Vintage Oldsmobiles Curved Dash, Limited Touring, Models 40, 53, 66; Series 60, 70, 90

56 88 Speedo cluster lubrication?

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Old January 18th, 2017, 05:56 AM
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56 88 Speedo cluster lubrication?

Hey Guys
Wanted some advice and thoughts on what to use for lubrication, and the best way to accomplish lubrication my speedo cluster/cable. MY current speedo works fine between 0-15 MPH, however above that it make a scratching sound and jumps around a bit. My service manual recommends lubrication every 25,000 miles, and not knowing the full history of my car I am sure it missed a few of these lubrication cycles . My hope is there is a method to perform this with everything installed, however my fear is that I will need to remove the components to perform this maintenance.


Thanks Barry
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Old January 18th, 2017, 08:48 AM
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Graphite lubricant works well for the speedo. Take your speedo cable out of the sleeve and see if it is frayed. Auto parts stores sell a cable lube in a small tube.

Hereis one example:
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Old January 20th, 2017, 06:50 AM
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The 25K lubrication interval is intended for the cable. As suggested, do that first to insure that all is right with it. If the problem remains after doing the cable work take a close look at the back of the "head". On some there is a possibility of providing lubricant to the stem of the meter. This requires delicate handling and a very small amount of lubricant. If that doesn't work, remove the speedometer and send it to a re-builder.
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Old January 20th, 2017, 03:47 PM
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Not telling you to do yours this way,but we use to loosen the cable at the speedometer end,pull the cable out ,make sure it was not frayed or kinked then grease the whole length of it with axel grease and reinstall it.Worked probably 90% of the time.
If that didn't stop the noise and wiggling needle,then it was usually in the speedometer itself. The only way to get the cable loose was to lay across the seat with you head in the floorboard,so you learned to work fast! Larry
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Old January 20th, 2017, 04:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Rocketowner
The only way to get the cable loose was to lay across the seat with you head in the floorboard,so you learned to work fast! Larry
There is a tricky cable turn at the floorboard that requires some patience.

Many a time my wife has driven into the driveway and seen my feet up over the front seat back as I am struggling with something under the dash. She will beep the horn to see if I'm alive, before pulling into the garage.

They say wisdom comes with age....sometimes age comes alone.
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Old January 26th, 2017, 05:22 AM
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Thanks for the help guys the speedo cable removal was not bad at all and so far the graphite cable lube as done the trick. I will be curious to see how everything works this spring once I get it out on the road.
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Old January 26th, 2017, 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by ignachuck
They say wisdom comes with age....sometimes age comes alone.
I've managed to achieve the age part; sometime I feel like I'm losing ground on the other part.
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Old January 26th, 2017, 05:45 PM
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You have got it now ,it should be fine for 2 to 3 years without any worry. Larry
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Old January 26th, 2017, 06:53 PM
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Glad it worked.
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