Speedometer

[Teacherman]

After I finished doing a lot of interior work (including pulling out the instrument panel) on my 72, the speedometer needle was bouncing like crazy when I took it out for a test ride (at least the AM radio worked!! ) Anyway, I was thinking maybe I didn't tighten it enough or push it in far enough when I reconnected the instrument panel. I was planning on giving that a try tomorrow, but thought I'd ask here tonight.

Thanks.

John

[bluef250]

Give the speedometer cable a good shot of lub when it's apart. Sometimes, that will do wonders.

[Teacherman]

Would that be lube? Such as grease or WD40 or something?

[fordman]

powdered graphite only. oil and or any kind of grease will gum up the inner cable.

[Teacherman]

When I pulled the cable out today, I got grease or oil or something on my hands (there's still a small spot on one knuckle). So you think it is a sticking issue? Shoot the graphite into the back of the instrument panel where the cable is plugged in?

Also, last week you advised:

the fuel guage reading is unrelated to the tank leak. that can be fixed by adjusting the ipvr on the back of the instrument panel.

Since I've got the instrument cluster off anyway, how would I go about doing that?

[l1k2gadd]

Napa sold me a bottle of graphite lube to use on my speedo cable. They also had a white lithium grease they said would work on the speedo cable but I bought the graphite.

(edit) The guy at Napa told me to remove the inner cable. Set some newspaper out on the bench (ground for me) and set the cable down on it. Using the bottle squeeze out the graphite all along the cable and work it into the cable by pressing it around the cable as you run down the cable. Reinstall the inner cable back into the housing.

Anyway, I have been a bit lazy, and then recently have been unavailable to do anything on my vehicles for about 4 or 5 weeks, so I haven't gotten to it yet.

[fordman]

i dont remember there is a fuel tank sending unit test page that tells abou tthat. adjustment. it is just a screw that you turn one way or the other. the grease is from the head of the cable. i think they used it when they put the cable to the cluster. the graphite getss shot into the outer cable so that the inner cable will get lubed with it.

[Teacherman]

All I did was pull the head of the cable out of the cluster. So, maybe remove the cluster again, regrease the head of the cable and then reinstall. I'll also double check to make sure I did not twist the line or anything like that.

[Teacherman]

Success! Needed to tighten the speedometer cable to the cluster. I hand tightened it last night, which wasn't near far enough. For the record, the nut on the back is a 3/4-inch. Broke out the wrench and everything is fine. Put a little lithium grease in for good measure.

Thanks again, everyone. At this rate, I might be a half-decent driveway mechanic by the time I'm eligible to retire from teaching (17 years, for those who are wondering).