Noisy speedo, but not the cable? Help!

[pgreensoup]

I finally had time to work on my loud speedometer. I watched a couple videos and thought "this will take an hour." Which was probably my first mistake. My speedo cable has been cleaned and greased, but when I put it back together, it now doesn't do anything. No sound. But no turning the speedometer readout either.

I detached from behind the cluster, pulled the cable out through the cab, then used brake cleaner to clean, then lubed up with grease and replaced. Then I snapped it back into the back of the cluster. Still no noise, however, I'm thinking the cable is not staying with the clip, perhaps it is disengaging.

so back to work...

After disassembling the lower cable and cable housing, cleaning it, and putting it back together - I can confirm that the end near the speedometer spins.
However, I could not get the speedometer to work at all. So I unplugged, then replugged the cable to the cluster multiple times. Still no work.

So then I dissassembled the entire cluster, removed it from the truck. Took the speedometer out of the cluster houseing, and installed it onto the end of the cable (with no locking clip because that is part of the cluster assembly. Went for a test drive, and was able to get it to work -but it still made a lot of noise. The noise is a loud rattling sound. Not a high pitched chirp like I've heard before. Here is a video:

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Also, when I drive without the speedo attached, there is no noise so I'm pretty sure the cable is fine, but the actual speedo is makeing a ton of noise.

1: Any ideas about this noise? I don't think it is the cable. Is there something you can do to the speedo guage itself?

2. Why won't it work when I plug it into the back of the cluster? Is the clip not doing its job? what else?

3: Also, when I look in through the back of the speedometer, there is a good amount of grease where the needle would plug in. Is that part of the problem? Should there be no grease?

4: Is there a way to "oil" the speedometer or otherwise clean it to make it not rattle?

Thanks for any help folks,

 

[hoagster]

I recently purchased a brand new one and it came with a different clip! Could it be that the old style clip is not locking it on all the way? I haven't installed the cluster yet so I can't help with the drivability test.

 

[Sad Sack]

Ok, you said lower cable? Does this truck have cruise control?

Or maybe ya just need a new speedo.

 

[pgreensoup]

Ok, you said lower cable? Does this truck have cruise control?

Or maybe ya just need a new speedo.

No cruise control. My cable is not one continuous cable. It is the style of two cables extended end to end with a junction in the middle. Originally, I just cleaned the upper portion, but eventually cleaned both halves. They spin nicely now.

 

[Russtypickle]

If you already have the speedo out, you can hook up a drill and spin (in reverse/counterclockwise) to listen where the noise is coming from without having to pat attention to the road. I suspect you're likely looking at a new speedo but the drill trick should confirm that.