The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1957 chevy 6500 speedometer question

I have a 1957 Chevy 6500 dually 4 speed with the 261 in line 6 in it and I was driving it in the cold the other day. Who would of guessed with ohio weather. Then the speedometer just started buzzing really bad and the buzzing was increasing with the speed...then the speedo needle came off. Does anyone know what the best way to take care of this problem is? Someone told me to run grease down the cable but I don't know what he meant by that. I know the speedo cable goes to the tranny. Maybe run grease over that?

he meant he had no more idea than you what happened .... disconnect the cable from the speedo and pull out the inner part and clean it well with solvent, get it totally dry and lube it with dry graphite .... but that won't put the needle back on the speedo you need to take the gauge cluster out, remove the speedo and see just what happened there, if the needle came off the shaft or the shaft broke .... you'll likely find a lot of gunk build up in the speedo head that got petrified in the cold, clean it out carefully

Bill

Thank you very much! I have the Next few days off so I know what I am doing! I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks again.

Mike

Buzzing? You don't say if it has the 2 speed rear end. My 57 GMC Bigbolt has a geared adapter that is screwed onto the speedometer, then the cable screws onto it. There is a post with a wire that comes from the 2- speed shifter switch. This adapter keeps the speedometer correct, when in either hi or low, rear gears.
Your buzzing may be coming from this adapter. Mine had so much old grease in it, that it was hard to turn. I think that may be why the speedo cable was broken when I got the truck.
Anyway, I cleaned mine good and lubed with a light weight oil, installed a new cable and now all works smooth and fine.