So today I was driving along and I look down and my speedometer stopped working. I pull over and look under the car and the speedometer cable is hanging down. I tried to stuff it up out of the way as best I could and when I made it home I jacked the car up and this is what I saw.



The threads to screw the cable are gone, they busted off. I've got a spare sensor that I can swap in, but does anyone know why it might break like this? Also I'm guessing that unless I want a face full of gear oil I should drain the transmission fluid before swapping the sensor?

for reference this is what it's supposed to look like



To top it off I lost the inside of the speedometer cable on the way home so now I need a new cable

and just 'cause, the car

 

Happened to me before, it just fell off and I didn't notice it for a while and it ruined my cable from being dragged on the ground.

 

they break from time to time. i got a new one for my 10AE from napa for around $20.

 

What you do is, remove the end from the tranny properly (remove the bolt)

Then get your new speedo cable and pull the center "cable" back out of the new cable sheath.

Slide the new "cable" into your existing sheath, and towards the end you *may* have to rotate it to get it to slip into the gauge cluster. Then bolt the tranny end up and voila!

This saves ripping the dash back apart (which, really, is easy - but this is easier)

 

Nice clean tranny. Recently replaced?
Maybe the thread collar got cracked in shipping/handling.

If you jack it just slightly nose down, you shouldn't loose much oil while replacing the drive gear assembly.

 

Happened to me before. I think I paid the mechanic about $50 or so since I didn't know what to do.

 

Tranny bracket to tranny bolt missing also?

 

yeah happend to me, i didnt tighten it good enought, so i lost my cable but the outter layer was there. Speedos are expensive

 

it's like $19.99 in PepBoys. that happened to me twice already.

 

Also if your cable hangs down too much it could snag on something and be ripped out.

 

^^ i never went to a pepboys, i guess cuz i worked at autozone when i was younger. I like to get my mazda stuff, so i paid out the *** =(

Jason NYC

 

does the speedo bounce before the cable snaps? above 90mph mine dances. i'm just wondering.

 

Never noticed that. Mine popped off directly after a burnout..........................can't for the life of me figure out what happened

 

i heard there is oil inside. is there a chance my cable needs to be replaced due to low levels?

 

You heard right, there is certainly oil in your transmission

No, low oil wouldn't cause your cable to bugger-up......well, that is to say your tranny would probably fail due to low oil before your speedo cable would.

 

damn, i wanted to get dirty. ok, fine. thanx classicauto.