Hey folks,

Thanks for your patience with a college music teacher and his (as my dad used to say) grave-yard mechanic abilities.

My speedometer sort of works: No odometer (of course), but I've read the Pelican fix procedure, and I am sure it is within my abilities, though I'd like any pointers.

My question before I do that is this: At very low speeds (neighborhood driving), what would cause the needle to bounce/waver between 0 and 35ish mph? At speeds in the 50 + mph range, it is rock steady, but I don't think accurate. I need to use my GPS and double check it (thanks to whoever posted that in someone else's question).

So, any suggestions?

Thanks

Sean

Common problem usually traced to dry speedo cable. It winds up like a spring in the housing and snaps loose causing the "jumping" at lower speeds. I lube mine once a year with tri-flow spray @ speedometer end. I use motorcycle cable lubricator on the clutch and throttle cables as well. Nice smooth pedals !

Thanks. I'll pull the whole assembly and replace some light bulbs while I"m at it.

Not always the cable. There was a post a while back on how to clean the old lube off and re cleaning something in the speedo. Milne does it after 2 new cables. My odo worked so I never wanted to tear in to it.

Also,since the speedo is mechanical the needle movement will mimic how the cable is rotating. New cables can cause the same problem if not installed correctly. Eliminate all tight turns possible when installing a speedo cable.

So, I tried some lube in the cable at the speedometer end. Might've made it more nervous at low speeds. When it stabilizes and reads 32 (ish) mph, my GPS says 26 or 27. When the GPS reads 60 mph, the speedometer reads 72 (ish) mph. Looks to be 20% too high.

Of course, the good news is I switched the little turn signal lights so left is left and right is right in side the car now. I also discovered that the dash lights work when the brights are on (well, one bright) but not when normal headlights are on. Obviously some knucklehead "fixed" the dash wiring.

Any further suggestions on the speedometer?

Sean

Tire size?

185/60/14

Sean

Any further suggestions on the speedometer?

Ya, see reply #3.

I think if I'm going to remove the cable to clean it, I might as well replace it. My concerns would be: Could it be the speedometer head unit? Could it be the gear that the cable inserts into at the transmission end? I'd done this stuff on a 64 1/2 Mustang, but the 914 is a bit different, particularly with the way the speedometer drive exits the transmission.

Not the cable, there is a magnet part that spins a wheel inside the spedo. The grease gets hard and causes low speed needle wobble. Thats what i learned from a previous thread on this. As I said, ive done 2 new cable with same results, and yes they were routed per factory.

Thanks, that seems like something I can deal with while I do the fix on the odometer

Here is something similar
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=106833&hl=

And check your angle drive as well. Replacing that got rid of about 50% of my needle bounce.

I also had this problem and found the Angle drive to be the problem. It was loose and the cable entry was at a downward angle. I removed the angle drive to see how it looked on the inside and then reinstalled it with the cable comming directly into it with no angle at all. The needle wooble stopped. Make sure that when you slip it back into the tranny it goes all the way in and the locking screw is in the groove.

I'm running P205-50-15 tires which are about 23 inches high and my Speed-O is off by more then 10 Miles per hour. No way to fix that that I know of, but it's fun to show a passenger the Speed-O reading 90 when actually going much slower.

Back in the old days, on my 64 1/2 Mustang, the speedometer drive gear could be replaced with different ones to make the speedometer accurate. . Is this possible with the 914?

Yes, but it's unlikely a VDO repair station will sell you the parts.

The Cap'n

This was the gear that the cable went into, and then the gear went into the transmission. Inaccurate? Pop the blue one off and try the red one. .or yellow. . or brown. . or whatever other color (and the parts store guys knew which one to get based on how inaccurate the speed-and odometer was/were.

I experienced the same problem. Mine was caused by tranny oil coming through the angle drive and getting onto the cable where it was "wicked up" into the speedo and gunked up the gears. After 2 times of getting the speedo cleaned out, I gave up and bought a VDO electronic speedo setup. I've since replaced the angle drive as well, but I'm not sorry I made the change. I like having a speedo that is dead-on accurate and can be easily recalibrated if I change tire sizes.

Easiest fix is GPS Nav which also keeps you from getting lost. I bought one for
around $70 and move it from car to car.

Let us know what your findings are.
Try this also: remove your speedo and take the odometer reset cable and relocate the squared end into the drive of the speedo and connect the other end to a drill motor. Set the drill motor in reverse operation and bring the rpm's up very slowly and observe what the needle does. You should also "fast trigger" the drill motor to see how your needle performs. In slow mode or fast if the needle has a smooth operation to it then you should be looking elsewhere for your needle hop problems.

I'm not sure I understand how or where the odometer reset and all that hooks in. I pulled the speedo just to lube the cable, and nothing else really seemed connected other than electrics. Any photos of what it SHOULD look like back there?

The speedometer cable screws on and the reset cable with the square end with the plastic gizmo on it just pushes into the only other obvious hole back there and the other end usually goes through a hole on the bottom of the knee pad so you can set the tripometer back to zero.

http://www.p914.com/p914_gauges_speed-reset_comp.htm

Your tire diameter is smaller than stock and will cause a stock speedo to read @ 8% higher everything else being equal. 914world interactive tire chart
"Info compiled by SirAndy - © 914world.com"

I recently replaced the angle gear drive and my speedometer fluctuated at slow speed. Lubricating the aforementioned gear and cable helped a lot.