Speedometer problems

S

Skipstaxidermy

Junior Member
I have an oval Speedometer. Rebuilt, out of the box, this is the third one we have put in. The first one quit at 350 miles, second one quit at 89 miles, We can't get this new (Rebuilt one) to register at all. If you turn the stem in your hand it does work. If you put a 16 penny nail in a drill and press it to the stem it does register and work . We cannot get it to work with the original speedometer cable or a repro-new one either. The gear on the drive shaft is fine, works well. The speedo shaft is turning at the speedo head but if you connect it , it does not work. How does this connection work-- friction drive with the brass collar? We can see no square drive receiver for the square end of the cable in the speedometer receiver! What is wrong?
 
The connection at the speedometer is square drive .125 for oval speedometers and .105 for round speedometers.

Check that you have a .125 square drive in the end of the speedometer cable.

Also check if the inner cable can be pushed in to the casing too far so the it does not stay engaged with the speedometer head drive gear.

I will upload photos when I resolve a missing security token that does not allow me to upload photos.
 
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160B said:
I will upload photos when I resolve a missing security token that does not allow me to upload photos.
Click to expand...

Ryan wrote this a few years ago;

Are you getting a "Security Token Error?"
If so, please excuse it... It's a bug. Typically you get that error when uploading images. It just means that the images you are uploading are too large in file size.
 
160B said:
The connection at the speedometer is square drive .125 for oval speedometers and .105 for round speedometers.

Check that you have a .125 square drive in the end of the speedometer cable.

Also check if the inner cable can be pushed in to the casing too far so the it does not stay engaged with the speedometer head drive gear.

I will upload photos when I resolve a missing security token that does not allow me to upload photos.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Mike V. Florida

.105 square drive round speedometer on left & .125 square drive oval speedometer on right

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oval speedometer drive gear- look close and you can se the square drive

picture.php
 
If you put a drill on the end by the drive shaft gear, does it work then. If not then your square drive end may be pulling out of the speedo. The problem I had when I put in a new cable was that I did not put the little disk they give in the shaft of the drive shaft gear so that it pushes the cable up far enough to engage the speedo. Hope this makes sense, if not ask for more info.
 
I'm confused, which is normal. You say the speedo cable is turning until connected to the head. Does the cable continue to turn if you put pressure on it while its still disconnected? I'm just trying to eliminate any issues with the drive line assembly or drive cable. If the cable continues to turn while you are trying to stop it from turning, then like the fellas said, there is probably a problem with the cable end [damaged or too short] going into the head.
 
Skipstaxidermy said:
I have an oval Speedometer. Rebuilt, out of the box, this is the third one we have put in. The first one quit at 350 miles, second one quit at 89 miles, We can't get this new (Rebuilt one) to register at all. If you turn the stem in your hand it does work. If you put a 16 penny nail in a drill and press it to the stem it does register and work . We cannot get it to work with the original speedometer cable or a repro-new one either. The gear on the drive shaft is fine, works well. The speedo shaft is turning at the speedo head but if you connect it , it does not work. How does this connection work-- friction drive with the brass collar? We can see no square drive receiver for the square end of the cable in the speedometer receiver! What is wrong?
Click to expand...

My 1930 Town Sedan has a Northeast oval speedometer, which uses a non-standard cable, and I had trouble getting the cable end to engage the speedometer. I had to use a short plug in the transmission end of the cable socket to cause the cable to protrude farther. I think I used a short piece of an 8-32 or 10/32 bolt. Also, the cable end at the speedometer did not fit snugly into the speedometer. I made a shim from brass shim stock. It is bent to form an angle, about 3/32" on a side and about 5/8" long. It slides into the speedometer to help the cable end fit more snugly. This seems to work to provide a positive drive.

Paul
 
I had to do the same thing as Paul, sort of. What I did was to bend a small piece of wire into a tight "U" shape and insert it in the transmission drive.

It seems the cable was inserting itself too far into the transmission end and leaving the other end too short to engage the speedo head. Took me awhile to figure it out as it would go together and work but then stop working as the cable worked itself down and disengaged the speedo.

Any small item that keeps the cable from being inserted too far into the transmission end should do the trick.

Assuming, of course, this is your problem too! : )
 
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