[DeTomaso] Speedometer

MikeLDrew at aol.com MikeLDrew at aol.com
Wed Jun 16 03:02:58 EDT 2010


In a message dated 6/15/10 23 52 10, gudmundfroiland at yahoo.no writes:


> I have an annoying ticking sound in my speedometer. It is ticking more 
> when driving slow, seems like it disappears with higher speed. Are there 
> anyone that have any experience whit this?
> 

It's very common--I have it too.   It's caused by a worn-out speedometer 
cable.   The cable can be routed so that it makes a sharp bend right where it 
enters the back of the gauge, and that causes the inside of the cable 
housing to wear out.   The ticking is caused by the fact that while the back end 
of the cable (by the gearbox) is spinning a constant speed, at the gauge the 
cable is stopping momentarily, winding up like a spring, then suddenly 
popping and then stopping again, multiple times each second.   It happens more 
slowly when the car is moving slowly, so that the needle drops to zero 
momentarily.   At high speed the cable is spinning so fast that the condition is 
hidden.

There's a small chance you could fix it by re-routing the cable and 
lubricating it with graphite, but most likely, by the time it's as bad as you 
describe it, the cable is wrecked and you just have to replace it.

I have a brand new cable for my car sitting six inches away from me; Bob 
Benson won two of them at the POCA Reno Fun Rally raffle and was good enough 
to donate one to me--thanks again Bob!!!

I forget how much they cost, but they're not terribly expensive.   

Mike



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