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How fo you disconnect cable and lube?
(72 cutlass floor shift auto)
Originally Posted by jaunty75
While a "squeak" can certainly be anything, the speedometer cable is a very good candidate. I just replaced the ones (there are two) on my '78 Toronado. Does the squeak disappear or get less loud at highway speeds? Does the speedometer needle waver back and forth as it sits at a certain speed or as its climbing as you accelerate? Does the squeak vary in volume up and down in time to the needle's movement?
It's very common for old speedometer cables to make noise. I've experienced it on pretty much every old car I've owned. You can lubricate the existing cable. You can put in a new one if one is available.
As noted, you can determine if the cable is the source of the noise by disconnecting it from either end and seeing if the noise goes away when you drive the car.
Yep, disconnect the cable from the trans, drive it to see if that made the squeak go away. If so, then its worth the trouble to get into the dash to lube the cable..
If it's the cable, the squeak should exhibit cadence - speed up when going faster slow down when going slower. If it doesn't exhibit cadence w/ speed it's highly unlikely it's the speedometer cable.
There is a spring clip on the back of the speedo that needs to be pressed while pulling the cable sheath away from the speedo. The inner cable comes out the upper end to be greased. I use wheel bearing grease.
There is a spring clip on the back of the speedo that needs to be pressed while pulling the cable sheath away from the speedo. The inner cable comes out the upper end to be greased. I use wheel bearing grease.
Thank you for this! I need all the help I can get!
Thank you for this! I need all the help I can get!
The cable does not have a lot of whiggle room behind the speedometer, so you might find it easier to disconnect at the transmission first (on the driver's side, pretty easy to do) and then disconnect at the speedometer. Then once you got the cable out, pull out the inner wire. I put a globe of grease in my hand and lathered it up and put the wire back in the case.
