After picking up a t2 speedo cable my speedo still don't work... I know it's all mechanical. The cable is fine, the cable is properly installed at the tranny and behing the gauge cluster. Why would this not work? Bad speedo gear on the trans? Bad cluster? Keep in mind it never worked so I'm starting this fresh...

 

process of elimination.

 

YOu can take that gear out at the trans to check it.
If you also Unscrew the cable at the Trans you can turn the end by hand to see if the gauge moves at the cluster.
If it does then it is your speedo gear at the trans that is toast.they are plastic too.
EDIT:
SIR ..ya listen to that Link I sent ya?

 

Yea I spun the cable at the tranny end and it didn't make the gauge move at all... I took out the 10mm bolt holding the gear but once a lil fluid started coming out I put it back in lol. And what link are you talkin about?

 

Yes,you will lose a bit of fluid takin that gear out so have something to stop the flow while you inspect it.
...
and I saw Sir Cygnus post up and it was a shout out..(sorry about that).

 

Yea I'm just gonna wait til I put in the new clutch so I can flush the tranny and refill to inspect that.

Sorry I still have no clue what your talkin about with the shout out... Gotta dumb it down for me haha

 

ooooooooo I got it now!

 

he and i are real cool like that see, you aint gotta worry about us.

 

Spinning the cable by hand ain't gonna excite the speedo...chuck the cable end up in a hand drill and give it a whirl.

 

+1 for that! Good idea

 

Update: the cluster was bad... The part that the cable clicked onto the cluster, had a rounded out (no clue how) center hole for the cable's square cable.

 

Once I kinked the speedo cable routing thru the dash, over the tubing that supplies air to the defroster vents. Did this on a dash re-install. Anyway the kink built up far too much friction in the cable to sheath, & the cable ended up shearing in torsion about 5" from the input to the back of the cluster.

Hope you get a new cluster for yours soon! Are you going to reset the odometer to what it was when it failed?

 

I had a spare cluster luckily. And I'm not sure about resetting the odometer... Doubt it... If I do I would set it to 0 just to know how many miles are on the rebuilt motor. The car never had a working speedo so there's nothing to go by.

 

It is illegal to reset the Odometer,so just make a reference to it somewhere in the car as to what mileage is on the car now,what mileage is on the Speedo.
Figure it out from there.

 

Yup it is... I never understood how resetting it is illegal but replacing a bad cluster with a lower mileage one isn't...

 

Resetting the mileage carries the whiff of intent to deceive, replacing the cluster is just bad luck necessitating a replacement.
The law is full of nuance.

 

That's deep man...

 

replacing the cluster with a lower mile one is the same as modifying the original cluster.

it is legal to modify or replace the cluster but most states require a door sticker and file the modification with new mileage versus old with the DMV. usually this also requires the work to be performed by a certified repair facility. so yes, you can legally install a 0 mile cluster in the car but it has to be documented and disclosed to any interested parties when selling it.

in most cases it isn't a big deal but still a matter of ethics and can be considered fraud if you replace it and do not do it properly as per above. most states carry a 7 year mileage record, beyond that the DMV stops recording mileage. the mileage on the cluster is treated as chassis miles, not engine miles. any tampering with mileage is considered a criminal action if not following your state guidelines.

if you plan on keeping the car i wouldn't worry about it, if you plan on selling it you may want to consider the above. if the mileage is very close, say less than 20k miles off and has above 150k i wouldn't lose much sleep over it.

just an FYI.

 

That's some good ol' knowledge there. I'm keeping this car so I'm not stressin it. The original said 129K and this one is 136K, no biggie.

 

yeah, increasing mileage probably isn't going to get you any grief. not like cars get senior discounts or anything(well aside for age, not mileage).

 

Makes you think twice about buying FC's with "only 45k original miles!!!"

 

Depends on how high you place mileage on the "desirability list".
I wouldn't think twice because I don't pay much heed to mileage.
A car that's in good shape is in good shape regardless of miles and low mileage is no guarantee of condition.

 

+1

my car for example has 210k on the clock, many components have a fraction of that. for example the old tired clutch LSD is waiting for a series 5 viscous to go in that looks like it has less than 50k on it(not the best swap but the car is street driven and it's been years since it's seen the track or 1/4, will rebuild the clutch LSD and keep it as a spare). the transmission is about the only original piece left on the car, and it still works just fine.

the car lived most of its life in california so the chassis is still perfect. i've seen cars with much less miles that looked like they were waiting for the dirt to just cover the hole.

 

This is true. When cars get this old mileage doesn't matter, it's how they were maintained and how much you are willing to put into restoring them. I was just pointing out a fallacy.