Speedometer lubrication - Update

[SHOtimer]

On the way home from a road trip the speedometer in my SHO decided to flip out. It was bouncing around like an old car, going from 40mph to 140mph, it was a real hoot to watch. When it started going awry the speedometer would also emit an odd whirring noise...that was never present previously.

The odometer and the trip counter both remained in normal operation.

This leads me to believe that it is a problem with the speedometer itself and not the cable.

I searched through some old threads and it looked like people had success by lubricating the speedometer, but nobody indicated where exactly they were lubricating it.

I pulled mine out tonight. The below picture is the back side of the speedometer, their seems to be a piece of metal that spins around inside the metal bucket...is that where the **** goes? Any insight would be appreciated.



Doug

 

[Slo-Sho]

That's the magnetic speedo drive. Haha, thanks Ford...Yeah if you can get **** down to the shaft and work it down the end where the cable hooks on should work like new. I would suggest some type of synthetic based oil.

 

[Off Road SHO]

The bouncing needle is from one of the wires in the cable. It is made out of tightly wound spring steel wires that are smashed (swaged) into a square by a special tool, right on the end that fits into the speedo housing. When one of the wires break, it catches on the sheath while turning and temporarily slows down. When the sheath finally lets go of the wire, the bundle speeds up until it catches again.

If a wire is broken, it is usually from lack of lubrication over the years. Powdered graphite is an excellent lubricant for speedo cables. With both ends disconnected, squeeze the powdered graphite into the sheath at the speedo end, rotating the core as you do it. Liquid graphite works okay also.

However, you may not be able to fix the jumping, because once broken, the only fix is a new cable.

Tom

 

[SHOtimer]

Thanks guys for the help so far.

What i'm gathering is:

1. **** the speedometer itself through the hole where the cable attaches to the back of it, and also into the bucket where the prop appears to spin around.

2. Disconnect the speedometer cable at the transmission and work graphite into the ends of it to try and **** it up to work.
a. However, this may not work if the cable is damaged beyond repair


I will try both of the above and see if I am successful. However, if i'm not I will need to go to the J-yard and find me a new (used) speedo cable. Does a standard Taurus part work for the cable, or it is SHO specific? I would think a standard one would work, as the cluster is SHO specific, but I would imagine that only changes things on the speedometer end?

This is one of the repairs I never planned on having to deal with....

Doug

 

[rubydist]

the SHO has a two-part speedometer cable (whether atx or mtx). the main part from the speedo forward I believe is the same on all Taurii of the vintage. the lower part is different between atx and mtx, and is likely different on the slo as well.

I have never had any luck re-lubing the cable or the head, so your best bet is to save the hassle of getting graphite all over everything and just snag some jy parts and replace them.

 

[SHOtimer]

I have never had any luck re-lubing the cable or the head, so your best bet is to save the hassle of getting graphite all over everything and just snag some jy parts and replace them.

You mean the head of the cable?

I don't want to have to replace the speedometer as I will lose my odometer, ect.

I will try and pull a jy upper cable and see how it goes.

Doug

 

[sperold]

A look at RockAuto shows an upper speedo cable (36" long) for the regular Taurus (automatic) for about $9.00.

It shows a lower cable (2 lengths to choose from) for the automatic and it lists it for both the SHO and the regular Taurus.

For what it is worth.

 

[raff18]

i bought a brand new cable and it still does it swapped in three different heads and still the same thing so I'm at a total loss

 

[SHOtimer]

i bought a brand new cable and it still does it swapped in three different heads and still the same thing so I'm at a total loss

Still does what?

Did you lubricate the speedometer too?

Doug

 

[rubydist]

then the lower cable is likely bad.

 

[tery]

thank you guys for this discussion, and...??? Is a 93 cable gonna fit it a 95, upper part maybe??
tks

 

[rubydist]

yes it will

 

[jimtash]

The speedometer in mine did the same exact thing and I ended up replacing it with a NOS. Has is a slight needle bounce at low speeds though that lubricating the cable hasn't solved.

 

[SHOtimer]

The speedometer in mine did the same exact thing and I ended up replacing it with a NOS. Has is a slight needle bounce at low speeds though that lubricating the cable hasn't solved.

A NOS speedometer? Didn't you lose your original odometer?

Doug

 

[jimtash]

No. The odometer is transferred over to the new speedometer along with the gauges. The only thing that came in the box was the speedometer. Mine's an '89 so later years might be different.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Yep, I also swapped out the speedo head in my 89 with one from a JY cluster allowing me to keep my original cluster and odometer. I also replaced the upper cable and lubed it. Works fine now but has the exact symptom Jim's has where it has a little bounce at low speeds. Works fine otherwise.

 

[SHOtimer]

Spent the morning pulling an upper speedometer cable out of a j-yard SLO.

Replaced the upper unit in my car, and put some 3-1 oil into the receptical in the back of the speedometer head.

The speedometer went from bouncing wildly to just swaying slightly. It is better than before, but no where near where it has been for the life of the car.

I'm thinking about putting some more 3-1 oil into the back of the speedometer itself where the cable head goes in.

The yard has a '95 ATX like mine. I'm thinking about pulling the gauge cluster out, and swapping the speedometer itself.

Has anyone had success detach and resetting the needle?

Doug

 

[SHOtimer]

Update, problem fixed.

I pulled the cluster out of the j-yard SHO and set it on the table next to mine. Took both speedometer's out and disassembled them. Swapped over the odometer from my unit and the guts from the junk yard unit and made one fully fuctional speedometer with my original odometer.

In order to do this the needle must be detached and reset. I simply marked where it was, and reset it right back.

It all works good as new. I confirmed the speedometer accuracy with a GPS speedometer app on my phone, dead on.

Relatively easy fix, just took some patience.



Doug

 

[tery]

I'm headed to the jy monday, there's a 95 slo that I'm pretty sure still has the speedo in it and Bob's jumps from 20 to 50 etc etc...any special tool or clips to deal with??

 

[SHOtimer]

You need a SHO specific speedo. SLO's won't work as they only go up to 85mph.

I dropped the steering column to get the cluster out - you need one torx bit, a 10mm, a 13mm and a couple small ones for the gauge cluster itself.

Doug