Hey all, I have a 914-6 that had the speedometer quit working on me. Actually is was some time ago and have not gotten around to trying to solve it until now since I had to car out today.

So when I acquired the car, the speedometer worked fine for a long time. Then it started to pulsate a little for a short time. Then it just stopped working. So I looked at the connection behind the speedometer and it is secure. The cable coming out of there under the dash looks fine. I looked at the connection point at the transmission and it looks fine as does the cable leading up to it. Any ideas? Could the gear transfer piece attached to the transmission be toast? What do you experts think?

Think the cable has broken inside the conduit...unless you reset the trip while driving as that strips the gears in the speedo head.

Pull the speedometer out and drive the car and see if the cable is turning. I have also heard of people using a drill to spin the cable and get the speedometer up to 30mph.

Either way this will tell you if its the speedometer or the cable. I have also seen where the cable connects to the trans go bad. If you remove the cable from the trans and you can turn the drive on the trans then it is broken and needs to be replaced.

One thing I found out (may be it is not what your problem is) is that if the nut at the end of the speedo cable is too tight it can pull on something inside the speedo and make it bind. The solution is simple -- the nut should be barely finger tight.

It could also be a failed speedometer angle drive. Or a broken cable or internal speedo failure.

My fix was easy. The crimp of the fitting that attaches to the back of the speedo was not strong enough (the end of the drive cable). This allowed the drive cable to not reach the speedo. I pressed the fitting back on, and re crimped. So far so good.

Great responses guys! Thank you. I will start at the speedometer end and go from there. I'll report back if anyone is interested.

Yes, please do report back - never know when past knowledge will be useful in the future!

having same problem

speedo does not register anything speed.... but everything else works.
i do know when the cable is screwed on too tight it wil not work..... it also sounds like if it is too loose it will not work either....


please help me with the problem at the transmission.. that was not clear. HOW CAN I tel if there is a problem at the TRANNY end?

thanx guys
74 914 2.0

I think the easiest trouble shoot is to disconnect the cable at the transmission end and see if you can turn the cable with your fingers. If so, then try to connect a drill to it and see if it will spin up the speedo. If that works you know the problem is likely the angle drive on the transmission. At east that's a starting diagnostic.

Broken drive...
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