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Tips
Tips

Lubing Tach and Speedo Cables

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M

MikeH

Jedi Hopeful
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Hi, Looking for opinions on what lube to use for tach and speedo cables. Thanks, Mike
 
I just did mine, first used oil, turned out to be too thin, caused the speedo to be jumpy. Pulled the cable and liberaly applied white lithium teflon grease,much thicker and now speedo is happy.
 
I have always used graphite though the speedo shop I got a cable from said to use grease.

I would definitely avoid thin oil lest it work its way into the speedo head where too much lube is worse than too little.
 
I take the core out of the sheath and clean both to remove any crud and to inspect the wires that make up the core. If they look reasonable, I wipe the core with a layer of Moly grease (CV joint type) and put the core back in followed by a "little" bit of gear oil (85/90 W). Like George said, you don't want lube forcing its way up into the speedo so a little goes a long way.

BTW, if you can remove the sheath from the car for inspection, that's a good idea too. Cracks and/or chips in the vinyl coating can let water in with obvious bad results. As a minimum, degrease the damaged areas and wrap them with tape. Alternatively, the home centers will have a product called either liquid vinyl or liquid electrical tape that can be applied to the cleaned sheath to provide a patch/cover.
 
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