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wb13798 · 03-24-2003, 05:25 PM

my speedo has decided to die. i found the cable disconnected and hanging from the cruise dog nut . i reconnected and took it for a ride it worked for about a mile and went to 85mph and stayed untill i took the cable apart at the dog nut. went back to 0 and that is where it stays. was thinking that maybe it is one piece from the speedo to xmission. before this dog dies again i will post this one and add to it . lol
al

wb13798 · 03-24-2003, 05:28 PM

the cable that came apart was the top end, above the dog nut to the speedo. the cruise controls works ok. has this dog bite you if so how did you fix it????lol
al

i had a well thought out thread untill it just went away. im ticked..

thenewkid64 · 03-24-2003, 06:03 PM

On mine, and I think Fred's MH there speedo cable is a 2 piece affair.

One segment goes from the trans to the speed sensor servo for the cruise control. It is bolted to the floor over the drivers side front wheel. (Under the drivers seat) accessable from the outside. The second segment goes from there to the speedo itself. If either of these bind (normal) they will snap. You may need to replace them with a new one, I reccomend using a complete assembly. Just replacing the inner cable (If the housing is frayed inside) you will have a bind or failure soon, again.

My father-in-law had the same problem with his 83 Oldsmobile cutlass 3 or 4 times.

wb13798 · 03-24-2003, 06:11 PM

mr good wrench says he dont have the housing and cant get it . the cruise is a donut (it is a generator) in line with the housing and has two wires going to the cruise control unit. that is why i thought it might be one complete length, i put the housing back together . and it worked for a mile or so. was hoping someone had had this problem .
thnx al

thenewkid64 · 03-24-2003, 06:22 PM

Making an assumption, knowing what I do about GM I bet you can get one that will work out of a mid 80's GM in a boneyard. The guys at GM love grabbing stuff out of the parts bins and not making it just for one application.

74Argosy24MH · 03-24-2003, 06:24 PM

A speedometer shop will be able to make a new one.

John

Silvertwinkie · 03-24-2003, 06:30 PM

If a new one can't be made, a junkyard will be able to supply the needed parts. I too have a car that is long out of production that some parts cannot be found.

The local junkyard has plenty of parts!

Eric

evan · 03-24-2003, 11:27 PM

Most cable failures result from friction buildup, inside dirty cable housings. You can get a hunk of inner cable, cut to match the old ones length. Yard out the housing and clean out the inside with a spray can of carb cleaner. Better yet, motorcycle shops sell a commercial cleaner for this job. You will be surprised to see all the metal residue, hardened grease and other junk, flushed out the other end. I then use a motorcycle cable lubricant on the inner cable before reinserting. If the housing is not damaged this should work.

wb13798 · 03-25-2003, 08:21 PM

im tared
cleaned the old cables up and lubed . the 9 foot cable had a lick on it . stopped at auto zone and they had a replacement so replaced the long one the 2 ft cable was ok. put it all together and took the silver weenie for a trip around the block. notta the speedo says ZERO . pulled the cable off from the xmission and spun it with my drill and it spun up to 5 mph. im thinking i got some plastic gears in the xmission that might be afu. called a mechanic friend of mine and he says there is two plastic gears one you can replace with a little effort and the other one requires major work. first thing i plan to do in the am is to go for another ride with the speedo cable hanging thru thr dash so i can see if it is spinning. if so i go looking for a speedo if not i park it and take a break . cant win
al

wb13798 · 03-26-2003, 09:24 AM

appears the speedo is bad the cable end turns . now to find a new speedo. lol
al

wb13798 · 03-26-2003, 10:31 AM

tok speedo out and manualy turned it if i turn the shaft counter clock wise it works if i turn it clock wise it goes to zero and stops.
the cable coming up from the xmission is turning clockwise??? any one know what is going on. didnt try the cruise control last go around. that will be next. found a 5 inch speedo for chevrolet going to see what gives with it. later
al

wb13798 · 03-26-2003, 07:17 PM

well it appears the cruise control sensor is doing in the speedo. it is changing the rotation of the cable to counter clockwise. i havent checked the cable rotation coming out of the xmission . but the xmission shop advised the gear in the transmission is not the problem . the speedo is looking for the cable to turn clock wise to operate. i verified that with a new speedo at a speed shop. plus i took an old speedo apart and it has a mechanical stop so the speedo cant go past zero. looked for a new sensor no luck yet. if i cant find the sensor to repair im going to try to reroute the long cable to a more direct path and eliminate the cruise control. the routing for the cable is down and thru the fender well and then back in to the engine compartment. be my luck it will be an inch short. lol
al

wb13798 · 03-27-2003, 06:46 PM

put the coach on jack stands and re- looked at the speedo problem .worked from xmission to speedo and the speedo is the problem. i can manualy turn the speedo but the cable does some times and sometimes it dont. had a spare speedo smaller unit it works like a champ. the correct rotation for the cable in drive is counter clock wise, it will rotate clockwise in reverse but speedo will go to zero and stop due to a physical stop in the speedo.
i reported in a earlier post that the cable was turning clock wise cant explain . i was driving down the street, which isnt to swift. when i get a replacement speedo problem will be fixed. i have a source custom interstate at 800-462-7635 part no to start with is 54120 but that might not be correct . depending on which speedo you have, slip on cable is one part no and screw on is another . and if you have trip meter that is another number . lol
al

thenewkid64 · 03-27-2003, 08:23 PM

Al,

If you are going to spend the money on a new speedo, would it be just as well to get one that has an electronic sending unit, eliminating the cable and the potential problems? This would also let you calibrate it to tire/wheel size for accuracy.

You would need to replace the crusie control, but that is pretty straight forward. A complete aftermarket one runs $125.00 and is electronic to boot. I have one that I installed because my cruise was dead.