I got the service manual for my Catalina today and got the instrument cluster out to change the bulbs and inspect the speedometer cable. The housing itself looks to be in good shape, as well as the cable. How do you lubricate the cable, and with what kind of grease would you use?
There is a product called "Lock-Eeze" it comes in a spray can with a little straw. it is powdered graphite in a petroleum based carrier. the carrier will evaporate and leave graphite behind. thats what i would use. Its about $4 a can.
Graphite should work well, as does white lithium grease. There also used to be a dedicated speedometer cable lubricant available though I don't know if it's made any more.
To do it right you need to remove the speedometer cable and clean out all the old hardened grease with solvent before adding new lubricant and re-installing.
When my speedo cable came loose at the speedo gauge, it made that same clicking sound. I had to reach up bedind the cluster and snap the cable end back into its fitting.
I usually detach it from the back of the cluster and squirt some oil down between the cable and the casing. Wipe everything off and put it back together. Also check for a tight connection on your trans.
The only white lithium grease I had was the PB Blaster stuff that doesn't run after you spray it. I ended up trying a few mLs of heavy gear oil that was meant for the rear end of my Ranger. I figured that would spread around a bit better and last longer than WD-40. I pulled the cable out about an inch with needle nose pliers to get the oil to go down the cable.
I don't believe I hooked the cable back up correctly, as I hear a clicking sound behind the speedometer that gets faster as I drive, and the needle no longer moves, it now stays at 0. Is there a specific way that cable is supposed to connect into the speedometer that I missed?
While it was out, I spun the speedometer input with a small flathead and put a tiny drop of oil between it and the housing to lubricate it. I noticed while spinning the input, a high pitched pinging noise came from the unit. Does this mean the speedometer is broken?
Is the cable seated properly at the transmission end? The noise could be traveling along the cable so it just sounds like it's coming from the speedometer.
I'll check it out this weekend. I thought I might have pulled it out of the transmission partly. It didn't retract back down in the sheath afterwards. I coasted around my cul-de-sac with the gauge out and the cable retreated back into the tube. Does that tell you anything? Haha
The cable has a square end that has to be positioned properly to slide into the gear in the transmission. It sounds like when you coasted the cable dropped at least partly into place. If it's seated properly you should be able to disconnect the sheath at the speedometer end and see the cable rotating inside when the car is moving.
I'll tear it apart again and take a look. The whole dashboard needs to come apart, lol. On an unrelated note, I got 90% of the vacuum lines replaced in about 30 minutes by following the service.manual diagrams. I noticed a difference right away with the vacuum advance timing operating. It really woke up that old engine.
I don't envy you having to take that dash apart! I'm spoiled because on my car you can remove the entire top of the dash in about 15-20 minutes and get to everything in there pretty easily. I have to do that soon to fix some bulbs out in the instrument cluster.
But yeah, without vacuum advance that engine would be a real dog! Once you get it all set to factory settings you can then look at disabling some of the emissions crap (and it was add-on crap back then) and evaluating the results.
I sprayed a pretty liberal amount of penetrating oil down in the speedometer cable sheathing this morning and got it to snap back into place. The needle moves again, but it's still doing its erratic bouncing. The motion improved somewhat, though still not usable. It whips back and forth kinda like a single rear windshield wiper would if you put it on high. Haha. That behavior is new. It's accompanied by a faint, high pitched metallic ringing sound as it moves. Should I replace the cable at this point or try more oil?
The problem is likely hardened old grease inside the cable sheath causing the cable to repeatedly bind up and release. To fix this you need to take the cable and sheath completely out and clean with solvent. Might as well install a new cable if you're going to go to all that trouble.
I figured. Wishful thinking says maybe that PB Blaster will soften the old grease again, lol. When I replace it, I'll probably zip tie the new one to the old one so when I pull the old one out, the new one will come right with it. That cable disappears into the abyss inside that dashboard, lol.
why fool around with a 42 year old cable? put a new one in and replace it in 2063!