Weird Happenings w/My Speedo

[mxp01]

Gentlemen:

Tuesday I picked up my BE from the shop where they turned it into a real looker (new paint, 1275, disc brakes, sway bar, etc.). Today I drove it from Nashville to Washington (only 14 hours!) but experienced some strange happenings with my newly rebuilt speedo:

- It worked okay in the morning, but as the day went on it began to bounce and then slowly decline in speed, until it reached zero MPH. Each time I stopped (eg: for fuel) and then continued the trip, it would begin working for a short while, but eventually return to zero. Oddly, when I made my last stop (at 7:30 pm) it began working and continued to work until I arrived in DC (about 2.5 hours later).

The one possible relationship I can think of has to do with the temperature. The speedo worked in the early morning, and then began to work again after the sun went down.

Also, when the speedo stopped working, so did the odometer(s).

Any thoughts?
Mike Pennell

 

[Deleted member 8987]

If both speedo and odo quit, the cable ain't turning.
What did the shop do to the trans?
Dash?

Might be as simple as a loose barrel nut.
Could be the cable laying on the exhaust, heating up, seizing, and spinning in the trans adaptor.

Just a WAG.

 

[JPSmit]

If both speedo and odo quit, the cable ain't turning.

+1 it really only can be the connection to the transmission, the connection to speedometer or the cable itself.

In my experience, the connection to the speedo itself is rarely the problem as the threaded end of the cable sleeve is hard to mess up the installation of.

On my 1500, I had a few problems with the connection to the transmission, it is more of a pressure fit held in place with a clip. I had to make a small extension clip flange thingie out of hobby shop brass square stock (that's the technical term) to keep it spinning.

The cable is either kinked - which usually manifests itself by a speedo that jumps a lot or a sleeve that is binding the cable because of dirt or grease.

If, it is running now, it may have either just seated itself (most likely) or from vibrations opened up the curve of the cable enough to turn freely.