Interior and Upholstery My rebuilt speedo took a sht

George7 · May 8, 2018

BlakeusMaximus: Good luck with your speedo shop. IMHO, pulling the cable and speedo and taking it to the shop will likely "prove" nothing. They can't reproduce the actual installation in your car. Testing the components at their shop is simply putting it together and running it with a drill. Did they put new bearings and bushing in the speedo? The cable is a simple sturdy assembly; the speedo is a POS.
On my 89 LX, my speedo was working well until I took the dash assembly out to replace bulbs, etc. I think the cable had not much end play and re-inserting it into the cluster may have upset the worn bushing/bearings in the speedo causing it to waver badly. A new cable made it worse. the 89 was rear-ended and given last rites before I fixed the speedo. My 91 had the same problems as I said before.
Please keep us informed.

BlakeusMaximus · May 8, 2018

He said they put new bushings in it. I was thinking the same thing. I thought it would run different in and out of the car as well. So, your speedo is acting up as well?

George7 · May 8, 2018

The speedo in my 91 LX is jumping 5-10 mph at speeds under about 50 mph, at which point it settles down and reads about 10mph slow. I think that is just the wrong plastic gear on the cable. I have been working on other cars and using my tach and the Iphone GPS speedo ap. Around here (NC) everyone is at least 10 plus over the speed limit anyway. I send another message last week, I think.
I was tempted to disassemble one of my extra speedos, but realized it would be a one way operation. The watch spring on the needle being the first fatality.
If new bushings and maybe controlling end play, what could possibly go wrong?

George7 · May 8, 2018

PS I think your animated emojis are great.

BlakeusMaximus · May 8, 2018

George7 said:
The speedo in my 91 LX is jumping 5-10 mph at speeds under about 50 mph, at which point it settles down and reads about 10mph slow. I think that is just the wrong plastic gear on the cable. I have been working on other cars and using my tach and the Iphone GPS speedo ap. Around here (NC) everyone is at least 10 plus over the speed limit anyway. I send another message last week, I think.
I was tempted to disassemble one of my extra speedos, but realized it would be a one way operation. The watch spring on the needle being the first fatality.
If new bushings and maybe controlling end play, what could possibly go wrong?

Not sure George. It’s driving me crazy, even more now that I paid almost $200 to have that issue fixed, by a professional speedo guy by the way. It’s just stuck. It’s not making all kinds of freaking racket like it was a which is nice. I should’ve posted a video of it before. Man! I didn’t even want to drive the car. Mileage is still clocking away like normal. I’ve owned 4 of these cars and never had a problem with a speedo. Granted, I owned my other cars years ago.

George7 · May 9, 2018

Blakeus, Ouch ! For that money, I could have two Ebay Fox body speedos that don't work. I can store them next to all the other bargain parts that don't work either.
If your mileage/odometer is working, then the needle assembly is stuck. To thrash the obvious, that's not good. Based upon my limited experience, I guess the needle assembly or that magnetic pickup have decided to bind or stall. What bothers me is that the cable is still turning happily because the mileage is working, but somewhere in the speedo assembly it has stopped. Best hope is that the magnetic fork is still turning and the needle assembly has stalled. Either way, you need to take it off and look at it. A PITA, but you will get very experienced in removal of the instrument cluster; and you can then change out the OEM mini bulbs for really cool blue LEDs; or similar to match your colors .
I have only owned two Fox bodies; and both had severe speedo issues. Seeing the number of Fox speedos on Ebay and elsewhere , I believe the problem is endemic.

George.

BlakeusMaximus · May 9, 2018

George7 said:
Blakeus, Ouch ! For that money, I could have two Ebay Fox body speedos that don't work. I can store them next to all the other bargain parts that don't work either.
If your mileage/odometer is working, then the needle assembly is stuck. To thrash the obvious, that's not good. Based upon my limited experience, I guess the needle assembly or that magnetic pickup have decided to bind or stall. What bothers me is that the cable is still turning happily because the mileage is working, but somewhere in the speedo assembly it has stopped. Best hope is that the magnetic fork is still turning and the needle assembly has stalled. Either way, you need to take it off and look at it. A PITA, but you will get very experienced in removal of the instrument cluster; and you can then change out the OEM mini bulbs for really cool blue LEDs; or similar to match your colors .
I have only owned two Fox bodies; and both had severe speedo issues. Seeing the number of Fox speedos on Ebay and elsewhere , I believe the problem is endemic.

George.

Oh, I’m real experienced taking that cluster out and putting it back in. Before I sent it out to get “rebuilt,” I had messed with it over and over trying various things to get it working. I’m just going to let it ride, if, it continues to stay quiet. Putting leds in that cluster sounds pretty cool though. Maybe, I’ll pull it out one last time, check the speedo head and install leds. Do you have led lights in yours George?

George7 · May 9, 2018

Blakeus,
Was your speedo rubbing between the magnet fork and the inertial cylinder attached to the needle? (don't know the nomenclature--sorry). Both mine were squeaking away and causing the needle to jump when I ran them off the car with an extra cable and a drill.
I like my LEDs, which were blue to match my 89 LX. They are slightly brighter than OEM but not a substitute for a good rheostat/dimmer, which is another common problem with Fox bodies. (Another story, alas.)
My 91 has a good rheostat so I can now read the broken speedo after dark in vivid blue. No pictures of mine, but look in Ebay for the LEDs vendors, they have photos.
The LEDs need correct polarity and some need the Ford OEM sockets.
George.

BlakeusMaximus · May 9, 2018

Not sure. I know the back of the head where the cable clips into would move in and out a few millimeters, now it doesn't. I really don't drive enough at night to warrant LED'S. Ill just start another project on the car. CASE CLOSED.

Interior and Upholstery My rebuilt speedo took a sht

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Still got to try a little lube on my speedo head

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Still got to try a little lube on my speedo head

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Still got to try a little lube on my speedo head

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Still got to try a little lube on my speedo head

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