Speedo Cable

[dalethewhale]

Howdy All

Speedo recently died. Presumably cable, made a racket for a while, needle jumped around a lot, then nothing.

What it the easiest way to get ones hands on areplacement cable ( for FC).
Is it a mcechincs job or something i can tackle at home?

cheers dale

[mcl1959]

Dale, relatively easy to change.   BUT;   beware that there is probably an underlying reason why the speedo cable broke - unless the cable looks obviously kinked or frayed, then it is likely that the speedo head itself is seized which is very common on FE / FC
This needs to be checked before installing a new cable.
s/h cable can be purchased from people here on the forum or new from companies such as Autocables in Victoria

Regards  Ken

[dalethewhale]

Thankyou for that.

Should my speedo head be knackered. What am i then actually looking at,faced with having to do?

whale

[craiga]

Whale,

If you remove the speedo cable where it screws to the rear of the speedo you will be able to remove the two screws that hold the lower part of the dash assembly and then lift and unhook the top mounts, then tilt the dash forward, laying it on the steering column. Stick a towel or similar on the column to prevent damage.

Now you will see that right at the rear of the speedo, where the cable screws on, there is a small bronze bush. You should be able to easily turn this with your fingers. If not, carefully spray some WD-40 on to it at the point where it exits the speedo housing. Now free it up by spinning it. You can make this easier by using a small section of the old cable - the square bit on the end. If you can free it up, put a few drops of light oil on it, fit your new cable and all is OK. If you can't free it up, you will need to remove and disassemble the speedo head unit - or buy a second hand working one. They are very basic inside, and are normally just gummed up with old 'dry' lubricant and dust.

Good Luck,

Craig.

[dalethewhale]

Thankyou  very much gentlemen.

Your concise and helpful info is very much appreciated.
I bought my old girl because i love these cars so much. I went into this relationship knowing that she was going to have her ups and down,and now thanks to you two, it sounds like it should be all "up" again very shortly.

I really do appreciate the descriptive help. Lets hope it is idiot proof!

Weekend warrior Whale