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86 gti speedo problem

I have a uk spec 86 gti 16 valve with a speedo problem. When I bought the car the guy I purchased it from said that the speedo was bad and that he'd pulled a cable from a junk yard. it was installed in the transmission but he said that he'd broken a clip removing it so it wasnt' working properly.

Once I got it home I took a closer look at the free end (instrument end) of the cable and couldn't see any evidence of a broken clip. with the motor running the square plastic gear in it wasn't spinning at, making me thing that the cable itself had gotten broken. However, when I pulled out the transmission side and spun it the instrument side spun just fine.

I looked into the transmission through the cable mounting hole and didn't see anything it was supposed to mate to except for perhaps largish worm gear. When I restarted the car and looked into the transmission again, this gear wasn't turning.

The transmission side of the cable is just a plain squared metal gear, but it doesn't appear to missing anything nor does it show any signs of violence.

My question then is, is there something wrong with the speedo cable itself, or is the worm gear in the transmission supposed to be turning? I'm dearly hoping it's the cable, since that part is both cheap, and easy to replace. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

-Gabriel

Reply to
Gabriel
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I hope the speedometer cable does not turn just because you start the engine. The car must be moving or at least the wheels, before anything related to the speedometer will turn. The clip he's talking about is the plastic thing that holds the cable to the rear of the speedo. You squeeze the tabs to remove the cable but on a 86 the plastic would most likely brake when squeezed. To test, raise ONE front wheel and turn it then look inside the transmission while turning. Also there should be a gear attached to the end of the cable at the transmission and it's color should match the gear ratio of your differential. Sounds like the gear part is gone.

JoBo

Reply to
Jo Bo

Finally got back under the hood today and took a look at the transmission. The worm gear in the tranny does turn with the wheels, so now it's time to find a speedo cable with a gear still on it. And then figure out why the tach is also not working.

-Gabriel

Jo Bo wrote:

Reply to
Gabriel

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