Speedo Cable routing?

[Rob M.]

Okay,

I replaced the original speedo cable a couple of weeks ago with a new one from LIC (pre-lubed). The original worked alright (a very little bit of bounce). I only did this because I was replacing the tach cable out of necessity and thought "why not" while I'm in there.

The AIM showed the routing on the LH side of the car, but the original went down the RH side. I ran the new one down the same path.

Worked fine . . . . until yesterday. It worked up to about 40 and then went haywire until I came back down to a slower speed.

I pulled it from the tranny thinking it must need to be lubed. I noticed that the casing was showing signs of being melted by the exhaust pipe. So, two questions:

1. Would that have caused the cable to bind? Is the cable now shot? And,
2. Did I route it wrong? Should it have gone under the dust shield to the clip and then up and in? (it wasn't routed that way with the other, believed to be original, cable).

Thanks in advance,

[John H.]

Re: Speedo Cable routing?

The AIM showed the routing on the LH side of the car, but the original went down the RH side.

Rob -

The speedo cable routing shown in UPC 12 in the A.I.M. is for the base 3-speed transmission, which has the speedo connection on the driver's side. The routing for the (optional) 4-speed transmission, which has the speedo connection on the passenger side, is shown in the M20 section, on sheet A4.

[Jack H.]

Re: Speedo Cable routing?

And, if memory serves, cars with optional PG tranny shared the same speedo routing path as base 3-speed manual cars. Presense/absence of supporting clips is one of the ways savvy folks spot cars that have had their factory original configuration changed...

I recollect one 435 HP, tri-power, car that had the speedo cable routed down the LH side of the trans tunnel and NO evidence of there ever having been clips on the RH side to support a 4-speed tranny that the car was 'wearing' when it was judged...

[Rob M.]

Re: Speedo Cable routing?

Thanks John. Operator error - I was looking at the wrong page in the AIM. So, as far as your thoughts on the cable itself? Is it now junk?

[Randy S.]

Re: Speedo Cable routing?

Rob,

Did you check the length of the repro against the length of your original? When I did mine (66 4 speed) if I remember correctly the repo was about 6 inches longer causing it to rub againt the exhaust pipe and burn.

As far as determining the condition of yours, the cable can be removed from the housing for inspection. It is removable from the speedo end only so you can see if it damaged. My guess is you just burned the rubber coating on the cable housing.

Randy