OK, the speedo on my '95 4Runner is "growling" again and I want to fix it myself. I had the cable replace not log ago (after it broke) and then later replaced the speedo itself after it was "buzzing" incessantly and my wife was no longer willing to put up with it. The problem is, the replacement speedometer (used) is now doing the same thing. This typically happens when it is cold out and the sound will diminish or disappear after the truck warms up.
I don't want to pay $100+ to send off a speedo for repair if the fix is as simple as a clean and lube!
So, can I just clean and lube the magnetic coupler and expect the problem to go away or is there some other cause of the vibration?

 

you're supposed to lube those speedo cables once in a while. if i remember right you can unhook the tranny end and pull out the drive to lube it. sounds like maybe the cable was lubed with too thick grease and takes a while to warm up.

 

my 89 dose the same,and my dad's old 3rd gen camaro dose the same...you can do 1 of 2 things...1)lube the cable or 2)replace the cable...or like me wait till winter is over(because it only does it in really cold weather)then worry about it next year...

 

I pulled the cluster out and sprayed graphite lube into the speedo cable no problems since then.

 

Gotta love fine graphite lube. I used that the last time I lubed my throttle cable. It's not 'quite' as good as a liquid lubricant like PB Blaster as far as smoothness of the accelerator action, but it doesn't 'cook off' because of the heat from the engine. I'll be interested to see how long it coninues to lubricate.

Mike in AR

 

my speedometer on my '91 pickup starts clicking and making an irritating rattle noise around 30mph and up, will lubing up the speedo cable where it hooks into the cluster make a difference usually?

 

if lubing don't work..replace it...if your that anoyed with it

 

I appreciate the replies--thanks. My one note is with the suggestions of lubing the cable: I do not think (although I'm not sure) that the cable is the problem since it was recently replace with a brand-new one--and hopefully was correctly lubricated. The speedo heads (my original and the used replacement) both seem to have some *stiffness* to the magnetic interface. So, I was wondering if there is such a thing, and if cleaning and lubing the actual speedo would help. I suppose I can also try lubing the new cable while I am at it.
Is there someone on this board that actually repairs these things???
Regardless, I will probably give both a good lube this coming weekend since I will also be replacing shocks, rotors, and pads on the old grey mare.

 

I support the graphite lube- I just greased mine when I did the cluster swap, and the slight amount of noise it made is completely gone. Try spraying lube in the back of the odometer/speedometer assembly. Here's how I removed my odometer:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f115/doing-sr-5-gauge-cluster-swap-how-pictures-51800/

Did you switch the odometer when you replaced the speedometer?

 

Yes I did switch both the Odo and Speedo at the same time--they were pretty much tied together--at least I did not see a way to just move the speedo across. I noticed you have the older cluster (same as my beast--the red '86 p-up I used to have). I don't think the speedo/odo are the same between the two, but thanks for the additional info.
I did the same as you with the junk-yard instrument cluster that I got: I swapped the speedo unit AND the cover plastice since the junk-yard version was not as scratched up as mine.

 

Gotcha- I didn't think about the year difference. I'd definitely try a good lube on the cable before spending additional money. I greased mine once, the noise got softer, but after greasing it this second time, the noise is almost nonexistent.

 

haha i'll stay tuned to this thread! mine has 210k miles and does the same thing. only when really cold in the morning, then disappears after about 5 minutes of driving. only happens at around 30+mph. Fun to get right on the freeway and hear that thing SCREAM!!

 

Here is an update. I took my original speedo appart to see what I could find. Given that it would vibrate at a particular speed, that the sound was isolated to the speedo itself, and that the cable had been recently replace, I figured that the problem was somewhere in the coupling magnet assembly. I broke the assembly down to the point where I could remove the spring-coupled magnet from the cable-coupled magnet and found that the lubricant was very sticky so I cleaned it up along with the bearing where the cable-coupled magnet cup was (and where the odo gear take-off is). I then applied some white lithium grease and reassembled the speedo. I put it back in this evening and took it for a spin. The verdict: NO VIBRATION! Over various speeds, etc. the sound did not return. Hopefully it will stay that way. If it changes I will be sure to post something--and so much for having to pay someone $100+ for a "repair"

 

Wait - that growling sound comes from an unlubed speedo cable? I have the same problem or so I think on my 95 V6 runner. It only happens when I leave it outside in the cold during the winter and only at speeds above 30. It stops after you drive it for a while and/or it warms up or if you slow down below 30. Not to mention that the needle shakes back and forth quite a bit (like +/-5MPH) and rests at about 3MPH when stopped instead of on zero. Also, it comes from the driver side fender area. It even seems to be coming from inside the dash at times and I thought that wasn't possible. And all this time I thought it was some major bearing issue or something. So does this sound like a speedo cable problem?


Wow, first day on yotatech and I already learned something .

 

JackzRunner,
In my case it seems to have been the speedo and NOT the cable. I had the cable replaced about 6 mo. ago (after it broke) and the growling sound was still there. Even after trading the speedo out for a used one from a salvage yard, the used one started to growl. If you familiarize yourself with the mechanical speedo, there is only one place where there is a physical connection between the cable and the needle of the speedo and that happens to be a low-friction pin sitting in the magnetic cup that couples the spinning cable to the spring-loaded needle. In my original speedo this pin (after taking appart the speedo) had some "gummy" lube so I cleaned it up, along with the rest of the old grease and vo'la--no more growling. As I noted, I just replaced the newly lubed speedo yesterday and the wife has not yet taken it for a drive (lots of snow in CO this morning), so I may need a few days to make sure it is "fixed".

 

Is it still fixed?