Squeaky Speedometer
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 8
Squeaky Speedometer
Hi all!
This forum is awesome! I wish it were around sometime in the mid-90s when working on my Civic then.
Well, I'm working on my Civic now. I just got it running again after sitting in the backyard for 4 years. There are multiple issues to resolve with it, but one I'd like to take care of really soon is a squeaky speedometer.
When the car is rolling, it sounds like a hamster running in one of those wheels (squeak-squeak-squeak-etc..) right behind the instrument cluster. The needle is also pretty erratic and jumpy.
My question is if anyone has ever re-lubed a speedometer cable before and if that's even possible to do.
The car is a '90 DX hatch.
Thanks!
Curtis
This forum is awesome! I wish it were around sometime in the mid-90s when working on my Civic then.
Well, I'm working on my Civic now. I just got it running again after sitting in the backyard for 4 years. There are multiple issues to resolve with it, but one I'd like to take care of really soon is a squeaky speedometer.
When the car is rolling, it sounds like a hamster running in one of those wheels (squeak-squeak-squeak-etc..) right behind the instrument cluster. The needle is also pretty erratic and jumpy.
My question is if anyone has ever re-lubed a speedometer cable before and if that's even possible to do.
The car is a '90 DX hatch.
Thanks!
Curtis
Recognized HCF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 10,023
RE: Squeaky Speedometer
It's very simple to do. Disconnect the cable at the transmission end (pull up the rubber boot, and pull the wire clip out of the slot in the side of the fitting). Pull the center wire out. Clean and regrease. Reassemble.
Recognized HCF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 11,203
From: Brownsburg, IN 46112
RE: Squeaky Speedometer
well if its cable driven then i would just replace the cable... and if that doesnt help it then maybe its the actual gauge internals making the noise.....
you could try to pull the old cable off and out to regrease it BUT for the work your doing and the age of the cable it would probably be better to just replace it with a new cable. that way you dont have to worry about the cable actualy being damaged...
you could try to pull the old cable off and out to regrease it BUT for the work your doing and the age of the cable it would probably be better to just replace it with a new cable. that way you dont have to worry about the cable actualy being damaged...
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 8
RE: Squeaky Speedometer
Thanks for the input.
I'm going to try to get the cable out this morning and lube it up. I figure if that does the trick, it does the trick without expense. If not, maybe it's like add.2bass said and the gauge itself is wonky. Or I need a new cable.
I'm going to try to get the cable out this morning and lube it up. I figure if that does the trick, it does the trick without expense. If not, maybe it's like add.2bass said and the gauge itself is wonky. Or I need a new cable.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 8
RE: Squeaky Speedometer
Okay, so, the speedometer cable appears to be sealed. I wasn't able to lubricate the internals. I also tore the boot that covers the junctions at the transmission. [:@]
A new cable from Checkers (the autoparts store, not the burger chain
) is $16 and it's $38 from the dealer. While at the dealer, I asked about the squeaking and the parts guy (who has an '89 CRX) said it sounded to him (from my description) that it was more likely the speedometer itself. He suggested going to a junkyard and snagging an instrument cluster.
If I do that, I can get an SI cluster couldn't I? and that way I'd have a tach too.
I tried to quickly put the cable back into the transmission (it was about to rain) and I apparently did not get it in all the way because now the speedometer doesn't work. At least it doesn't squeak!
Oh, I just had a thought. One way to tell if it might be the cable vs. the gauge is to disconnect the speedo at the gauge and drive the car around the block. If it doesn't squeak, it might mean it's the gauge making the noise. If it does squeak, it's definitely the cable. I wish I had thought of that before I took it all apart. D'oh! Why didn't they teach logic in public school!?!
A new cable from Checkers (the autoparts store, not the burger chain
) is $16 and it's $38 from the dealer. While at the dealer, I asked about the squeaking and the parts guy (who has an '89 CRX) said it sounded to him (from my description) that it was more likely the speedometer itself. He suggested going to a junkyard and snagging an instrument cluster.If I do that, I can get an SI cluster couldn't I? and that way I'd have a tach too.
I tried to quickly put the cable back into the transmission (it was about to rain) and I apparently did not get it in all the way because now the speedometer doesn't work. At least it doesn't squeak!
Oh, I just had a thought. One way to tell if it might be the cable vs. the gauge is to disconnect the speedo at the gauge and drive the car around the block. If it doesn't squeak, it might mean it's the gauge making the noise. If it does squeak, it's definitely the cable. I wish I had thought of that before I took it all apart. D'oh! Why didn't they teach logic in public school!?!
]
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 8
RE: Squeaky Speedometer
Just an update in case it helps anyone searching about this in the future:
The squeaking that came from right behind the speedometer did in fact turn out to be the cable.
I got it in my head that it would be cool to have a tach in my DX, so I googled swapping the instrument clusters and from what I read it was a simple plug-n-play situation. So I went to a local yard and got a used SI or EX (I'm not sure which) cluster, making sure the wiring was the same as my DX. I popped mine out and popped the one with the Tach in and it worked perfectly.
Except for the dumb cable squeaking exactly as it did before. I didn't get one at the junkyard because they wanted $15 and they are the same price new from the auto parts store.
Also, this morning I actually took the cluster apart so I could remove the speedo/odometer thinking I could spray some teflon lube in there to reduce the squeaking. Well, it wasn't that hard to do so what I'm going to try to do is swap my speedo/odometer out with my original one so the mileage is correct for the car.
Would it be useful for me to take pictures and do a write up of all this? It shouldn't be too hard.
The squeaking that came from right behind the speedometer did in fact turn out to be the cable.
I got it in my head that it would be cool to have a tach in my DX, so I googled swapping the instrument clusters and from what I read it was a simple plug-n-play situation. So I went to a local yard and got a used SI or EX (I'm not sure which) cluster, making sure the wiring was the same as my DX. I popped mine out and popped the one with the Tach in and it worked perfectly.
Except for the dumb cable squeaking exactly as it did before. I didn't get one at the junkyard because they wanted $15 and they are the same price new from the auto parts store.
Also, this morning I actually took the cluster apart so I could remove the speedo/odometer thinking I could spray some teflon lube in there to reduce the squeaking. Well, it wasn't that hard to do so what I'm going to try to do is swap my speedo/odometer out with my original one so the mileage is correct for the car.
Would it be useful for me to take pictures and do a write up of all this? It shouldn't be too hard.
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