Speedo screaming like a siren as speed increases??

[Oz Sport Fury]

Hey guys,

After much sweating and swearing I have managed to reconnect the speedo cable connector to the back of the speedo...now when you start driving it's ok until about 30mph and then it starts freaking out and screaming like a siren as speed increases??

Video of issue below, needs sound on.

Screaming Speedometer!!!

I bought the car with the cable not connected & the seller saying he'd tried to put it back on but couldn't do it....now I know why he left it off.

Any ideas on what's causing it to behave like this?

Cheers,

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

Remove the cable and liberly apply white lithium grease before you break the cable.

 

[65Port]

That's your speed alert! I see it jumps up to 25 from zero so yes, some lube is needed as Pete suggested. You should be able to carefully pull it out and inspect it while lubing. Reinsert and then
you can use a drill to test before putting back together.

 

[Oz Sport Fury]

Remove the cable and liberly apply white lithium grease before you break the cable.

Would that cause the needle to wave back and forth? The noise is like a dry bearing scream so lubing makes sense. Thanks man

 

[halifaxhops]

Just the cable binding and releasing. I use motorcycle chain lube in a spray with a tube.

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

Also, white Lithium grease will last longer than any spray or graphite powder.

 

[CBODY67]

IF you find any burrs on the cable, replace the whole thing . . . cable and casing. The cable has worn through the inner layer of the casing and is catching on the wire mesh reinforcement of the casing. A new cable might calm things down for a while, but you'll end up replacing it all sooner or later. Lube is important.

The needle wavering can be caused by the cable catching and then being forced to release from the casing's inner mesh by the cable's drive mechanism in the end of the transmission. The screeching might be caused by the speed cup bushing in the back of the speedometer head. Two separate issues, I suspect.

Might there be a synthetic speedo-spec lube with moly added to it? Just curious.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[413]

Please do yourself a favor and don’t use white lithium grease! Now it will work when applied, but as time goes by it hardens like a rock. Even worse with a spray can instead of a squeeze tube.

 

[TxDon]

Please do yourself a favor and don’t use white lithium grease! Now it will work when applied, but as time goes by it hardens like a rock. Even worse with a spray can instead of a squeeze tube.

Totally agree. I used AGS Kable-Ease lube, bought at O'Reilly's. Remove the speedometer, pull the cable out of the housing. If not damaged, lube freely and reinstall.

 

[polaratherapy]

Are all you guys pulling the instrument cluster out to get at the speedo or blindly reaching up and under the dash?

 

[Oz Sport Fury]

I'm going to use a hoist/lift and pull it off the gearbox and lube it that way if it's not damaged.

 

[TxDon]

Are all you guys pulling the instrument cluster out to get at the speedo or blindly reaching up and under the dash?

With my 66 I was able to remove the speedometer cluster separately, easy to unhook the cable from the access panel under the column.

 

[TxDon]

I'm going to use a hoist/lift and pull it off the gearbox and lube it that way if it's not damaged.

I don't think you can remove the cable from the bottom, I could not on my 66.

 

[CBODY67]

The cable itself probably has a little washer made onto it that locates it in the housing on the top side, keeping it from being pushed farther down into the casing if it might not get indexed correctly and slide into the rear speed cup of the speedometer head. Comes out easily from the top.

 

[NYMopar]

I had the similar noise issue and needle bounce once after replacing the speedo gear from an aftermarket vendor. Even after lubing the entire cable and etc, the problem still existed. When removing the gear, I noticed a slight curved wear into the gear so I measured the teeth pitch; it was slightly tighter than Ma Mopar designed. I replaced with an original OEM. problem gone.

 

[cudamark]

I would bet the bushing on the speedo head input shaft is worn out. Lube might help for a while, but, replacement will probably be in your future.

 

[Oz Sport Fury]

I had the similar noise issue and needle bounce once after replacing the speedo gear from an aftermarket vendor. Even after lubing the entire cable and etc, the problem still existed. When removing the gear, I noticed a slight curved wear into the gear so I measured the teeth pitch; it was slightly tighter than Ma Mopar designed. I replaced with an original OEM. problem gone.

Do you mean the nylon gear that's located in the side of the gearbox?

 

[Oz Sport Fury]

I would bet the bushing on the speedo head input shaft is worn out. Lube might help for a while, but, replacement will probably be in your future.

How or where would I even begin trying to find one of them?

 

[volksworld]

when i got mine over 20 yrs ago the needle jumped...pulled the cable, lubed it and no improvement...so just been ignoring it and assumed the problem was the speedo itself...well now after being parked for an engine rebuild it decided to jump much more and pin itself at 120+ while idling down driveway...the fun is neverending

 

[Oz Sport Fury]

when i got mine over 20 yrs ago the needle jumped...pulled the cable, lubed it and no improvement...so just been ignoring it and assumed the problem was the speedo itself...well now after being parked for an engine rebuild it decided to jump much more and pin itself at 120+ while idling down driveway...the fun is neverending

LOL!! yep!! I bought this FXCKEN THING!!! so I could just hop in and go cruising with the family to lunch or what ever and the bloody thing has been non stop fixing one thing then another and another and another....wished I kept my money in my pocket now!!!!