Bouncing Speedo Needle

[L8GR868]

When I fist drive my car the needle will bounce up and down around 20- 35 mph then levels out. After I drive it about 10 miles it is ok. Has anyone elese had this happen ? The car has 88k on the odometer.
Eric

 

[rvrtrash]

It could be a bad speedo head, bad cable or the cable isn't properly lubed. I would start by pulling the drive cable out of the cable sheath, inspecting it for damage then cleaning the inside of the sheath with a spray, like what you use for transmission lines, clean the drive cable, relube with a light grease and reinstalling to see if the problem goes away.

Steve

 

[L8GR868]

Thanks Steve I'll give it a try.
Eric

 

[patty.dilabio]

speedo fix

Hi Eric!
The bouncing needle speedo is caused by what Ford refers to as cable windup,from inadequate lubrication.After it operates for a few miles it is warming up the grease which has dried out after all these years,and the cable is able to turn smoothly.If you can remove the cable,and clean it.Then use white grease aka lubriplate # 105 to coat the cable as you slide it back in the caseing,it should work smoothly again.Try this first and let us know.The last replacement available from Ford has a gray caseing and is made in Mexico,The Scott Drake reproduction is at least black,and works o.k. even though it is not 100% concours correct.both are not cheap ! if at all possible,try to work with your original,good luck!!
Regards from the d's

 

[Midnight Special]

Eric, my 390 car does the same thing consistanly from 25 to 45. It also makes a clicking sound like a bad gear tooth or something... The remedies here suggest I might have a bad speedo head vs yours just needing servicing.

Excellent post! Thanks for the info )

 

[Mustanglvr]

Mine has`nt worked since I bought the car, it makes it funner that way.:grin:

 

[Midnight Special]

Mine has`nt worked since I bought the car, it makes it funner that way.:grin:

I'm still trying to figure out the speedo in the black CS. It too doesn't work and the odometer runs backwards! This one originally had a C4 & now has a 4-speed. The speedo will work if you rotate the cable backwards... 'Just haven't made time to look into it yet.

 

[harryz]

Odometer running backwards

Sounds like you need to change the gear at the end of the speedo cable that goes into the transmission. I think you'll need to know what type of 4 speed tranny you have (i.e. what year and model car it was originally installed in) to get the right gear for your car.

Harry Z.

 

[Midnight Special]

Thanks Harry. Does the tranny need to come out and apart to do this?

 

[390cs68rcode]

Thanks Harry. Does the tranny need to come out and apart to do this?

nope.

lube the cable first. this should fix it. if it is cold up there it might take a little driving around for the lube to heat up and become "slippery"

my brand new lubed cable did this for a few weeks. after 2 weeks it stopped and all is well.

 

[L8GR868]

Can I remove the cable from the transmission side or do I need to pull the dash? I have replaced the two gears inside the tail housing but at that time I didn't mess with the cable. Thanks for any help.
Eric

 

[390cs68rcode]

you will need to pull the dash enough to unscrew the cable.

 

[L8GR868]

Thanks
Eric