The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Intermittent Speedometer Sticking

Not sure if this is the right forum for this topic, but since the speedometer ties into the transmission I thought that it might fit in.

I’m experiencing an intermittent problem in my ’53 3100. It seems to happen when it hasn’t been driven for a while (a few days or more). Sometimes, when I first start off, the speed doesn’t register. After driving a few minutes (and a few miles) it’s working fine. Tapping on the glass doesn’t help and once it starts working, it keeps working. Not sure if the odometer keeps working when the needle doesn't register because I usually don't notice it right away and it starts up again before I've gone very far.

The speedometer and cable are fairly new — replaced about 10 years ago with new or rebuilt parts. I’m pretty sure we changed the transmission gear at that time, too. It’s garaged when it’s not driven so everything is pretty clean.

Any idea on where to start looking and how to troubleshoot this problem?

Remove the cable, clean it, and grease it (white lithium grease).

This a cheap and fast and painless service/precaution.

I would pull the speedo out and gently blow it out. There may be a bit of dust or something that has settled in it. Greasing the cable is not a bad idea but, if the cable was sticky, it should make the speedo bounce around a lot and then smooth out after it frees up a bit.

After you do what the two gentlemen before me suggest, keep an one on it, you may require a speedo rebuild soon. The way you describe your issue is exactly how mine behaved before it finally stopped working and I had a rebuild done.

Isn't there a little "plug" on the speedo head that you pull out and soak the little wick???

.....I'm getting old so my memory may be a little foggy.

Your memory is still good Alvin, there is a little wick on the deco trucks. I am not sure if the "newer" AD trucks are the same. Oiling the wick did the trick on my 41, been working fine for over a 1000 miles.

Thanks for all of the great advice and quick replies.

Please forgive me, but I'm not sure what's meant by greasing / lubricating the cable. Do you mean to just disconnect the ends, apply some grease and put it back together? Or should I apply some grease to a rag and wipe it along the length of the cable? Or just spray the cable with something like WD-40?

Disconnect the cable-cover/housing at the transmission.
Observe how much cable protrudes beyond the end of the cover/housing.

If you are lucky, the cable will pull out of the cable-cover/housing.

Clean the cable with a solvent and wipe clean/dry.

Apply white lithium grease to the cable.

Feed the cable back into the cover/housing (grease will be forced off the cable as it is fed into the cover/housing).

The cable should go in until the small amount protrudes beyond the end of the housing (twist the cable and gently push the cable if it does not go-in far enough).

Reconnect the cable cover housing to the transmission (making sure the cable enters/seats properly into the fitting in the transmission.

Go for a test ride and see if this makes any difference (no sticking, you hope).

Here are a few videos.

on every speedo cable I have taken out, you need to pull it out from the speedometer end then proceed as Tim directed.

Thanks for the correction, Mike