speedo problem

[geezerstiva]

i was driving my dads car the other day at normal highway speeds (65-70) and the speedo needle started making a buzzing noise and pegged out and just started shaking. in a little bit it came back down to normal. it did it again on me this morning (driving it cause mine is out of service at the moment) at about 50-55. its a 90 L+? 5-speed. any ideas? thanks!
Andy

[ejp2fast]

hmmmm. pegging out?? i haven't heard of that.. how cold is it there? i know i've had problems in cold weather, but not like this... may be your speedo gear in the tranny if it only does it intermittently..

[mechanicaldj]

need to lube the actual speedo cable inside the outer cable

[CharlieZ]

Oily crud/dirt in the small gap of the magnetic coupling between the cable and the needle, might cause the magnetic coupling to become "a direct coupling." when it's cold. This would cause the needle to peg out intermittantly. I've never had a Festiva speedometer completely torn down but I will this spring.

[FB71]

CharlieZ has it....

[deathegg]

Sort of reminds me of my Dad's '72 Olds 98 Regency. It had some sort of speed warning device that you could set for a certain speed, and when you got to that speed, the speedometer made a horrible loud buzzing noise.

[geezerstiva]

well how would that have gotten in there??? the cluster has never been taken apart. that is inside the cluster isnt it?