Speed-O has gone south.

[JohnW63]

During the last winter, my speedometer starting making noise and the needle would vibrate a bit, in the mornings. I figured the thing was going to need some **** in the cable. I never got around to it, and it warmed up. I just went on a long trip and the problem came back, but much worse. Now, any speed over 40mph starts to make noise and vibrate the needle and the faster I dropve the worse it jumped and was very inaccurate. ( I'm quite sure that I and the rest of the travelers of I-5 were NOT going 130mph ! )

So, I either have a bad cable or a bad gauge now. The odd thing is the trip Odometer and the main Odometer seemed to move properly and at the right speed. It's only the speed needle that has gone ape.

Where can I get the cable, it that's what i need, and/or where can I get the speed-o ?

 

[firstgen89sho]

what year is your car?

 

[jthod]

The cable can be lubed with cable lubricant. NAPA sells it, and so do many other parts stores. I've heard it reffered to as liquid graphite, and it's kinda like that. And it's a bitch to clean off your hands.

I'd try lubing it before replacing it, it's much easier to do. Otherwise replacing it, pull the dash panel, then the Speedo, which isn't fun. I've been told that the speedo cable can be removed from the back of the guage without removing, but unless you have the hands of a 7 year-old, pull the dash.

 

[JohnW63]

"Pull the dash"

And just how much of the dash are we talking ? Just the instrument cluster ? I'm concerned that something has lost teeth, now.

I have a "just turned 8 year old" in the house. Maybe I can send him in there !

 

[hawkeye18]

you just have to take the dash bezel (stuff around the gauges) off. Take off the two torx screws on the top of the bezel on the underside, the four bolts on the knee panel, then the two just - uncovered torx screws at the bottom of the bezel. Pull the bezel out, at either end, and disconnect thingies as necessary (clock, fog light switch, rear defrogger switch, headlight switch, light for headlight switch (which probably doesn't work anyway), remote radio control, whatever is on the left side of the steering wheel. Once you have all that off, you will be able to see the gauge cluster.

Now, all you have to do is remove all the torx screws that you see. Use your eyes, though, for some of them only hold the plastic protector screen on. It will be obvious which screws you need to remove.

After this, it should all be pretty self-explanatory. Yank the speedo cluster out, AFTER!!!! you disconnect the cable in the engine compartment. You will hurt something if you don't.

If you can't figure out what you should do at this point, then you shouldn't be performing this procedure!!!

 

[firstgen89sho]

is your car an 92-5?

 

[JohnW63]

I was hoping for just the gauges to come out separately. Rats.

Yes, my light for the headlight switch works ! What doesn't work is the clock.

It's a 1995.

 

[JohnW63]

Staring down at the speed-O cable, which clip do I pull ? I see a smaller one, that might look like a figure eight that is above the white blocky section, and one that might be more like a large cotter pin, just below the white block.

I scanned through the whole AX4S section of the Ford Shop manual, and it didn't say how to remove it !

 

[hawkeye18]

err, what? Are you referring to the clip in the engine compartment, or the clip behind the dash? I believe that both are the same style of clip, it's kind of like the clips that hold the fuel lines onto the fuel filter, only not as diabolically evil - you just pull on the loop at the top and it *should* come out... or it may not! That's ford for you.

 

[cflguy2005]

The engine side of the cable is a twist off type deal.

The clip behind the dash: you have to push on a tab and pull it off.

 

[JohnW63]

I can't see the clip at the back of the gauge. The one in the engine bay is easy to find.

"Yank the speedo cluster out, AFTER!!!! you disconnect the cable in the engine compartment."

Which is why I'm asking.

 

[shocar]

I did this very recently and had the luxury of pulling one out of my parts car before messing with the car that had the problem. The upper cable was the portion that was making the racket. I disconnected the cable a where it connects with the lower cable to that goes to the transmission. Then I remove the dash panel that is on the that will let you get to the instrument panel Take off the headlight ****, and un screw the 8 mm screw bolts that hold the panel on. Just take it slow and don't force anything. Once you have that panel off. There are several screws/bolt screws that hold clearface of the insturment panel on. There are a lot of screw there but you only have to remove 4 as I remember so don't go crazy unscrewing everything. Remove those and then you can get to the screw/bolts that will allow you to pull the actual cluster out a bit. You only need to pull it out an inch or so. It is very tight but if you can get your hand back behind the cluster you can pinch the attachment point with your hand and just pull out the cable . I had to have my wife do this part as my hands were too big to get the right leverage on cable point. It simply works by compressing it at the same time pulling it out. Have one person compress it and have another person pull form the engine bay side at the same time. This is how I did it.

 

[JohnW63]

I guess I need to take a picture of the engine bay cable end. It still looks like to possible clips that could be removed on the cable. One lower, one higher. Which one gets pulled ?

 

[jthod]

The first one down the cable past the firewall. Not fun, but possible. Needle-nose pliers are your friend.

 

[JohnW63]

To be honest, with the ATX, it doesn't look hard at all. It looks like I can just pull straight out from the cable.

 

[whiteguy3]

To be honest, with the ATX, it doesn't look hard at all. It looks like I can just pull straight out from the cable.

Ha, try doing the speedo cable to the VSS! I replaced my VSS without removing anything. I reached for it through the passenger side wheel well. If lubing the upper speedo cable does not fix it along with checking a tight connection at the instrument bezel than you'll have your hands full fixing the connection at the VSS - which is the next step.