Technical Speedometer problem

[Toporb]

Hi , I’ve changed the Cable , Before that I tested that the speed dial works and it started to clock the miles.Both worked fine .
Connected the cable up from gear box plugged the cable in the back of the instrument panel. I test drove the van and it does not clock the speed or miles.

The cable is a brand new one.
Am I missing something?

 

[bugsymike]

Hi , I’ve changed the Cable , Before that I tested that the speed dial works and it started to clock the miles.Both worked fine .
Connected the cable up from gear box plugged the cable in the back of the instrument panel. I test drove the van and it does not clock the speed or miles.

The cable is a brand new one.
Am I missing something?

Assuming fitted correctly , I would unplug at speedo and drive a little way to see if it moves the cable when you hold it with your fingers, if not speedo drive at gearbox end suspect, unless cable to short if just inner cable.

 

[Toporb]

Assuming fitted correctly , I would unplug at speedo and drive a little way to see if it moves the cable when you hold it with your fingers, if not speedo drive at gearbox end suspect, unless cable to short if just inner cable.

Thanks for your reply. Is changing the speedo drive a big job?

 

[Toporb]

Thanks for your reply. Is changing the speedo drive a big job?

The new cable is the same length as the one I took off 2.2 m

 

[Communicator]

Hi , I’ve changed the Cable , Before that I tested that the speed dial works and it started to clock the miles.Both worked fine .
Connected the cable up from gear box plugged the cable in the back of the instrument panel. I test drove the van and it does not clock the speed or miles.

The cable is a brand new one.
Am I missing something?

Did you change the speedo cable because it had broken, which seems to be the obvious reason, or was the change made because the speedo was not working?

 

[Toporb]

Did you change the speedo cable because it had broken, which seems to be the obvious reason, or was the change made because the speedo was not working?

I changed it because the speedometer stopped all of a sudden. I assumed it was the cable. As I had checked that the dial’s worked before I changed cable.

 

[Communicator]

I changed it because the speedometer stopped all of a sudden. I assumed it was the cable. As I had checked that the dial’s worked before I changed cable.

Then the old one wasn't broken? Unfortunately that does sound like a drive problem. Bugsymike will have more experience in that area, as I have only changed a few cables on my own vehicles.

Perhaps I should add that Bugsymike has informed me, that he retires at about 10pm.

 

[Toporb]

Then the old one wasn't broken? Unfortunately that does sound like a drive problem. Bugsymike will have more experience in that area, as I have only changed a few cables on my own vehicles.

Yeah unfortunately it looks like I bought new cable for nothing as the old one looks ok.
Still live and learn. Thanks for your quick response. I hope Bugsymike gets back to me tomorrow.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[bugsymike]

Perhaps I should add that Bugsymike has informed me, that he retires at about 10pm.

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise."
One out of three would be nice
Usually if a mechanical cable fails, it is a obvious break at one end, (often in the past caused by a seized speedo head) so no square drive on cable unless cable has been badly routed and rubs causing failure.
However if that is the case it is usually accompanied by an early warning of erratic speedo movement at needle.
This is most common, whereas gear drive failure less so.
I may be wrong but if yours is the 1.9 it may have the Peugeot /Renault gearbox where you pull a rubber mushroom out at gearbox end to get cable out.
So if no obvious damage there you can undo a 10mm or 11mm bolt and draw speedo drive gear from gearbox to inspect, however be careful not to drop gear into gearbox or misalign on refitting.

 

[Communicator]

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise."
One out of three would be nice
Usually if a mechanical cable fails, it is a obvious break at one end, (often in the past caused by a seized speedo head) so no square drive on cable unless cable has been badly routed and rubs causing failure.
However if that is the case it is usually accompanied by an early warning of erratic speedo movement at needle.
This is most common, whereas gear drive failure less so.
I may be wrong but if yours is the 1.9 it may have the Peugeot /Renault gearbox where you pull a rubber mushroom out at gearbox end to get cable out.
So if no obvious damage there you can undo a 10mm or 11mm bolt and draw speedo drive gear from gearbox to inspect, however be careful not to drop gear into gearbox or misalign on refitting.

To be pedantic most probably an M7 bolt with a 11mm head. I have seen advice suggesting an application of grease to the speedo gear shaft as an aid to not dropping the gear into the box. As M7 is not a common size, do not lose the bolt.

 

[bugsymike]

To be pedantic most probably an M7 bolt with a 11mm head. I have seen advice suggesting an application of grease to the speedo gear shaft as an aid to not dropping the gear into the box. As M7 is not a common size, do not lose the bolt.

Yes I was only referring to the spanner size I would grab to get it undone.
It took me along time to refer to a 13mm bolt as M8. Life was so much easier as an apprentice with AF spanners (Across Flats) mostly from America and Fords I suppose, as most of the old Morris etc were Whitworth, all of which I have spanners of, for most stuff, although unlikely to get worn out these days.
Those were from a full set of combination spanners in Metric Whitworth and AF by Britool that I was awarded in around 1970 for being the best practical student in my year at Technical College, you couldn't buy one of those for £5 these days never mind all three sets

 

[Toporb]

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise."
One out of three would be nice
Usually if a mechanical cable fails, it is a obvious break at one end, (often in the past caused by a seized speedo head) so no square drive on cable unless cable has been badly routed and rubs causing failure.
However if that is the case it is usually accompanied by an early warning of erratic speedo movement at needle.
This is most common, whereas gear drive failure less so.
I may be wrong but if yours is the 1.9 it may have the Peugeot /Renault gearbox where you pull a rubber mushroom out at gearbox end to get cable out.
So if no obvious damage there you can undo a 10mm or 11mm bolt and draw speedo drive gear from gearbox to inspect, however be careful not to drop gear into gearbox or misalign on refitting.

Thank you for your advice and assistance. I will have a look today see if I can get some pictures.

 

[Communicator]

I trust that Toporb will forgive us for going off topic. Almost 60 years ago, my first car was 2.25 litre diesel Landrover. It had a mixture of UNF and BSF bolts with perhaps some BSW threads on studs inserted into aluminium castings. One of my first purchases was sets of Britool OE and ring spanners in both Whitworth/BSF and A/F sizes, four sets in all. Several metric sets of both ring and combiation have followed. That's before we start on socket sets, inherited and purchased.

 

[bugsymike]

I trust that Toporb will forgive us for going off topic. Almost 60 years ago, my first car was 2.25 litre diesel Landrover. It had a mixture of UNF and BSF bolts with perhaps some BSW threads on studs inserted into aluminium castings. One of my first purchases was sets of Britool OE and ring spanners in both Whitworth/BSF and A/F sizes, four sets in all. Several metric sets of both ring and combiation have followed. That's before we start on socket sets, inherited and purchased.

More off topic as an apprentice around 1970 I did a clutch job on a riding stables Land Rover, two years later they burnt the clutch out again and I found one of my precious 7/16ths AF spanners still jammed on one of the bolts that hold the seat frames from underneath the vehicle covered in muck and horse sh*t, slightly rusty but still usable!