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New Speedo Cable - different speed reading?

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    Posted: 23 June 2021 at 11:10pm
OK gang - odd question.  4-5 years ago I hooked up my spedo with a new cable and it read fine for all this time until... it suddenly didn't. Gauge started flicking around wildly until eventually it ran over 60 mph and then stopped and read no further.  So... I got a new cable and installed it on the same spedo.  Now it reads 5 mph too fast.  Any idea why?

Thanks,
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lee MN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 7:00am
Your old cable had drag on it, your new one runs free šŸ˜®

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote OnlyOneDR Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 3:35pm
The cable that was flicking just needs good lubrication, taking it off and dribbling a bunch of oil down the housing would fix that.  The gauge may be damaged from the excessive whipping that the cable was doing, it was binding up and snapping free over and over so that really high speed twitching may have damaged the spring in the speedo.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bruce W Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 3:45pm
  Did you lube the new cable? A small amount of ā€œbinding up and snapping freeā€ might make it read high without visible flicking. To properly lube it the inner shaft needs to be pulled out from the top and cleaned, then lubed with proper speedo cable lube, not oil. Do not put any lube on the top 12 inches of the shaft, to keep cable lube from migrating into the head. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cal.bar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 4:51pm
Originally posted by Bruce W Bruce W wrote:

  Did you lube the new cable? A small amount of ā€œbinding up and snapping freeā€ might make it read high without visible flicking. To properly lube it the inner shaft needs to be pulled out from the top and cleaned, then lubed with proper speedo cable lube, not oil. Do not put any lube on the top 12 inches of the shaft, to keep cable lube from migrating into the head. 
BW 


Yep - someone recommended sewing machine oil (which I happen to have) so a lubed up the inner cable pretty well with that very light oil. The new cable works and the speedo reads fine, but it's registering 5 mph faster than the old one.  I will have to have a chase car follow me and see if the old was was too slow or this one is too fast. (I really suspect it is the latter)


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rus Curtis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 5:25pm
Does it read 5 mph when sitting still?  Does it stick when you begin to move and then pop up to start registering?

Slapping around like you described makes me wonder if the needle was knocked off its mark.  I've read that the speedo's themselves need lubing too.  Also, I re-calibrated a speedometer in a different car using mile markers and a stopwatch.

Physically, I don't see any way a cable can make the speedometer read faster except for the binding and unwinding explanation offered.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cal.bar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 6:33pm
Originally posted by Rus Curtis Rus Curtis wrote:

Does it read 5 mph when sitting still?  Does it stick when you begin to move and then pop up to start registering?

Slapping around like you described makes me wonder if the needle was knocked off its mark.  I've read that the speedo's themselves need lubing too.  Also, I re-calibrated a speedometer in a different car using mile markers and a stopwatch.

Physically, I don't see any way a cable can make the speedometer read faster except for the binding and unwinding explanation offered.  


Astute question.  Yes, at one point the needle was sitting at 5 mph sitting still.  Then I started up again and when I came to a stop it (eventually) went back down to 0

i did buy another speedo just in case, but I kind of want to keep the odo miles I have on it since I started at zero with it.

David

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bruce W Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2021 at 6:53pm
  I would not use oil, especially a very light oil, to lube a speedo cable. GM used a special grease in there. I was issued a tube of it when I was trained in that operation. Before that, we used White Lubriplate grease and donā€™t recall any comebacks. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark W. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2021 at 2:13pm
NAPA sells two different kinds of lube specifically for lubing cables. I used the one that sprays in wet then drys leaving a dry Graphite lube the full lenght of the housing. I have used  white lithium spray in the past with good results as well.
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