speed-o jumping?

[cubstiva1]

i think i have kind of the same problem as Tuna, ( http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16152 ) my speedo is jumping around. its fairly accurate, but it "twitches" and makes some noise. not sure if its from the cold weather, but does it all the time now. mileage on the odometer is spot on. so its just the speedo needle. any ideas?

derick

[25Horseplay]

Try lubing the cable with some graphite.

[cubstiva1]

and where do i get that? and how would i get it in there. these might be dumb questions, but about this i am clueless

[25Horseplay]

Auto parts store carry an aerosol can of door lock graphite. Thats what I used, sprayed it down the speedo cable.

[cubstiva1]

from inside the car, behind the cluster. i'll try it. its just so cold out. thanks brian

derick

[25Horseplay]

Yep I sprayed my down the cable from inside!

[packrat427]

You can do that , or just take it loose at the tranny ,

Pull the cable out , wipe it off, the lube it with a lube that is not to heavy .

I tried graphite on mine , it never made the noise go away , plus graphite is messy , depending what applicator you get .

Then just slide the cable back in and re-attach the housing back to the tranny .

It is a very easy and quick fix .

[ejp2fast]

when it is REALLY cold and i drive for the first 10 miles, my instrument cluster will make noises.... i replaced the cable a while back and lubbed it well. the noise was proportional to my speed.

[Pgh5spd]

Typical cold weather problem. As tuna found, lubing the bushing in the speedo head is the next step after trying to lube the cable. The bushings are usually porous bronze, so they hold lube for 100s of thousands of miles. Most cars don't last as long as a properly loved Festiva and so never encounter the problem.

[rob967]

I need to replace my cable.How do i do it and is it hard?

[scitzz]

Pretty easy to replace, findin one was a problem for me years back.......

[rerhard]

i used sewing machine oil to lube the speedo cable, not that hard to do and it never made noise again.