What happened to my speedo cable?

[chaosdrifter06]

So me and a friend looked at my speedometer issue today to find that somehow, the speedo cable that connects to the transmission has come off, which I'm guessing was from hitting so many of Providence's signature potholes.

He placed it back on nice and tight, and the speedometer was reading again. Driving home on the highway, the speedometer stopped reading again which meant that the cable popped off again. Anyone have this happen again? There a way to secure the cable? And if I had to buy a new one, would I have to take the dash apart just to connect it to the back of the cluster? My friend and I tried reaching under the steering column but our arms were too big.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

should be able to take the cluster out and disconnect it and it should pull right through the firewall bracket.... someone correct me if I'm wrong....

[FestYboy]

you verified it popped off again? if so, a touch of loctite shoudl do the trick (blue or green, NOT red)

[Aspire]

I think he's saying that the lower speedo cable/coupling connection is non-existent; the threaded coupling for the VSS is still in place, but his cable has pulled out of the coupling.

It sounds like it lost it's crimp/clamping power & is just sliding off & on.

Without seeing it in person or in pics, it's hard to say what or how you can fix it. Sometimes it's just easier to replace the lower speedo cable....or see if it's missing the little wire clamp & just throw a zip-tie in it's place

[chaosdrifter06]

Well looked at it today, it didn't pop off after all....I saw a different unplugged item. It seems tight on, so I'm assuming something inside the cable occurred. At this point, if it's not a coupling issue, I would have to buy a new cable...which means the dash would have to come off...which means time off work or finding another means of transportation that allows me to do my job. Grrrr.....

[91blufestiva]

^ A speedo cable isn't very hard to replace, once you have it disconnected from the tranny, just take the screws off that hold the trim around the speedo on, pop that guy off, then take the 4 screws out that hold the cluster in. And since the speedo cable is already disconnected, it should pull out easily enuff to unplug the speedo cable from the speedo. Then just pull the cable through the firewall. And reverse it for install.

[FestYboy]

grab one off a early 90's Protege MT cuz you aren't going to find any aspire or festy cables.... (at least not where i'm at)

[chaosdrifter06]

I tried removing the dash cluster once. The cluster only goes so far out. I don't want to force it out for fear of breaking anything. Are you telling me it is supposed to go farther out than what I've seen so far?

[Pu241]

I tried removing the dash cluster once. The cluster only goes so far out. I don't want to force it out for fear of breaking anything. Are you telling me it is supposed to go farther out than what I've seen so far?

Only if you disconect it from the transmission, otherwise your limited to the slack in the speedo cable as to how far you can move the cluster out from it's mounting point in the dash.

[mattman]

200 mph tape will solve any problem ...lol....