Speedo Noise?

[athawk11]

I have a Shwoop-Shwoop-Shwoop noise that sounds like it's coming from my speedometer.  It's a soft sound.  Is this a common issue, or do I have a problem.  I did graphite lube the cable before I put it back in. It did turn freely, and the speedo does register.

Another speedometer question:  The needle bounces while driving at higher speeds.  Is this fairly common?    In general, I don't think my speedo is very accurate.  Tough to tell while it's bouncing all over the place, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going 60MPH.

It is the original Speedo.    

Tim

[Jesse]

My speedo used to scream at speeds over 30, I unhooked it on one road trip. Just oiled it up.

As for the wavering, lots of stuff I can think of does that, from older snowmobiles to motorcycles. There might be some type of dampener in them that breaks, our packard speedo stays steady.

[Tumbleweed]

Tim,

I have the same issue with my '53 wagon. I am wondering if it is in the speedometer gears down by the transfer case. The reason I think that is where the problem is - when I test my speedometer (speedo cable attached) with a slow drill it runs very smooth.

George

[Gunslinger]

I had the same set of problems, shwoop shwoop, turned into grrrrrr, grrrrrree, and then the speedo would start to bounce.  I replaced the cable, no change.  I took the speedo out and ran it on a drill, no problem, had a guy check the transmission gears, nothing wrong there.... eventually the needle broke on the speedo, replaced the speedo and all of a sudden, no noise, no bounce just a real accurate steady speedo.

[aboyandhisdog]

Hi Tim,
I have the original speedo that I'm not using.  I'll send it to you if you want to pay the freight.  I don't know for sure if it works - the cable was broken when I got the jeep so I just replaced both without ever using it.  Did you try putting a little bit of oil in the oil port on the back of your speedo?  
Let me know if you want it.

[Bob W]

Try lubricating the speedometer for these grinding, squawking, bouncing problems. Usually there is a felt wick inside a hole that is on the top side of the speedometer housing near where the cable attaches. Add a couple drops of light oil.

[Carls_jeep]

I think you also need to pull the speedo cable and use a white lubriplate grease on in. The customary way to lube the cable is to have a gob of grease in one hand and put the grease in the gob with the other hand and pull the cable through the grease and leave a coat of grease on the cable.

Then You coil the cable so it won't drag in the dirt and then re-install it in the casing. That should take the bouncing out of the needle of your speedo.

The white lubriplate does not harden and stays soft for a long time. I suppose you could use high temp wheel bearing grease instead, it remains soft for a long time.

[rocketeer]

Pull the cable out and lightly lubriplate it up to about 3 inches from the top and reinsert it into the outer cable housing. Remove the speedo from the dash and look for a small oiling port on the back. Just a couple of drops of 3in1 in there should do it. Do not over oil it or you'll have real problems. I usually take a broken stub of cable, clamp it in a drill chuck, insert the end into the speedo and run it a couple of seconds to move the oil around inside. Make sure it's going forward, not backward, and don't peg it. Last but not least, make sure the cable is coming in through the correct hole in the firewall to cut down on the angle of approach to the speedo.





Larry

[athawk11]

Hey Tom,
Thank you for the offer, but hold that Speedo.  I am going to try the cures that have been suggested by the group.  

I did not pull the cable from the outer cable housing when I lubed with spray style Graphite  I just shot a bit down into the ends.  I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't be able to get the cable back in.  I did not oil the speedo when I cleaned it up.

Lubriplate on cable and 3in1 in speedo...got it.

I'll try this over the weekend and let ya'll know what happens.

Thank you.

Tim

[athawk11]

As suggested, I pulled the cable and speedometer.  I pulled the cable out of the housing and did a light coat of white grease, followed by a couple drops of 3in1 into the oil port on the speedo.  I hooked the cable assembly to the speedo and ran it for a short time with a slow drill.  I ran it for 2/10 of a mile.  (I guess I can't report the mileage as accurate anymore.)  

I reassembled it and it worked much better.  No bouncing needle, and no noise.  I was also in the wrong firewall hole.  I had the thermostat and speedo cable, switched.  (Thanks for the photo Rocketeer)

 I have another problem, but I'll start a different post.

Thank you for the help.

Tim