Speedo cable lube?

[krazy86t]

Getting colder around here - 20-30's F in the morning. I hear what must be the speedo cable spinning behind the gauge cluster in the morning when the car is cold. No rubbing sound at stop and idling, rubbing sound increases with increased speed. The rubbing sound goes away when driving the car later in the day when it is warmer.

Does this indicate that a connector should be lubricated, or just a sign of age with no fix other than replacing cables, etc?

 

[87geeinn]

I believe GM used to make a specific speedo cable lube but I'm not sure on that one. I just used some grease and mine works perfect now. Others have used good ol' motor oil with good results too.

The speedo connects to the back of the gauge cluster and the top half of the wire can be pulled out from there, cleaned, greased and replaced. The lower half can be disconnected from around the brake booster area under the hood. From there, just unscrew the two halves, pop out the little washer in the lower portion of the cable housing, and then the lower half of the cable can be removed, cleaned, and greased. Easy fix.

If you can't figure it out, let us know.

 

[SIXBANGR]

Old speedo guy in Reno, told me to use only petroleum jelly on the cable.

 

[notacarlo]

I have heard the petro jelly fix as well.

 

[turbo nasty]

I used white lithium a few years back and my speedo is starting to bounce a lil again and that lil bounce causes teh cruise to surge a lil. I will be try the PJ lube next time

 

[krazy86t]

If you can't figure it out, let us know.

Check - can't figure it out 8-( Does the gauge cluster have to be removed to get access to the speedo connector behind the gauges? Tried finding the connector by reaching behind the cluster from the floor, but I don't think that will work.

I've removed the digital gauge before, which is easy, but the speedo cable does not connect to the back of the digital gauge. I think the speedo cable attaches to another circuit board behind the digital cluster.

 

[turbo nasty]

Check - can't figure it out 8-( Does the gauge cluster have to be removed to get access to the speedo connector behind the gauges? Tried finding the connector by reaching behind the cluster from the floor, but I don't think that will work.

I've removed the digital gauge before, which is easy, but the speedo cable does not connect to the back of the digital gauge. I think the speedo cable attaches to another circuit board behind the digital cluster.

You have to pull teh cluster and then reach behind it and push in a lil metal spring clip the holds the cable to the head.

Fish the cable in to the firewall to give a bit of slack for easier access.

Do a search on it

 

[krazy86t]

Digging around behind the dash is a frustrating activity. I tried a different tack; discconnected the cable screw connection near the brake booster and pulled the internal speedo cable that goes to the back of the dash out of the sheath with a hard tug. With the cable out of the sheath it was easy to clean and lube. returned it to the cable housing, clocked the cable to engage the dash connection, and screwed the connection near the brake booster back together. Easy fix and no more annoying noise!

 

[87geeinn]

With that "hard tug" you may have busted something loose. I can't remember for sure, but I'm wanting to think that there was some sort of retainer or something holding the cable in the housing at the connector on the back of the cluster. What I mean, is that the last time I disconnected the cable at the cluster, there was something that held the cable in the housing. I could be wrong though.

 

[charlief1]

There's a clip that the speedo cable goes into. You have to press on it to release the cable. I've got a luber for the cable and you put it where the cable goes into the tranny. Then just use a grease gun to lube it. If you use a synthetic grease you'll have no porblem with it. The original grease is wax based and will melt out after a while.

 

[Adam Connell]

Hey Charlie, would this be like a motorcycle cable luber?

 

[charlief1]

Kinda Adam. It looks like a plug that you screw on the cable just like it goes on the tranny. It has a grease zerk on the end.

 

[aminga]

Kinda Adam. It looks like a plug that you screw on the cable just like it goes on the tranny. It has a grease zerk on the end.

How do you keep it from squirting out at the speed head

 

[charlief1]

How do you keep it from squirting out at the speed head

Here's a pic for you guys. I think I got if from NAPA years ago.

 

[frdstang93]

I have used graphite before and that worked great.

 

[olds443]

Old speedo guy in Reno, told me to use only petroleum jelly on the cable.

An Old Guy in a Speedo told you to do what with petroleum jelly?:wink: Sorry,I saw "Old speedo guy" and couldn't resist.


To the original poster I used bearing grease on one of my old cars which worked perfectly

 

[meanchicken]

An Old Guy in a Speedo told you to do what with petroleum jelly?:wink: Sorry,I saw "Old speedo guy" and couldn't resist.

To the original poster I used bearing grease on one of my old cars which worked perfectly

LOL:biggrin:
You beat me to it.
Total Beavis n' Butthead moment.

My cable is getting noisy too...subscribing...

 

[INEEDAGN]

Add me to the list. Noisy only when cold, can't use the cruise because the needle bounces around a lot. Plan on fixing it this winter, butthen again I planned on fixing it last winter too. I need a heated garage .

 

[krazy86t]

Prior to fixing my squeaking cable, I asked JohnS from Caspers about how deal with the problem. Here is his advice:

"The squeaking sound is a dry speedometer cable. You should be able to open the connection behind the dash, under the hood near the firewall (it’s near the power brakes system). It’s a large hex nut between two sections of the cable. You will need a large wrench to open the connection and once you do, you can pull out the cable and coat it with lithium grease, then push it back in and turn it until it engages with the speedometer. IF it doesn’t pull out, you can use lithium spray grease in an aerosol can and attempt to spray it down the center of the cable. That usually does it."

I don't know how the cable attaches to the back of the speedo gauge cluster, so cannot comment on whether or not something would break. I would not have thought to try this method if not advised by John. YMMV