Speedometer Problem

quote:

Originally posted by pappy:
Jack, welcome back...I've got a speedometer problem. It stopped working so I bought a new speedo cable and housing, still didn't work. Checked the angle drive on the ZF and the fork inside the drive had broken off. Replaced the drive and all seemed well for the first forty miles until the speedo head started bouncing and making a clicking noise. Can the cable itself stretch and start binding?...thanks

It may be possible that your speedometer small axle that is in your cable connection part isn't running smooth.
Please take out your speedometer and carefully put a little screwdriver in the hole where your inner speedometer cable comes in to.
Now turn the screwdriver, and it MUST run very smooth, if it doesent, it will destroy your cable and/or your speedometer driver.
You can put som wd40 between the rotating axle and the body to loosen any dryed out grease, and make it run smooth again.

Paulus, thanks for the reply. The cable/housing are new but they could still be dried out from sitting on the venders shelf for too long. When the weather warms up, I'll pull the cable/housing out and measure them against the original cable/housing. While I'm waiting on the weather to warm I'll do the checks that you mentioned....thanks again...Pappy

Pappy, most likely the original problem was from the plastic cable jacket- liner being worn out especially where the jacket makes tight curves back by the ZF. When this happens, the steel cable rubs the steel jacket housing and occasionally it will snag the shreds of the plastic liner. This causes the speedo needle to bounce and eventually breaks the cable, but its possible more damage resulted somehow. The only known fix for a worn out cable jacket is to replace both the cable and its jacket, which is a full Saturday job. The upside is, the new liners make the speedo action much smoother than any 36-yr-old OEM one.
By the way,if you're the "Pappy" that has a nice light colored pre-L and sent me photos a few years back, be aware that I lost your e-mail address to ask if it was OK- I sent a side view of your machine to the POCA Chapter'Panteras Northwest' when they first incorporated, and they used it into their logo! So 'Pappy's car' is famous, after a fashion! Call up their web page & see if there's a resemblance-

Jack, Thanks for the reply. I'll figure out this speedo problem as soon as the weather warms up. It seems to me that I did send you some pictures of my car a few years back. You describe it as a "light colored pre-L". It's actually a bronze metalic color, if that rings a bell. I would be interested in seeing that Northwest Pantera POCA chapter's original logo to see if it is indeed my car. I pulled up their website and was only able to see their current/new logo. I'm going to send an E-mail to that chapter to see if they can help me locate that logo. Maybe someone reading this has a picture of the logo, or could point me in the right direction....and lastly I believe I just hijacked my own post...thanks....Pappy

Double check the bends as has been previously stated. Where you have a new cable and liner that should be ok. problem areas are where the cable goes from the frame into the interior of the car and from the tunnel to the gauge. It took me a couple of tries to get one to quit "ticking".I double checked it with a cordless drill and a bit that fit the cable then I could watch the speedo through the back window while turning the cable.

Originally posted by pappy:
.... It seems to me that I did send you some pictures of my car a few years back. You describe it as a "light colored pre-L". It's actually a bronze metalic color, if that rings a bell. I would be interested in seeing that Northwest Pantera POCA chapter's original logo to see if it is indeed my car. I pulled up their website and was only able to see their current/new logo.

Here ya go- and the bronze car was the one they used (but changed the color to red)

.... as soon as I can figure out how to post a jpg on this weird forum software, I'll send it along.

Thanks Brooke for the help, it shouldn't be too hard to check the cable for any binding. The "ticking" you describe is what my speedo is doing. The cordless drill trick will also tell where the problem might be....Jack, I'll watch for your picture...and thanks for your help also....Pappy