Speedometer Issue

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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pwilliam
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:30 pm
Your car is a: 1972 124 Sport Spider

Speedometer Issue

Post by pwilliam »

Bought a replacement cable as the end of the old one was mangled and speedo was not functioning. Instead of replacing the whole thing, I simply withdrew the old cable portion from the sleeve and slid the new one in. I compared them in length to be sure, the new one from AR was about 1/8th of an inch longer. It seemed like the cable seated very easily and also slid into the speedometer well. I tightened the nut on the back of the speedometer as tight as it would go, but my speedometer still does not function. I also tested to see if the cable would spin in the speedometer when it was out of the car, and it did although there was some resistance.

Any ideas what could prevent the speedometer from working? I suppose its possible that the cable didn't full seat in the gauge but given i tightened the nut all the way I'd think that it did. Out of ideas on my end.

Thanks,

Pete
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bradartigue
Posts: 2183
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:35 pm
Your car is a: 1970 Sport Spider
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Speedometer Issue

Post by bradartigue »

pwilliam wrote:Bought a replacement cable as the end of the old one was mangled and speedo was not functioning. Instead of replacing the whole thing, I simply withdrew the old cable portion from the sleeve and slid the new one in. I compared them in length to be sure, the new one from AR was about 1/8th of an inch longer. It seemed like the cable seated very easily and also slid into the speedometer well. I tightened the nut on the back of the speedometer as tight as it would go, but my speedometer still does not function. I also tested to see if the cable would spin in the speedometer when it was out of the car, and it did although there was some resistance.

Any ideas what could prevent the speedometer from working? I suppose its possible that the cable didn't full seat in the gauge but given i tightened the nut all the way I'd think that it did. Out of ideas on my end.

Thanks,

Pete
If you remove the speedometer and drive the car does the speedometer cable spin? If not then it it either isn't seated at the transmission or the speedometer drive in the transmission is bad. If so then the speedometer is bad.
pwilliam
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:30 pm
Your car is a: 1972 124 Sport Spider

Re: Speedometer Issue

Post by pwilliam »

Good thinkin'! I'll give it a run this weekend.
DieselSpider
Posts: 2130
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:21 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider with Isuzu Turbo Diesel

Re: Speedometer Issue

Post by DieselSpider »

If the cable end gets mangled then you have to fix what caused it to fail. If the cable spun easily in the jacket then that just leaves a potentially binding/defective speedometer to consider however if the old cable was bound up in the jacket the potential is fairly high that the speedometer drive in the transmission took a beating too.
spider2081
Patron 2024
Patron 2024
Posts: 3015
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:45 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Spider 2000
Location: Wallingford,CT

Re: Speedometer Issue

Post by spider2081 »

I saved a short section of the inner cable, about 1 foot. I can test a speedometer with it and a drill. the cable has to turn counter clockwise for the speedometer speed to increase. use a variable speed and start off slow and it doesn't take a lot of rpm to peg a working speedometer.
pwilliam
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:30 pm
Your car is a: 1972 124 Sport Spider

Re: Speedometer Issue

Post by pwilliam »

Good call!

Thats how i got my motorcycle speedo working again, unfortunately i am short of a drill at the moment! Always somethin'....
hifijoe

Speedo cable unhooked

Post by hifijoe »

Speedo cable came unhooked as i was taking my dash apart. Any easy way to re-connect ? My hand cant seem to reach to re connect and im having a hell of a time trying to get it on there again.
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