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Spedo reading low

Joe Schlosser

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I was out driving this morning and I noticed that my spedo was not responding properly . It was running form 10 to 20 mph low.
Normal at 4K is 60mph and th ebest it was reading was 50mph. It has been jumping arounf a bit for some time +/- 5 mph, now it is steady but low.
Any thoughts Here??
Repairs I can make. Decent spedo repair shops in NE.
Original to 1960 BE. I have others but they are all from later cars.
Thanks in Advance
 

dklawson

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Bouncing needles are often associated with a cable stick/slipping. The normal progression from there is NOT starting to read low so I doubt this is a cable or dirty gauge issue.

Nonetheless, if you want to take the speedo apart yourself and carefully clean and re-lube it you can. Google for the 27 page PDF by Anthony Rhodes "Repairing Jaeger & Smiths Speedometers" (one link is provided below).
http://workshopmanual.com/doc/d1037-s3-reparatur-jaeger-smith-tachometer/read/pdf

Once you have cleaned the unit, you can re-calibrate it (if necessary) using the methods described in the PDF. There is an alternate calibration method discussed in the thread linked below. Skim through it. I believe the calibration section starts around page 3 but the whole thread is interesting if you like gauge related stuff.
https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?94885-Instrument-Faces

If this is not something you want to tackle yourself there are several places that repair and calibrate. You asked about the northeast. In NY State there is Nisonger.
http://www.nisonger.com/index.htm
They may not be the fastest or cheapest but they have been around long enough that they are typically the first name cited for Smiths/Jaeger repairs. There are a few others like Palo Alto Speedometer, Moma, and until recently APT (gaugeguys.com). I am sure others will post the names of additional shops.
 

Stan Kowznofski

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I had this problem 30+ years ago, it was a broken internal cable. It was relatively easy, unhook both ends (speedo & trans), pulled out both ends and replaced the inside.
 

dklawson

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The speedo cable is certainly something to check. I have never seen a broken cable continue to drive the gauge but I see how it could be possible. It would be a lot less expensive thing to fix than having a gauge reconditioned!
 

JPSmit

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tire size is an obvious first start 145R13 original

there are tire size comparison websites
 
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Joe Schlosser

Joe Schlosser

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OK Lets start over.
I was driving along, normally the spedo jumps around a bit . It has don this for a couple of years. I have been living with it. Say continuously +/- 5 mph all the time.
Yesterday after about 10 or so miles it all of a sudden stopped jumping around and was holding steady but at 10 mph lower at 60 and 5 mph lower at 40.
I always have calibrated the spedo against the tach which runs steady.
I have not looked at the cable but I had the jumping problem with another cable so I replaced it with another in the parts bin when I put in the 1275 about 3 years back.
I lubed the cable well before installing.
I will pop the spedo shortly and see if I can find anything.
I understand that the input can sometimes get draggy with dirt or something
 
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Joe Schlosser

Joe Schlosser

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It was a pain tor remove but it did come out.
Some spray parts cleaner took care of a 59 year old build up of accumulated crud between the housing and the spindle.
Some spray lube and an electric drill to make sure everything was clean, a little paint on the housing to cover slight rust from when the car was driven in the rain and back together.
Speedo is now steady and right on after applying correction factor for 175 70 tires.
 

dklawson

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I'm glad you got the speedometer running accurately again.
 
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