Speedometer Lube

[RalphG]

I'm wondering what is a suitable lubricant for the speedometer and cable on my 52 Merc. I'm looking at swapping the apparently working speedometer from my 53 "parts car" into my 52 driver Merc. The 53 has sat for years and shows just over 78,000 miles and I can turn it by hand and see the odometer and needle move so hoping its good to go.

[papanomad]

graphite.

[marko39]

for the cost of a new cable (inner) i would replace it, need to take it out to properly lube it. Mark

[rotorwrench]

For the helicopter cables and all of the flex-drive cables on my cars, I use Lubriplate 930AA. This stuff will work well even if it gets wet. The cable core needs to be removed and thoroughly cleaned prior to application of lubrication. Be sparing with the grease at the indicator head end. The speedometer indicator head usually has a very small soft plug in the little oil hole on the magnet drive fitting that is part of the speedometer structure and a part of where the cable end screws on. There is sometimes a wick underneath the soft plug that will hold oil for a long period of time. If it can be removed & cleaned, the lube results will last longer. I use the equivalent or 3 in 1 oil or light instrument oil for the shaft journal. There are other places that can be lubed internally but it requires disassembly of the indicator head. The input drive is the largest bearing surface in there and is the most important part to lube other than the flex-drive cable.

[RalphG]

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I got the speedometer out of the 53 this morning for inspection. All looks good and turns by hand good. I used some light oil on anything that moved. Pulled the cable on the 52, cleaned and applied a little heavier oil to it. Now hoping to put it all together. Would you believe it is already cold enough here that my hands were losing sensitivity undoing those tiny screws on the back side of the instrument panel? Damp and cold at 40 some degrees. Good thing I didn't leave the job til winter.