Speedo Problems

One thing I've needed to do since swapping transmissions is install a longer cable for the T18. Sourced one, installed it, odometer works fine-nothing registers on the speedo.
I searched EJ5 and found some postings related to speedo cables and their lack of lubrication. So I pulled it off, sprayed it with a lithium based lube and reinstalled. Odometer still works, speedo needle now pinwheels about 20 mph. Is it a matter of spinning enough lube off the cable?

 

probably something in the speedo head if the odometer is working the cable is spinnin

 

Sounds like what mine was doing before my speedo burnt out. Odometer kept turning for over 300 plus miles.

 

When you say "pinwheels" do you mean the pointer spins all the way around and around? There is a small stop pin on the face at the "zero" and that should have stopped the needle from going more than a full circle. If it has gone several full circles then the speedo spring inside is now damaged.

 

Yes, nothing until ~20 mph, then away she goes...

 

The speedo I've got was a replacement after blowing the motor 15 years ago. Its' only clocked 14,612 miles and has no stop pin on it. Any hope, or should I look for a replacement?

I've looked online and it looks as if there are two choices, Omix or Rugged Ridge. Does R.R. manufacture a speedo or do they put their name on the Omix one?

 

Check out DeBella's Jeep Parts. They did have nos units for sale. Or put an ad in the classifieds for a good used one.


Sent from my iPhone

 

Thanks, I'll give Debella's a call.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Jeep-CJ...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item3cce5a8aa3

 

My Speedo totally locked up last year. I bought an OMIX, and sent it back cause it didn't work properly. I bought a used one off fleabay, installed it, reset the odo to proper mileage and still have an issue of incorrect speed after things warm up.
Seems the drive gear in the T-case is a slip fit.. When my speedo locked up the gear interface spun on the shaft. Now it is slipping a bit and giving bogus readings. Someday when I get ambitious I'll pull it out and peen it, and locktite it. Til then I use a smart phone app that gives me a speed readout.

One thing I learned was to connect the cable at the speedo and use a battery drill to drive it.. That way I could test the speedo and cable in the shop. I also found that on the OMIX speedo the cable would not engage correctly because of the way the speedo was designed..

If yours isn't reading until 20 mph I am guessing the cable isn't spinnning maybe. I'd test this by disconnecting the cable at the speedo and watching the end for movement as you drive. That might narrow it down.

 

Thanks for the heads up. The speedo cable is spinning and I've installed it with as wide of loops as possible.
The replacement head is a Crown, I've gotten ~15 years out of it, so now I'm on the fence about giving them another try-or sourcing an NOS speedo head. Crown may have a warranty, the NOS maybe a two-forty type. Two taillights, fourty mile an hour.

 

Something I read a few years ago on this site, and a few other sites is that sometmes the inner cable is too long so it pushes aginst the innerds of the speedometer.
A friend of mine had similar problem with his 75 CJ.
He ended up trimming about 1/4 inch off of the inner cable, working fine now.
Try unscrewing the nuts that hold the speedomer cable a few turns at each end and see if it helps.