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Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

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Old 07-12-2018, 09:46 PM
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Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Hi all,
I was driving down the road and the odometer kept going up constantly, I drove like 20 minutes a day for about 3 days and gained almost 1,500 miles. So I took apart the gauge cluster and took the speedometer out and I guess I yanked on the speedometer cover to hard and I broke the little cable type thing that connects to the speedometer arm. After I broke that I could easily access the gears and what not on the odometer, and I found that all the gears look to be in decent condition which leads me to believe my odometer issue is with the transmission piece. But now I don't know how I'm going to fix the speedometer arm cable thing, I was thinking I could try to glue it back on it but I'm thinking that won't work. If anyone could help me it would be greatly appreciated, and feel free to offer to sell me this part if you have it.

Thank you


Old 07-14-2018, 08:46 AM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Look very closely at the stem and needle. Many of them are a press fit. You may not have broken anything other than breaking the needle loose from its taper. Be sure to align the "O" position when pressing the needle back into position since there is no adjustment once the needle is on.
Old 07-14-2018, 09:51 AM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Looks like the stem of the movement is broken off in the pointer.

It's farkled, once and for all. Can't realistically fix that. Time to get a new speedo movement.

Might not have to come from one of these cars. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if every single GM speedo in years anywhere near ours, is the same, at least ones that have a similar mph/° range (i.e. 180° of speedo motion per 80 mph or whatever it is...). Check whatever car you can find in yer local buzzard nest and see what you can come up with.

I'm guessing there's a back story from before the "going up constantly" complaint, probably involving the big nut that's supposed to stay installed between the steering wheel and the driver's seat, backing off and banging around in something? Wouldn't hurt to tell us that, after all it's too late to undo whatever happened during all that anyway. Sounds to me like that back story is probably going to involve having to get a new odo as well, and this time, just leave it reading whatever it reads whenever you get it.
Old 07-15-2018, 07:45 PM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Originally Posted by Vader
Look very closely at the stem and needle. Many of them are a press fit. You may not have broken anything other than breaking the needle loose from its taper. Be sure to align the "O" position when pressing the needle back into position since there is no adjustment once the needle is on.
Thank you so much Vader! I was overthinking it way to much, you were right they just snap in place into that little notch on the red thing. It makes sense because those 3/16 bolts are impossible to get a socket around when the cover is on it so its that easy to remove.
Old 07-15-2018, 07:46 PM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Originally Posted by sofakingdom
Looks like the stem of the movement is broken off in the pointer.

It's farkled, once and for all. Can't realistically fix that. Time to get a new speedo movement.

Might not have to come from one of these cars. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if every single GM speedo in years anywhere near ours, is the same, at least ones that have a similar mph/° range (i.e. 180° of speedo motion per 80 mph or whatever it is...). Check whatever car you can find in yer local buzzard nest and see what you can come up with.

I'm guessing there's a back story from before the "going up constantly" complaint, probably involving the big nut that's supposed to stay installed between the steering wheel and the driver's seat, backing off and banging around in something? Wouldn't hurt to tell us that, after all it's too late to undo whatever happened during all that anyway. Sounds to me like that back story is probably going to involve having to get a new odo as well, and this time, just leave it reading whatever it reads whenever you get it.
Thanks for the advice, but Vader solved my issue. as for the odo, I think it might have something to do with the part that sticks into the transmission but I don't know.

Last edited by Funkman; 07-15-2018 at 07:57 PM.
Old 07-15-2018, 09:12 PM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Glad to hear that.

Out of curiosity, how did you get the broke-off piece of the meter movement out of the pointer, and how did you put it back onto the movement?

The odometer and speedometer are both driven by the speedo cable, which is driven by "the part that sticks into the transmission". If either one works, then the cable, and the part(s) in the transmission, is good; if the other doesn't, it's broke somehow.
Old 07-18-2018, 12:28 PM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Originally Posted by sofakingdom
Glad to hear that.

Out of curiosity, how did you get the broke-off piece of the meter movement out of the pointer, and how did you put it back onto the movement?

The odometer and speedometer are both driven by the speedo cable, which is driven by "the part that sticks into the transmission". If either one works, then the cable, and the part(s) in the transmission, is good; if the other doesn't, it's broke somehow.
Update:
I thought I fixed it, but I actually didn't which sucks. I thought it clipped right back into place but it doesn't. Then I crazy glued the speedo stem to the red movement thing in an attempt to fix it. Now it's connected, but it doesn't show the right speed for some reason. There is a little notch where the stem originally was connected I believe and I think I must've broken it out of that notch so I glued it back into the notch. Looks like I might need a new speedometer after all and I can't find any matching ones that go up to 115 mph like mine, and I don't really have the money for one. I'm thinking I could try to go to the junkyard. When I took it apart though I did take out the plastic gear that spins the odometer, but now I'm not so sure if it is meant to spin the odometer or if it has something to do with the speedometer. Here's some pictures.
Old 07-18-2018, 03:08 PM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Thought this thread looked familiar... https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...e-i-broke.html

Try a junkyard, Ebay, the classifieds here, Craigslist, etc. Should be easy to find and fairly cheap.
Old 07-20-2018, 09:54 PM
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Re: Odometer is Broke and I Broke the Speedometer HELP

Originally Posted by Drew
Thought this thread looked familiar... https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...e-i-broke.html

Try a junkyard, Ebay, the classifieds here, Craigslist, etc. Should be easy to find and fairly cheap.
What would be a good price?
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