When I first bought this car a couple of months ago the speedo needle was bouncing everywhere, the odom worked though. I took it to a local mechanic and they replaced the housing on the cable on the transmission end, and lubes the cable, they said they didn't see it binding anywhere but it was leaking, the leaked stopped when they were done. Still didn't fix the needle. After this the needle stopped completely and now odom stopped as well. Trying to find someone local who can help fix/repair/replace whatever is needed in the DFW area that's not 2000 bucks as this is my daily driver now.
Electrical 93 Foxbody LX 5.0
- Thread starter TheJay806
- Start date
My guess is that it is your cable or your cluster.
Here is another thread to reference about the same issue:
and another:
Here is another thread to reference about the same issue:
and another:
Or when the mechanic lubed the cable they did it with a liquid based line rather than a dry graphite. Could also be that the cable isn’t engaging the speedo or the gear on the transmission end.
All,
Thanks for the replies. Most Recent Update:
I took out the cable/sensor from the Trans, so I could check the speedo gears and get the correct gear ratio etc. Gears are 3.73's, speedo gear is the Red 21 tooth and looks new, but I realized the local mechanice who previously lubed this up did not plug the sensor back in. I plugged it back in, and the speedo and Odom came to life. The speedo is still bouncing all over but it is back to how it was before.
So now, I have the odometer working, speedo needle bouncing all over (you can hear a light spinning, of some sort), with the bouncing, speedo gear at tranny end is good (teeth are good). What is my next stop? Does this point more towards the cable now?
Thanks for the replies. Most Recent Update:
I took out the cable/sensor from the Trans, so I could check the speedo gears and get the correct gear ratio etc. Gears are 3.73's, speedo gear is the Red 21 tooth and looks new, but I realized the local mechanice who previously lubed this up did not plug the sensor back in. I plugged it back in, and the speedo and Odom came to life. The speedo is still bouncing all over but it is back to how it was before.
So now, I have the odometer working, speedo needle bouncing all over (you can hear a light spinning, of some sort), with the bouncing, speedo gear at tranny end is good (teeth are good). What is my next stop? Does this point more towards the cable now?
- Jul 12, 2017
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I’ve had that same problem, hence the whatever you call under my name. Sig?
Anyways, I used a little swamp cooler bearing oil on the back of my speedometer a few years ago and it’s been pretty damn smooth since.
I do have a new cable in there and a new gear in the transmission.
Anyways, I used a little swamp cooler bearing oil on the back of my speedometer a few years ago and it’s been pretty damn smooth since.
I do have a new cable in there and a new gear in the transmission.
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keel
Active Member
I have had an issue where the speedo cable was bouncing and noisy because the inner cable (the spinning part) that engaged with the VSS was too long. The inner cable was bottoming out in the speedo gear and pushing on the inside of the sheath which created a lot of resistance and binding. I cut the cable tip a little bit and that fixed it.
You should be able to tell if this is your issue if the resistance to spinning the speedo gear increases significantly when you install the VSS on to it vs. just spinning the naked end of the cable.
You should be able to tell if this is your issue if the resistance to spinning the speedo gear increases significantly when you install the VSS on to it vs. just spinning the naked end of the cable.
Update: I picked up a new cable/sensor, etc today, took the cluster off, and when I went to look at the cable and remove from cluster, it just fell off the cluster, on its own. I'm assuming it wasn't connected properly. I'm thinking I should just go ahead and replace it while I'm this far into it vs connect the old cable properly and test it
When I was cleaning/installing my cable seems as if there is a graphite grease that comes in a very small tube that was recommended... Google it, its all over for sale...... I used some sillicone grease I have a large tube of.... " back in the day" we just used regular grease, but it is a bit thick and can harden with time.. I would think White lithium spray lube would be too sticky....
The bushing in the speedo head is known to go bad as well. No parts, and required specialized equipment to repair a speedo.
Best bet is to pick up another cluster and swap the speedo. The odometer can be mileage corrected fairly easily.
Best bet is to pick up another cluster and swap the speedo. The odometer can be mileage corrected fairly easily.
- Jul 12, 2017
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Graphite powder recommended for the cable.
I went through this before, try a little oil on the rotating part on back of speedometer where the cable goes in. That cured my squeak and smoothed out my jumping needle.
You can test it with the speedometer out of the car with a drill
I went through this before, try a little oil on the rotating part on back of speedometer where the cable goes in. That cured my squeak and smoothed out my jumping needle.
You can test it with the speedometer out of the car with a drill
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Take an old cable, cut the end off and keep it as a tool. chuck it in a drill, spin the speedo slowly with the drill will show if its the Speedo head is the issue or if its down stream. The magnetic cups can be tweaked a bit if that's the issue In the cluster isn't from bushing slop or a shot spring but is a pita and best done out of the car using a drill to test each tweak. Clustered are fairly cheap on Facebook again, can find them for $100 or less complete as long as a run of the mill 140 or 85mph. If the a speedo head spins fine bench testing then you start throwing money at cables, vss and gears.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD-qs70MNQc
Sounds like someone changed the gears. When you do that you have to change the small gear on the speedo cable that goes into the tranny so you speedo reads correctly. I had a 93LX and had this happen. The gear is worn out. You need to find out what rear end gears you have then buy a new gear for the speedo cable.
