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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1111
 
Location: Ocala, Florida | The speedometer in my '61 Belvedere works, but it's so loud that I reached up and unscrewed the thing. Left the cable hanging out from under the dash, (it's quiet now!) and it seems to be turning fine, even if I grab the end with my fingers to put some resistance on it. Does anyone know if there is a place to grease or oil the speedo head without removing it? I suspect the cable doesn't need grease because the noise was all in the head, and when disconnected the cable makes no noise. I'd really love to get that cool "ribbon" speedo working again. |
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Expert
Posts: 4589
  
Location: Northern New Jersey | Hi Al,
My 60 Fury does the same thing. Get quieter after she runs a while. Almost like a clicking noise.
E-bay has had some NOS speedo pods available fo decent money.
Like you Don Garlets photos.
Thanks,
Steve up North |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 390
| I believe there's two possibilities occurring here.
One is that the speedo head acts like a speaker for noise transmitted up the speedo cable. So my first suggestion would be to lubricate the spring core of the cable.
The second is that there may be wear in the socket the speedo cable goes into and as the cable turns the square end wobbles back and forth inside the socket of the speedo head. Again a judicious application of a light body grease might resolve this. The key here is "judicious". Too much grease will result in the lubricant flying around inside the speedo head and making a BIG mess. |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13054
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | You would need a syringe (found in most city parks) and a small plastic tube, eventually with the syringe needle in the end. Fill up the syringe with sewing machine oil. Point the needle at the edge of the turning center of the speedometer. Apply a few drops of oil. Use a broken speedometer cable and a battery drill/screwdriver, run the speedometer, in the correct rotation for 10-20 seconds. Apply more oil, work the drill again, wipe off the excessive black dirty oil and repeat the procedure again. Eventually, all the hardened oil and dirt will resolve and wash away with the new oil - this might fix the speedometer without removing it. |
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Expert
Posts: 2905
Location: little rock, AR | I can't believe this question was asked today. The speedo head in my '61 was doing this off and on this weekend when I traveled out of town. Last night it was so loud then it quit and so did my speedo. My cable is fine so I guess the speedo broke. I haven't had time today to look into it.
Edited by oldwood 2012-11-05 9:14 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Easiest protocol is to pull out the 4' long speedometer cable and lube it down real-good with lithium grease.
This is about a 2-person job, feeding the cable back into the housing, when its all-greasy....
If the speedo is still noisy, the speedo housing should be removed and disassembled and all of its gear connections
properly lubed up.
There may be a dedicated oil filler tube/fixture where the cable gets to be inserted into the housing.
Even if there is one, the housing should be taken apart and its guts properly lubricated (at least one time, by
every owner).
Edited by d500neil 2012-11-05 6:30 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 234
Location: Chambersburg,PA | Very strange,mine started the same noise this past wk end too,wow! I cleaned and greased the cable w/lubriplate didn't have any graphite lube,havn't driven it to see if the noise went away. There is a little tube that sticks out just above the are where the cable threads to the housing,is there a wick in that tube that needs to be oiled? Enjoied driving it again,was kinda' sunny yesterday,perfect for a drive. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 982
Location: Upper Hunter NSW Australia | .........................................
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Your '61 Ply Bel is probably different to my '59 Dodge speedo head but if it helps at all it had a noisey speedo head which when dissasembled I found that one of the 5/8 inch "assembly" plugs had came loose and allowed dirt/dust in and allowed the assembly grease to dry up. It was nearly seized and very "squeaky". I made up a "slurry" of half 80/140 gear oil and moly disulphide grease and squirted it in with a syringe from a local Vet surgeon.
With a few turns allowing the slurry to make it's way in, the speedo head freed up very well and squeak had gone.
Just have to try and find a 5/8 inch plug and re-assemble and it should be good for a few years more.
I got another speedo from a forum member here that someone had punched some small holes into the assembly plugs ( using a very small centre punch I guess ) at some time and it has probably had the same re-lube treatment previously as it was working fine when I got it.
