greenimpala 12-04-2008, 08:23 AM As I was driving in this morning, my speedometer was making the ususal "plastic on plastic" noise it makes until the temperature inside the car is warmer. However, today the speedometer began "bouncing" from 40 to 70 mph, then back again. Finally, it made an awful squeeling noise and buried itself to 120 mph. I slowed down and it reset itself to the speed I was driving (30 mph). It continued to do this until the inside of the car was warmer ~ then it worked fine. The odometer operated the entire time the speedometer went crazy.
'Daphne' is my daily driver and is usally garaged. Could this be a cold weather only issue? Has anyone else had this happen? And, more importantly, what would I repair/replace to make sure I do not lose my speedometer? I drive about 70 miles per day, not having a speedometer would be a BIG DEAL.
Gotta love these Indiana winters! Thanks guys!
59imp 12-04-2008, 03:14 PM the same thing happened to the speedo in my 59, it was the bearing inside the speedo that was seizing up, i replaced the speedo with another used unit, and it solved that problem, however now the speedo reads way too fast, so i have another issue to deal with. hope that helps some.
mo
greenimpala 12-04-2008, 03:18 PM That helps alot, Mo. Explains the awful noise that my speedometer made, too.
Big Dave 12-04-2008, 07:53 PM the same thing happened to the speedo in my 59, it was the bearing inside the speedo that was seizing up, i replaced the speedo with another used unit, and it solved that problem, however now the speedo reads way too fast, so i have another issue to deal with. hope that helps some.
mo
Need to change the speedometer gears on the out put shaft of your transmission to match the gear set in the seedometer (Speedo shops bolt on an external gear box to speed up or slow down the cable to match their calibrated rollers).
Big Dave
Big Dave 12-04-2008, 07:55 PM As I was driving in this morning, my speedometer was making the ususal "plastic on plastic" noise it makes until the temperature inside the car is warmer. However, today the speedometer began "bouncing" from 40 to 70 mph, then back again. Finally, it made an awful squeeling noise and buried itself to 120 mph. I slowed down and it reset itself to the speed I was driving (30 mph). It continued to do this until the inside of the car was warmer ~ then it worked fine. The odometer operated the entire time the speedometer went crazy.
'Daphne' is my daily driver and is usally garaged. Could this be a cold weather only issue? Has anyone else had this happen? And, more importantly, what would I repair/replace to make sure I do not lose my speedometer? I drive about 70 miles per day, not having a speedometer would be a BIG DEAL.
Gotta love these Indiana winters! Thanks guys!
Like Mo said it is probably the speedometer mechanism itself, but a fast fix might be graphite powder in the speedometer cable. Doubt if it will fix it but it can not hurt to lube the cable also in case it is draging inside the sheath.
Big Dave
59imp 12-05-2008, 05:06 AM Need to change the speedometer gears on the out put shaft of your transmission to match the gear set in the seedometer (Speedo shops bolt on an external gear box to speed up or slow down the cable to match their calibrated rollers).
Big Dave
Dave i was under the impression the speedos would all be calibrated the same, and the different gear ratios in the rear end would be compensated for by the gearset in the tranny tailshaft. my car is a 59 Impala with a Turboglide trans, the replacement speedo came from a 59 El Camino with a powerglide. i checked the speed with a GPS unit, and at a GPS reading of 40 MPH, the replaced speedo reads 58 MPH, it's a big difference.
mo
59imp 12-05-2008, 05:12 AM That helps alot, Mo. Explains the awful noise that my speedometer made, too.
mine made the same noise, as the bearing seized and slowed down, the cable kept turning and the little gears in the speedo slipped making the noise, i don't imagine it's very good for them, they're just made from plastic, i unhooked the cable under the dash right away, i was on a road trip in Oregon and it happened on the freeway. i drove about 1000 miles home without a speedo, luckily i had just bought a GPS and used it to watch my speed.
Big Dave 12-05-2008, 08:12 AM There were variuos vendors for parts and not all used the same gearset (they were supposed to).
There used to be a disclaimer published in the owners manual in the good old days about the speedometer not being accurate and recomending the owner get them checked out at a reputable speedometer shop because of this. I was a cop way back when and this came up in defense a number of times when their client had no idea they were doing 85 in a 30 zone due to speedo errors. The judge would throw the book at them (owners manual) and ask ever read this thing?
Big Dave
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