JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

This one just started happening today. And from doing a quick search speedometer cable problems are pretty frequent.

I have an occasional "grinding" or sheering noise...like gears slipping and catching. First happened this morning on the way to the Doc's office. Seemed like after the car warmed up it stopped. After the Doc visit it had warmed up some outside and the car had gotten a chance to warm up.

I thought it might be some sort of heater fan problem related to it being one of the coldest days I can remember in a while. Maybe it had gotten cold enough that the fan wasn't working quite right. (Just a guess, I've never had to replace any of the heater mechanism).

Ran some errands from the Doc's office and had no issues. Was just coming home from work tonight...again cold as hell. I get the same grinding noise. This time I notice that the speedometer is all out of whack. The needle is bouncing around about a 10 mph variance. I was on the highway and the noise stopped when I was slowing down on the off ramp...sure enough the speedo needle stopped bouncing.

I'm guessing from reading related threads, it's the cable connection at the back of the cluster. I replaced the cable about a year ago with a used one. (Old cable broke at the tranny side). Maybe it's just a result of how amazingly cold it is out and it settles down once the car warms up. I never had this issue before this cold spell blew through. But at the same time it was a used part....

I just thought I'd post so that if anyone has a related problem they can learn from my experience with the problem. That and to get some feedback. By letting the problem go till a warmer day to look at it, am I risking damaging the gauge cluster itself? It'd be a waste of cash to end up having to replace both the cable and the gauge cluster.

mazda.junkie

I think it needs lube.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

I agree.
I started getting noise from my cluster when the weather turned this year...noise that went away as the car warmed up.
Figuring that the only moving part in the area was the speedo cable, I disconnected it from the back of the guage cluster and the transmission, flushed it with WD-40 (which is a solvent after all) and finished by running TriFlow through it.

There are probably better lubricants but TriFlow is what I had on hand and at any rate the noise disappeared, so I'm happy for the time being.

Magpie57

Some shops in town have a mechanism that will inject grease which would be the ultimate. LOL

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

Thanks for all the feedback. It's 42 today, a damn heat wave (I hate cold weather) compared to the last couple days so I'm curious if it will be making noise while I'm running errands.

I wonder how a "quick change" oil shop will react if I come in with my speedo cable and ask them to lube it?? Hell I'll just tell them it's for my RX with a rotary engine and they'll think it's some sort of black magic cult ritual practice needed to keep the engine running.

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

Drove the car all day today with no loud noises. I do have a low volume "whirring" that seems to be tied to either the RPMs or speed. I thought it was my alternator pulley or my alternator giving me problems. If I grease up the speedo cable and the noise goes away I'll have my answer to that question mark.

Odd little stream of consciousness add on....that's one of the many problems with driving a 20 yr old car. There's soooo many contributing possibilities that it's like detective work tracking down all the little gremlins.

87 t-66

iTrader: (133)

the speedo operation is pretty simple...if the problem is coming from that system its either the cable, cluster, or the drive gear in the tranny....all 3 are easy and cheap to replace. i still dont understand why the drive gear is plastic??

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

Yeah, the only time I've ever heard the loud noise I heard was when it was bitter cold. Like the other poster said with their similar problem, once the car warmed up the noise went away.

I have to change the oil soon anyway. I also have a wiper switch to swap out so I'll be in both areas of the car anyway....might as well lubricate the cable while I'm there.