survivorman97

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Hey out there. The other day I was trying to remedy the cold weather squealing sound from my speedometer by lubricating the cable and cleaning the other speedometer components. After re-assembling everything I drove it for about 20 miles and the speedometer quit working. After looking into it it looks like the little square plastic peg at the the very end of the speedometer cable broke. My theory is that I bent it on one of the multiple attempts to get it to go back in. But I hope that I didn't cause the speedometer itself to not rotate inside freely, all I sprayed in it was some 3M dry silicone spray?? Any ideas on how to tell if it is spinning freely enough so I wont snap the new one ($86)?

Like I said I have a new cable on its way. I am having a hard time finding any info on how to put the new one in. I cant find it in the FSM or my Hanyes manual. Has anyone ever done this before? Any advice or write-ups on how to do this would be much appreciated.

scuba

Which FSM are you looking at?
The 01-04 won't work due to the speedo cable being replace by and electrical VSS in 98.

Try looking through this FSM for the 95.5-97 (80 MB download)
http://www.ncttora.com/FSM/1996/96_r...searchable.pdf

survivorman97

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I have the 95.5-97 manual. I just cant find it in there. What section do you think it would be under? Transfer case? Transmission? Interior?

survivorman97

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ok so I found info on page EG-286 about speed sensors and that refers me to page BE-35 about speedometer inspection. They mention replacing the speedo cable if the event the speedometer isn't working but I haven't found a page that tells me how that is done. By the way does anyone know what a speedometer tester is?

scuba

Well I'm not too sure. I was going to suggest checking the combination meter section. But, under that section where the troubleshooting page is, it mentions the speedometer drive gear and cable, but does not say "see page." You'll see what I'm talking about on page be33. On be 35/36 it says how to test the VSS but that's of no help to you..

survivorman97

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Hmmm well surely someone has done this before. Im sure it's not that hard I would just like to know where is best to start. I wonder if I should first attach it to the back of the gauge cluster and then move toward the transfer case or the other way around?

scuba

My guess is it will be easier to fish it down through the firewall and back towards the transfercase than the other way around.

survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

That's what I was thinking, hopefully it wont give me too much trouble. I am also trying to think of a way to make it so there is more protection from the cold around it so it wont ever make that crazy noise again. Any suggestions on way to keep it insulated?

scuba

I'm honestly not sure. But for you. Maybe someone else will know...

survivorman97

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Man I got a new one a while back and it still is making that crazy noise again, just for about 5-7 miles till it warms up. It sounds and looks like its going to break until it warms up. My guess this is caused by the plastic sleeve contracting around the metal cable and causes a lot of friction. There has got to be a way to fix this design flaw. maybe i could get a heating pad that wraps around the cable and when the truck turns on it starts warming. Sorry about the thread resurrection I just thought it would be relevant still.

scuba

Lube it.

rworegon

I found on my 95.5 the lube did little to no good.

Finally, I replaced it. Basic steps: Pull gauge cluster enough to reach behind and disconnect cable from cluster. Then remove to nuts holding speedo cable plate to firewall on the engine side. Next, remove the plastic nuts on the heat shield....then detach cable on the tranny end and remove cable. Reverse the steps to reinstall....took 30 minutes or so. I've had the cluster out before to change bulbs so it went pretty quick.

Oops....mine's an auto......so my 0.02 may be worth 0.00.

survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

yeah mine has a brand new one from toyota on it. when it gets below freezing its back to making the noise again.

rworegon

Ha, misread your earlier post...didn't notice that you had installed the new one. I think mine is quiet below freezing, but maybe it's just the music drowning it out.

survivorman97

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Yeah if i turn up the stereo in mine i cant really hear it either. But the needle is bouncing a bit. I believe what is going on is when the sheath for the speedo cable gets cold enough it contracts around the cable and causes friction in between the two, which is not a big problem, it just needs to warm up, however over time I believe that this friction may cause the spun steel cable to stretch some and lose some of its spring causing the speedometer to get bouncy no matter what the temp, which was the way mine was before I replaced it with the new one. The bouncy speedo also caused the cruise control to be bouncy and jerky. These two symptoms all went away with just getting a new speedo cable ( and by cable I mean buying the who assembly from the dealership). I really don't like the noise it makes and don't want my cruise to get all goofy again so I have a couple of ideas. One is to get one of these http://www.amazon.com/Kats-24050-Wat...5469393&sr=8-9 and wrapping it around the cable up near the firewall and just plugging it in when its cold, however I'm not sure if this will really work being that the entire cable may need to get warmed up, not only this but this means I will need to be near a power source to warm it unless this can be wired into the truck somehow???? Also i was thinking about getting a new cable by itself and sliding it in in place of the Toyota one like this http://www.jcwhitney.com/cables/toyo...2193j1s21.jcwx in hope that it may be slightly thinner and not be so prone to rubbing against the constricted sheath. Maybe Im thinking about this waaaay too much, but I know there are quite a few people who have this problem and some with the earlier years too. One last idea how hard would it be to covert this to an electronic speedo like on the 98s and later?

justin_4runner

it sounds like to me u need to take the speedo into a shop and have them pull it apart and lube or clean the inside to make it work smooth. if u drive it too long with it doing that it could brake another cable and u will be out another 100 or so, my dad had this problem on a Toyota supra he had and until he replaced the speedo it broke 2 cables, at over 150 each cable.

as for changing it to a electric i don't think u can it is integrated in the ecu and everything, so u would have to change it all.

survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

What kind of shop would do this, plus the cable is brand new with less that 4,000 miles on it? You say that your dad's supra did this with brand new cables?

survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

Thoughts? (bump)