In my other cars here at home, as a quick fix, instead of pulling the inner cable out, I squirt about 5x full squirts of gear oil from an oil can right at the top of the speedo head. This slowly makes it's way down the cable and re-lubes it all up but to do it properly, the inner cable should be pulled out, cleaned, greased and re-inserted.
Hope that helps.................
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Edited by VAN HELSING 2012-11-05 9:33 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 234
Location: Chambersburg,PA | Good info,I thought about gear lube but was not sure if it may be too runny? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 982
Location: Upper Hunter NSW Australia | Desotorandy - 2012-11-06 1:47 PM
Good info,I thought about gear lube but was not sure if it may be too runny?
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^^ I used 80/140 gear oil which is thicker than normal manual gearbox oils and is normally used in manual steering boxes. When mixed into a slurry of approx 1/3rd gear oil to 2/3rds grease ( I used Molyibdenum disulpide grease, but grease is grease for this problem ) it is " sticky" enough to not run everywhere but still able to eventually flow to the areas that need lubricating.And it flowed enough to be able to be squirted into my speedo head gears fairly easily using a syringe.
I've also used it in manual steering boxes with no problems. The problem with using grease only is that it won't really flow into the areas that need the lube but oil/grease slurry will eventually flow to where it's needed and doesn't seem to leak from the seals ( unless the seals are stuffed then anything will leak ).
You could also use this oil/grease mix ( or your own special herbs and spice mix ) to lubricate the speedo inner cable as well.
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Veteran
Posts: 234
Location: Chambersburg,PA | Hey now,you are making me want a midnight snack! I like your mix idea,makes perfect sense. I will look into that should the noise still exist? I was reading about the fill cap and wick over on the Imperial site just a few min ago,will look into lubing that as well, don't want to have to replace the unit. Ty for the info. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | If anyone's car has not had the speedo cable be lubricated (to the owner's knowledge), he should definitely pull-
out the entire cable and inspect it, clean it, and lube it, as necessary!
It's easy enough to do.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 716
| As per usual, this thread is a great help for those of us who have this problem or will in the future.
Adding it to my e-library of resources. Thanks again and always guys...amazing the knowledge here. |
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Expert
Posts: 1348
Location: Valley Forge, Pa. | Mine did that and jumped and would not show correct speed as it smoothed out some at higher speeds. Lubed cable with no change so I sent the speedo out for a rebuild at $150 and no real difference. I had some old speedo lube that is a grafite/watch oil. It made it a little less noisy and ran smoother. Cleaned cable well, relubed and it was a little better yet. With the car in a barn for 30 years and only 55,000 miles, I guessed it was still the original cable and may have developed rust spots which would match with rust on the inside of the cable housing causing it to grab. I'm not sure if this is the best thing to do but i was just about to replace the whole thing. First i cleaned the cable really well then took 250 emery cloth and went over the entire lenght a couple times. Takes a while. Cleaned it several times in parts washer, then carb cleaner and lubed the **** out of it with white lithium bearing grease and it runs smooth, quiet, accurate and now has over 30,000 more miles with no problems. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1111
Location: Ocala, Florida | Thanks very much for all the info. I will start with the cable, then on to the speedo head, and clean and lube everything I can. |
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Expert
Posts: 2905
Location: little rock, AR | To get to the speedo head you will have to pull the instrument cluster off of the dash. Then disassemble the cluster to get to the speedo head. If you go this far you might as well restore everthing in this cluster. You only wat to do this job once. I pulled the cluster out of my 4dr sedan and I'm going to use the best of the 2 to make 1 good one. My 2dr HT didn't have a clock but the 4dr sedan had one so I think I'll put the clock in. I'm going into the cluster so I'll paint the orange rotating dial. Taking the cluster off of the dash wasn't that hard but it was work for my old body. |
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Speedo noise
