1981 Speedo stopped working
06-17-2023, 05:57 PM
#3
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Nov 2006
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Posts: 8,584
Received 4,574 Likes
on
2,759 Posts
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
Broken cable or striped drive gear in transmission. Drive gears are plastic. With cruise you have 2 cables. without cruise just the one. All fairly easy to check, lube or replace. You will need to get at the back side of the speedo however.
06-17-2023, 09:01 PM
#5
Team Owner
Member Since: Jan 2007
Location: Southern Cal Ca
Posts: 50,470
Received 761 Likes
on
613 Posts
St. Jude Donor '22
if it is cable issue,
disconnect cable at trans use drill to grip cable, have helper watch speedo, maybe reverse direction,,,
if speedo works then trans gear bad or cruise cable so next at cruise check cable to speedo same way .
06-18-2023, 06:56 AM
#6
or you can buy a single long cable to omit cruise
if it is cable issue,
disconnect cable at trans use drill to grip cable, have helper watch speedo, maybe reverse direction,,,
if speedo works then trans gear bad or cruise cable so next at cruise check cable to speedo same way .
if it is cable issue,
disconnect cable at trans use drill to grip cable, have helper watch speedo, maybe reverse direction,,,
if speedo works then trans gear bad or cruise cable so next at cruise check cable to speedo same way .
06-18-2023, 10:41 AM
#7
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Aug 2017
Location: Cool Northern Michigan
Posts: 6,928
Received 2,144 Likes
on
1,647 Posts
If you do end up ordering a new cable, you may see several options from Vette venders.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
The following users liked this post:
rcpd34 (06-18-2023)
06-18-2023, 10:44 AM
#8
If you do end up ordering a new cable, you may see several options from Vette venders.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
06-21-2023, 11:52 AM
#10
Thanks for the offer, but I’ll probably just replace it with a new cable since I’m going to the trouble of removing it.