Speedo cable change

[stanno]

Hi;

Does anyone know how to change the speedo's lower piece that goes into the tranny. I know it's held in by a bolt in the tranny, but how does it disconnect from the upper piece ?

[fishing freak]

They are screwed together... The upper one is the female end ...

['88 All-Trac]

Is this first or second gen? In my second gen, it just unscrewed from the upper cable and trans.

[stanno]

Ok, i did it without pulling the bolt, i unscrewed both ends. However, the speedo's needle isn't stead. It works, but very shaky until it reaches 60km/h it kinda steadies. Is this a problem with the cluster?

[Tatohead]

My experience with "shaky" speedometers has been observed to be from old or stretched speedo cables. It seems that the cables lose lube over time, get dirty, or stretch. This results in extra play or sticking. Harmonically, the vibration in the cable will change with different speeds, which often reduces at higher speeds.

I've tried a variety of fixes, with mixed success. Others will hopefully chime in with a sure-fire fix. I've poured light greases and oils down the cable. Everything from WD40 to lithium grease to motor oil. turn the cable (the square end) by hand and "work" the lubricant down the cable by gravity. Each of these worked temporarily, but none were permanant fixes.

Good luck.

[stanno]

@ Tatohead:

Would the upper section of the cable need to be removed (from the clutster & lower piece) to perform the lube job?

If yes, how difficult is it to remove it from the cluster?

[71Corolla]

The speedo cable is not that hard to remove. You first pull the gauge cluster (obviously) and then unclip the cable from the mount, then pull it through the firewall. BTW, my car has the same speedometer shake, but it's not as bad as you describe. I got a cable from a wreckers, lubricated it, but the shake was still there. I then replaced the speedo itself, shake still there. So the replacement cable was still not 100% even after giving it a lube job.

I don't know how much a new one would be.

[stanno]

Thanks for all the help...

Lord's willing i'll just install a new upper piece... The Trip meter now works and stuff... However... I noticed there's another meter beside the trip meter... i'm not sure what that one is for... Does anyone know...?

Also.. the strangest thing of all... Before when i had in the busted cable and the speedo wasn't working... i would get cel whenever i accelerated... since installing it... i haven't seen it... it's weird to me...cuz the speedo is purely mechanical... i don't see how it would trigger an cel... unless it's connected to the speed sensor on the tranny.

[white90dx]

Does your trans shift correctly now?

The mechanical speedo in the cluster sends a signal to the ECU. If that signal is missing for a certain amount of time or under certain conditions, it will throw a code.

Next time you get a CEL, check the code!

Oh, and what other meter are you talking about? There should be a trip odometer (reset by the button) and a regular odometer (not resetable, total mileage of the car).

-Charlie

[stanno]

That was the first thing i checked when i realised the cel wasn't coming on anymore... but it still upshifts at 2300rpm in econ mode and 3000rpm in pwr mode at WOT... I'm still gonna drain some fluid like you recommended... just haven't gotten the allen key from my pops to pull the bung as yet. ... Do you think maybe i should reset the ecu and try again..?

All the other times the cel has came on... i've ran the diagnostic test and got a normal code... But then again... the ecl doesn't stay on... it only comes on while i'm accelerating ... then goes off when i back off... which has stopped since i installed the speedo cable.

i'll have to see an electrician about checking the gear selection screen (which only works sometimes) or clean the neutral start switch... so i can run a diagnostic check on the tranny.... and if it aint that... i'll replace the "kickdown" cable.

About the trip meter... i'll take a photo of it later today and post it up... But there's the overall milage at the very top... the trip meter by the reset button ... then to the right of the trip meter there's another meter that i can't reset.

[stanno]

As promised ...


Here's my cluster


And here's my speedo with the three meters on it


The most upper meter is the overal milage... the one to the lower left is the trip meter (it resets to zero when i push the reset button) .... the one to it's right.. i have no clue what it's for.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by stanno

The most upper meter is the overal milage... the one to the lower left is the trip meter (it resets to zero when i push the reset button) .... the one to it's right.. i have no clue what it's for.

Interesting. None of the US Camrys have that setup. It looks like a second trip odometer. See if the button has some other way to reset the second one. (turn it, push is farther in, etc.)

-Charlie

[stanno]

I'll give it a try

[stanno]

I just got the allen key set from my dad... so tomorrow morning i'll drain a quart ..test it ..and post the results.

In the mean time.. since my tranny wont "hold the gear" at wot... i resort to manually shifting the lever... yesterday.. for the first time (after i reset the ecu) ... i drove to redline in L and after shifting manually to 2nd ... there came this chiming tone ... i initially thought it was the radio... so i turned it off... did the same thing again and heard the chiming again... sounds like a xylophone ... i know that there are alot of differences between the jdm and usdm camrys... but has anyone experienced this..?

['88 All-Trac]

Sounds to me like the idiot tone- some US vehicles have a little light instead. If it is what I think it is, it's a tone to notify you to shift... I would imagine that even the autos came with it for people who prefer to manually shift them.