My 1987 4Runner with 345,000 miles had a bouncy speedometer needle. During the cold mornings, the bouncing was way more violent and a horrible noise came from in the dash. Here's how to make a tool which allows for easy cleaning/greasing with any aerosol can.

It just so happens that 1/2" pipe from the hardware store screws perfectly into the transmission side of the speedometer cable.

You'll need a short piece of 1/2" pipe from your hardware store, a 1/2" cap to fit it, teflon tape, and an assortment of drill bits.

Tape the short pipe, screw the pipe and cap together, then drill the cap so the little red spray tube from an aerosol can fits snug. Mine fit in tight, didn't leak and didn't have to be glued or sealed.

Once this is done, pull the gauge cluster and have a helper hold a rag over the end of the speedo cable to collect the mess and goop that will come out. Run some brake cleaner through to clear out the old dried up grease. Either let the cable sit or blow compressed air through to dry it out. Next spray your lube of choice through until it comes out the other end. I chose white lithium grease because the can specifically said it can be used on speedometer cables.

Button it all together and enjoy your smooth and quiet speedometer!

 

Oh this should be a sticky somewhere. Genius.

 

Good stuff. I foresee a second pipe fitted with a slightly larger hole for a compressor fitting.

 

This is actually amazing. Well played.

 

I don't understand why this hasn't been stickied yet. more yotatech gold

 

I Third the motion that his be stickied. Made in China parts OK be cause this is not a critical part - LOL!

 

I needed to grease my cable and this appears to have worked for me. The teflon tape is a must since the pipe threads are a little different than the cable end threads. I also used PVC pipe since it was much easier to drill the cap. Also I used the shortest nipple I could find. It took quite a few tries to get the grease to flow out the other end. It would probably be best to have someone help. The cable end at the speedometer needs to be bent down a little by someone while spraying since it blocks the flow of the grease. A lot of brown goo came out at first and I kept spraying until it finally came out white.
The hardest part is just disconnecting the cable from the speedometer. I ended up removing the entire cluster since I could not get my hand in behind it from the bottom of the dash.

 

I was just going to research this....perfect timing!

 

A follow up on my regreasing the cable. Unfortunately it did not solve my noisy cable. It's still an intermittent problem but now it seems to occur more frequently. The speedometer needle is becomes shaky when the noise occurs which didn't happen before. I used the same grease the OP used but I didn't try blowing out the cable with compressed air before greasing as was suggested. I think the big problem is the can doesn't have enough pressure to spray the grease well.
Has anyone ever had luck with removing the cable from the cable tube or whatever you call it? If someone put it in, there must be a way to pull it out and grease it. It looks look like replacing the entire assembly would be a tremendous PITA.

 

The cable ends are crimped on during manufacture, so they can only be removed destructively. Did you use brake parts cleaner first to flush out the old grease? You can flush with brake parts cleaner, then spin the cable with a drill to agitate the mess, then flush again with brake parts cleaner with a final blowdown of air to dry it out. Once dry, spray the white lithium grease to lube it all up.

I posted this originally in 2014. Last year, I ended up replacing the cable with a new OEM unit. I spent a winter in upstate New York and the negative teen degree mornings were really taking a toll on the cable. The new unit spins smoother and steadier than the lubed cable ever did. The needle stays rock steady. Overall, I was pleased to extend the cable life by 7 years. Another round of cleaning and greasing may have fixed it, and if I stayed down in Virginia for the winter it may not have been a problem at all.

 

No I must have missed the part about the brake cleaner. I did notice some brown sludge come out the head end when I sprayed in the grease from the other end. I thought that did the trick when I saw that and then kept spraying until the new grease came out clean.
How hard was it to replace the entire cable?

 

Not terrible, maybe an hour. It's a greasy, messy job since you'll be wrapping your arms all over and around the transmission and the undercarriage of the truck. The new cable comes spooled up in a loop. It's much closer to straight when installed, of course. So when installing you'll be constantly fighting its curved memory.

 

I've done a quick search and a new OEM cable for my truck runs about $93 at a seller called toyotapartsdeal.com.
My truck is fairly clean underneath. I wonder if using the older cable as a tether to pull the new one in would work?

 

I removed my speedo cable, suspended it full length, and sprayed clean the inside. Then used white lithium grease and spun the cable inside to fully coat it as it dripped out the bottom. Didn't work as still bouncing. I did discover the angle of the cable as it is clipped and turns into the firewall did affect the needle jumping. With a few adjustments to relax the curve and a samll tie wrap to hold the cable in place the jumping stopped.

 

I bought a new one, the lubing only lasted me a couple days, got sick of taking it all apart to lube, but mine wasn’t bouncing it was making this gawd awful dash grinding vibrating nonsense. I was just glad they still made a Toyota part