Instrumental Panel Problem

[CalPencil]

Okay, this is really weird... and I'm not sure what's causing it. I went away to Japan for two years and came back. The car hadn't been running ever since that time. When I get the car back up and running, I discover something very strange.

The tachometer side functions perfectly without failure. But then on the right side, it the needle will not show my speed. The speedometer just will not move. It tried wiggling the cable on the engine side, as well as shaking it in the cabin side. What could be causing the problem? What do I do? Do I have to take out the panel or just something in the engine compartment?

I need some help. Thanks guys.

[David88]

Is your car manual or auto? If its manual-

-Do this first-
Take the cable off at the trans connection. It unsrews from the driven gear assy by hand. (May need coaxing with pliers). Once its off you can pull it up to see the end. You should see the end of the drive cable sticking out of the housing. Have a helper watch the speedo inside the car and you turn the end of the cable. If the speedo needle doesn't move, then your cable is either disconnected at the gauge end or it has twisted of in the housing somewhere. Either way you have to pull you gauge cluster out to see.

If the needle does move the problem may be a gear in the tranny . Use a 10mm socket to loosen the hold down screw next to where you unscrewed the cable on the the trans. Carefully pull the gear assy up and out. You may want to hook the cable up loosely for added grip. There is a nylon gear the drives the cable and is driven from the trans. check its condition. When reinstalling the gear assy, make sure it is pushed all the way down before tightening the hold down bolt.

[miami man]

so you do not have to remove the 10mm screw to get the cable out correct? just unscrew the cable with pliers? i was doing it wrong before now glad i read this post.