[DeTomaso] Speedo died today

Charles Engles cengles at cox.net
Sat Jun 15 22:49:01 EDT 2013


Dear Mr. Forsenic Pantera Failure Investigator,

 

 

                   Yes, mine quit working without drama.

 

                  So far, I've changed the ZF speedo gear three times (maybe
I'm hard on the poor things..?) without problems.  My suggestion is a stone
cold gearbox and no ham handed dumb moves.   Also, as long as nothing
happens, then there is no danger of the fatal fall of the gear into the box.
IF it falls, then..you got a problem.

 

 

                               Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles

 

 

 

From: MikeLDrew at aol.com [mailto:MikeLDrew at aol.com] 
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2013 9:13 PM
To: cengles at cox.net; michael at michaelshortt.com; detomaso at poca.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Speedo died today

 


In a message dated 6/15/13 18 58 14, cengles at cox.net writes:





          I mistakenly assumed that the cable had gone kaput. 



>>>Mike reported a violent, screaming sound from behind the dash moments
before the speedo quit, which is the typical broken-cable pathology.  Am I
right in assuming that your speedo just quit without any drama?  When that
happens, the cause is normally the drive gear inside the gearbox.

While it IS possible to change that gear without removing the gearbox from
the car, it is a process fraught with danger.  One false move, and the gear
can drop into the bowels of the gearbox, requiring complete gearbox removal
in order to retrieve it.

I helped a friend change his gear in my driveway a few years back (and
inexplicably, his broken gear has been sitting a counter above my kitchen
sink ever since).  In order to prevent the gearbox removal scenario, we
grabbed ahole of the stub of the gear with a pair of vice-grip pliers before
removing the retaining bolt that keeps it in position.  This allowed us to
ensure that it couldn't fall into the gearbox by accident.

Mike




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