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Old 05-14-2012, 05:23 PM   #1
spdway1
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Default Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

I just put a new 3:54 ring and pinion in my 29 Closed Cab Pick Up. I changed the speedo gear too. Now the speedometer bounches back and fourth. Any Ideas? Thank you.
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Old 05-14-2012, 07:49 PM   #2
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

Bad cable or cable lube.
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Old 05-14-2012, 07:53 PM   #3
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

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Bad cable or cable lube.
Mine did that for a while until the lube worked it's way into the entire cable apparently. It just quit doing it one day and has been working fine since. I had used the regular Cable Lube from the catalog. With a new cable too. Works fine now.
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Old 05-14-2012, 08:24 PM   #4
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

Mine did that too. I found that the square cable end (down at the speedo gear) had come loose from the wire. Crimping it helped for a while, but it worked loose again. I finally filled the square end with JB Weld, crimped the wire in, and it never came loose again.
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Old 05-14-2012, 09:03 PM   #5
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

I just fixed this same issue last week on a 30 town sedan. The cable slipped Dow into the bottom gear and as such it was not seated into the speedometer. Took a 10/32 screw and cut the head off and slipped it into the bottom gear and then installed the cable. Now the cable slips into the speedometer head fully.
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Old 05-14-2012, 10:17 PM   #6
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

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Does the "turtle" have good mesh with the gear inside the torque tube?? And as the others have said.
Paul in CT
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Old 05-15-2012, 07:32 PM   #7
Tim Armstrong
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

I stopped my 30 sedan by dropping a little 3in1 oil in the speedometer. I had already lubed the cable.
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Old 05-15-2012, 08:17 PM   #8
spdway1
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

What can I use to lubricate the cable, I don't have a Model A dealer on the corner but I do an auto parts, hardware store, gas station and a tavern!
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Old 05-15-2012, 08:55 PM   #9
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

If you can't get speedo cable lube you can use regular grease
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Old 05-16-2012, 08:07 AM   #10
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

Don’t use regular grease. Use any good cable lubricant. I had contacted the Lubriplate Lubricants Company and asked them which of their products are for use on automobile speedometer cables and they recommended the Aero. http://www.lubriplate.com/products/greases/aero.html the product is good for minus 60 degrees.
Pull the cable completely out and apply the cable grease as you feed the cable back into the cable housing.
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Old 05-16-2012, 08:29 AM   #11
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

Use Vasoline cheap and in the house usually,all i used back in the day and still works for me.ken ct.
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Old 05-16-2012, 10:00 AM   #12
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

I also have the same problem. The speedometer reads fine in 1st or 2nd gear, but when its in 3rd it bounces back and forth. If it is the cable wouldn't it bounce all the time? the cable seems free and easy to turn. What is the easiest way to lubricate the cable?
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Old 05-16-2012, 04:18 PM   #13
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

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I also have the same problem. The speedometer reads fine in 1st or 2nd gear, but when its in 3rd it bounces back and forth. If it is the cable wouldn't it bounce all the time? the cable seems free and easy to turn. What is the easiest way to lubricate the cable?
Typically it will bounce intermittently with a bad cable. The best (not necessarily the easiest) way is to pull the cable out of the housing and cover it well with a good graphite or speedo grease. Regular grease will last for a while, but can get thrown to the side and harden.
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Last edited by 700rpm; 05-20-2012 at 11:24 PM.
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Old 05-16-2012, 10:12 PM   #14
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

Pull the speedometer and look at where the cable is in the housing. The tip of the cable should be at the end of the outer cable. If not then refer to my earlier post.
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Old 05-17-2012, 06:51 AM   #15
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

Thanks Tin Cup, I will check that out. Could be an easy fix.
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Old 05-20-2012, 06:48 PM   #16
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

I pulled the cable out from the top, it was well lubed, I put it back in, test drove, same problem , I unscrewed it of at the bottom, every thing seemed ok. test drove, same problem. Now what??
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Old 05-20-2012, 07:34 PM   #17
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

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Originally Posted by spdway1 View Post
I just put a new 3:54 ring and pinion in my 29 Closed Cab Pick Up. I changed the speedo gear too. Now the speedometer bounches back and fourth. Any Ideas? Thank you.
I assume you changed to one less tooth on the cable drive gear. Do the teeth make good contact with one less tooth? Smaller diameter means shallower tooth contact.

If tooth contact is good, then it must be the speedometer head that needs to be lubed or loosened up.
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Old 05-20-2012, 07:59 PM   #18
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

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Use Vasoline cheap and in the house usually,all i used back in the day and still works for me.ken ct.
Ken,
How about K.Y. or Astro Gel??? Bill W.
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Old 05-21-2012, 11:33 PM   #19
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

I had to disconnect my speedometer this weekend to install a firewall insulator. When I hooked it back up it started to bounce. I recall reading on FB once that a source of the "bounce" can be overtightening the cable into the speedometer housing. Sure enough, I loosened the collar and the bounce stopped. I guess the other way to approach this would be take a bit off the square end of the cable where it fits into the speedometer. I suspect that the cable end is just a bit too long and overtightening it makes it bind. ?????? Anyway it now works.

Last edited by 30Tudor; 05-22-2012 at 12:46 AM. Reason: Added clarification sentence
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Old 05-22-2012, 07:49 AM   #20
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Default Re: Speedometer Bouncing Back and Fourth

If you have an old piece of speedo cable cut it to about 6" and pull your speedo out of the car. Chuck the cable into an elctric drill and slip the other end into the speedo. Run the drill in reverse and see if the speedo itself is jumping. Usually a full blast drill reads about 25mph.
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