As some of you might know, I just went through a rough week or two swapping out transmissions with the intent of getting my speedo working. So after finally getting everything installed, including a new drive shaft from fellow HAMBer blktopbandit, (this guy RULES!!!) I got to drive the car and found that my speedo worked! For a moment anyway. Here’s what I had happen; on that first drive the speedo seemed to be showing the correct speed, or real close. After about 6 miles, it stuck at about 43 mph. When I got back to the house, I loosened the cable and the needle fell back to zero. On the next trip, the same thing happened except that the needle shot up to well over 85, (I was barely doing 45 at the time) and stayed there. This then happened several more times. Oh and the whole time all this is going on, the odometer seems to be working correctly; clicking off the miles in a reasonable fashion, regardless of what the speedo’s needle is doing. What I have found is that if I loosen the cable at the speedo so that it’s only connected by just several turns of the retainer cap, the speedo reads pretty accurate and doesn’t get hung up. It does however bounce around a little like the cable is going bad, but it’s a new cable. FYI, the speedo is a late 40’s IH gauge and I was told it worked ok and got it from a fellow HAMBer so I don’t have much reason to suspect it is bad, but who knows? The boys at the local IH club/sop said that the factory GM cable would fit the IH speedo. Any ideas out there? Thanks, Vance
Sounds like the cable housing is getting jammed against the speedos rotating bits when tightened up. Get some narrow washers that have an ID that clears the rotating bits and fits snugly in the nut and you should be good. Alex.
So I need some narrow washers to go inside the threaded retaining cap? That kinda makes sense. This way I'd have less pressure pushing the cable into the speedo but would still be able to tighten it. Thanks, Vance
Or the inside cable (the part that spins) may be too long for the housing by just a little, and pushes the guts of the speedo toward the driver binding it up.
Try clipping an RCH off the end of the cable at the speedo end... sounds like too much cable is being jammed into the speedo unit when the cable is tightened.
I did notice that the gauge end of the cable has a little brass collar on the portion of the cable that turns that prevents it from going too far back into the cable sheath. Is there any reasonable way to measure how much I should have going into the speedo? Vance
Is the cable greased properly? I had a similar problem with my truck, and it turned out that the cable wasn't getting lubricated like it should have been.
I used to buy universal cable kits at the parts store if nothing else worked. I cut mine a little short and they always worked fine. I made sure my flex housing wasen't kinked and lube the cable well.
I lubed it up pretty good on each end but now you have me thinking about throughout the length of the cable... Vance
Stick a wooden match into the hole and mark the length when it bottoms, then trim the cable accordingly. That is, assuming you can find a wooden match any more! The wooden match will work to spin the speedo with your fingers for a test, too.
I'd suspect the square end going in too far as well. I don't think it's binding at the housing side/threaded side or your odometer wouldn't work either & you'd snap the cable. So it's inside the speedo - by loosening, you're backing the cable out, so that's my guess. Lubing the cable should help with the bouncing too... If these are the gauges you got from me, they've been sitting a long time - could be they need some use and/or cleaning....
Ernie, these are the gauges I got from you and I'm busting my ass to do what ever I need to in order to use them. They're the best looking used gauges I've ever seen. I'm gonna try the wood stick idea to see where I stand regarding the cable length. I asked earlier about lubing the cable but no one was specific; what's the recommended way of lubing the cable inside the length of the cable housing? Thanks guys! vance
Drop a rubber O ring into the nut and screw it on, spaces it back, seals in the grease, and keeps it from coming loose.
If you can pull the inner completely out of the outer, that's my preferred way...actually lube it up with something very light. If the ends are crimped (like many) and it won't come out, I hang the cable up & use a good quality light penetrating oil like PB Blaster or even WD40 - squirt a little in the top & wait until it works its way down... I'm sure there are better ways & better lubes, but this works for me.
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