Technical Speedo Cable Nightmare, Design Fault?

[Vic20]

I am having the exact same problem as in THIS old thread.

It has come about since I replaced the clutch, dropping the gearbox I realised that I hadn't disconnected the speedo cable, probably stretched the cable outer causing the drive spline to pull out at the Speedo end. I have replaced the cable (with one much shorter and routed differently).

IT'S GOT HISTORY

Now, we have owned this '95 Cinq Sporting from Brand spanking new, on delivery we commented on the ticking speedo (seems a common problem on here) We agreed with the dealers that they would look at this at the first service which was at 1000 miles in those days.

The dealers had the car for THREE days trying to sort this problem, they said they had tried numerous cables and couldn't get it to even work again, eventually they found a cable I think I remember for a Panda which worked. The speedo still clicked quietly but we were relieved to get the car back at last and just lived what we felt was typical Fiat! We should has persevered, 13 years and 58K later this has come back to haunt me!

I think the clicking noise was always the speedo drive cable inner rattling around in the hole in the right angle adaptor at the back of the speedo (see pic) Someting is wrong by design I think fundamentally that the inner cable is slightly too short as in the post I linked to above, Unfortunately, I don't have a Fiat parts bin full of cables to try in what is an awkward job anyway.

Another possible cause is the right angle adaptor, maybe the drive is worn where it meets the cable, where can I get a replacement?

This is driving me nuts.

 

[BlueDan]

Neither my 98 Sporting or my brother's old 899 had the 90° bit on the back of the speedo, can you take it off and plug the cable directly into the back?

Assuming it's RHD having where the cable plugs in pointing to the driver's side of the car would leave you with even less spare length and make it more tricky getting it back and the clocks back in place

 

[Vic20]

Nope, the fitting to the clock is totally different so it needs the 90 deg adaptor, or at least an adaptor of some sort!

Vic

 

[rallycinq]

There is an 'early' and a 'late' cluster, along with obviously a hazelnut one.

They have different fittings, hence the 90 degree adaptor. They are a pain, but I've never really had a problem with any of them. Ticking is usually a routing problem, and this is part of the RHD/LHD conversion.

Make sure its coming through the bulkhead at the correct angle. I wonder if the dealership pulled a fast one and rerouted the cable rather than try and get it through the two bulkhead holes?

Cheers

D

 

[Vic20]

Thanks for that RC, Mine is obviously a Hazelnut cluster (I said it was driving me nuts!) The Cable that I removed (the one the dealer warranty fitted 13 years ago) was about a foot longer than the one I got from Shop4Parts. It was routed behind the wiper motor and squeezed tightly between the bulkhead and dash to arrive at the cluster parallel to fit in the adaptor.

The replacement cable, being much shorter, would only go through the grommet hole in the bulkhead behind the battery where it then has to sweep through 90 degrees to mate with the adaptor. It isn't too sharp and the clicking goes when the cable isn't connected to the cluster but I think this bend is allowing the cable to drop back in it's sheath and not go into the adaptor spline.

Basically, I need the inner driven cable to be about 10mm longer than it is and all would be fine. The thing is made of high tension steel so it wont stretch one bit.

From the Gearbox end, the whole inner cable can be pulled out and fed back in, I'm wondering if I could get a longer cable with the same driven end that I can 'cut to length' so to speak. Unfortunately I had to cut the old cable to get it out!

@!&£!^& thing!

 

[rallycinq]

So its going the wrong way then. It shouldn't go behind the wiper motor and it should arrive at the cluster from the left not right.

Cheers

D

 

[Vic20]

Strange that, all the insulation panelling in the engine bay is actually grometted for the cable to actually go behind the wiper! ( I wonder if the dealer got all the parts to enable this?)

I can't get the present cable to meet the adaptor from the left as there simply isn't enough room to manouvre the cluster and cable and my fingers together in that position. Ideally the cable needs to come straight in to the speedo but that would be too simple!

Vic

 

[benwyl]

I had the same problem, i found that if you route it through the hole in the bulkhead directly behind the clocks the route it through to the right hand side hole in the triangular shaped bit there is enough cable to be able to plug it in easily and the angle isnt too tight for the inner cable to spin (which was another problem of mine lol)

Hope this helps

 

[rallycinq]

A simple modification is to drill a hole in the bulkhead immediately behind the cluster and fit the cable straight on.

Cheers

D

 

[Vic20]

A simple modification is to drill a hole in the bulkhead immediately behind the cluster and fit the cable straight on.

Cheers

D

..If it would, mine has to fit onto the angled adaptor, the fit onto the rear of the cluster is totally different!

Benwyl, mine goes in exactly the way you describe but the inner able is too far back to drive the speedo :bang::bang::bang:

 

[ycming]

get another cluster , i have sold an late cinq 899 dial for 12 quid posted ...

Ming

 

[ycming]

get another cluster , i have sold an late cinq 899 dial for 12 quid posted ...

Ming