot Southern NV desert it spewed all over my legs!

Julian

My cable also bounces and indicates 30% to mutch speed , is this the same thing?

Urbain

Julian

Its been 8 years since I lubed the speedo cable.

I don't remember it being teflon lined. That could just be my memory, which isn't all that wonderful any longer.

I don't think I've ever pulled a speedo cable and found it teflon lined.

In fact I don't remember any speedo cables being teflon lined 40 years ago.

Could your teflon lined cable be a newer, replacement cable?

My Pantera's cable is definitely the original gangster.

Urbain ... a bouncing needle can definitely result from a poorly lubricated cable. 30% too much speed ... I can't say.

-G

I tried (unsuccessfully I think) to get "oil" to flow into either end (ZF or speedo)of the 3 year old replacement, shielded cable.
I then (maybe or maybe not) got some WD-40 into the speedo end.

What I also did was re-route the cable under the dash...with much gentler curves.

The results were amazing...95% quieter and an almost imperceptible pulsing at low speeds which smooths out above about 30-40 mph.

I will now continue from this old thread and I will use a photo to understand better. I would like to be certain that I have understood correctly.The 90 degree angle points into stupid direction in my Pantera. Can it be adjusted by loosening the big nut (green arrow) in the side of ZF? And it is the bolt under it (red arrow) that leads into dropping parts into your ZF?

quote:

Originally posted by kimmosch:
I will now continue from this old thread and I will use a photo to understand better. I would like to be certain that I have understood correctly.The 90 degree angle points into stupid direction in my Pantera. Can it be adjusted by loosening the big nut (green arrow) in the side of ZF? And it is the bolt under it (red arrow) that leads into dropping parts into your ZF?

...You ARE Correct!!!
The Bolt Red arrow is a DO NOT TOUCH!!
The LARGE NUT Green Arrow CAN BE Loosened and the Angle Drive can be Adjusted to any angle You Please. You Can Even UNscrew That Nut and Remove the 'Angle Drive' ONLY, Without Fear!!

I Adjusted Mine For the Most Gentle Curve of the Cable...BUT Especially to have the Cable CLEAR the Passenger Side HALF SHAFT!!
The Cable should Come UP From UNDER the Drive Shaft!

Adjust with Confidence!

Thank you, Marlin.

If you remove the right angle drive using the big dual-thread nut (top thread= left-hand thread, bottom thread= right-hand thread), be very sure it is adjusted DOWN against the ZF as far as possible! If the angle drive sits high up on its dual-thread adapter nut, the drive is from only the tips of the forked shaft inside the adapter, and from the tips of the second, larger forked adapter shaft in the ZF.

After a long time rigged this way, using only the 43-yr-old 'lube' sealed inside the adapter, the forked tips will work-harden and shatter, even from the tiny load of the speedo cable. A new or used 90 degree adapter sells for outrageous amounts of money- if you can even find one, and the larger forked extension shaft (a real ZF gear & integral shaft) is even more expensive.

I've repaired quite a few broken angle adapters and added zerk fitting to them for future service, but I cannot fix a damaged ZF gear/shaft with broken tips. Mangusta and pushbutton Pantera 90 degree adapters use spur gears instead of bevel gears, and usually strip teeth rather than shear the forked shaft tips. Also virtually unrepairable & non-existent at vendors. Check yours now for proper placement!

After I took the cable out of the shaft and greased it put it back on the speedo did not help. Then I orded the wrong on did not help orded the right one and the bouncing is gone the speedo now showes a 120 km when I am doing approx 50. In any case I am not going to touch the zf.

#1154

What I think happens is, tight bends while routing the cable causes the inner driven cable to rub harder against its polyethylene liner. Then at some point in the future, the liner wears through in spots. At that point, grease or oil will not help because its the worn-through areas that are causing the jerking of the perfectly good inner cable.

Can anyone recommend where to buy a new speedometer cable from? Are some better than others?
G

All the vendors sell replacements, and I think there are two different lengths. There are also different ends to accomodate the two different threaded connections on Pantera/Mangusta speedometers and their separate 90 degree adapters, so you'll be asked a bunch of questions before finding the choice that fits your car.