Just picked up a 63 dart w/225 slant 6, one thing I noticed as I was driving it home was that the speedometer bounces between 20-60 mph. Any ideas on what the problem could be? The only things I can think of are:

a binding cable
a bad plastic gear in the tranny
Cable not all the way in
Bad speedometer (hope not)

Any tips on what/how to check?

Please bear with mew, I'm new to the board and older Mopars, so if I ask dumb questions I apologise

Thanks in advance!

The first thing to try is lubing the cable. Unscrew the cable housing from the speedo head, push it forward towards the front of the car, then pull it down below the dash. Pull the cable itself out of the housing (be careful, it'll probably have gunk on it, and you don't want to stain your seats/carpet/clothes.)

Clean the entire length of the cable by wiping it down with carburetor cleaner or denatured alcohol. Inspect its whole length for fraying or damage.

Get some white lithium grease and put a spoonful of it into a small bowl (I use an aerosol spray cap). Puff a goodly amount of powdered graphite onto the grease. Mix it in until the grease is a uniform shiny black. Back at the car, place a glob of the grease on your hand, between the first and second fingers. Holding these two fingers loosely but closely together, push the cable through the grease, through your fingers and into the housing. The idea is to get some grease on the cable, but avoid big blobs or slops. Once there's only about 9" of cable left to push in, stop, clean all the grease off your hands and the glob off the cable, then push the cable the rest of the way in. You may have to pull back slightly, rotate the cable a fraction of a turn, and then push forward again to line up the transmission end of the cable with its nylon drive pinion. Once this is done, reinstall the cable on the speedo head and try it out. If this solves the waving needle, you're pretty much all set.

But, the waving needle at a particular speed range suggests the speedometer's bearing is probably worn, and sooner or later (or now), you'll need to look at having the speedo rebuilt. This isn't terribly traumatic, just choose a good shop to do it. I send mine to:

DeLuxe Speedometer and Radio
1410 Speer Blvd
Denver, CO, 80204
(303-629-6958)

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Lately, my speedometer has been screwing up after I go a certain mph (maybe 50 or so). I can hear this buzzing or rattling inside the dash and the speedometer bounces around in random places depending on what day this happens. It happened a couple years ago but only when id go above 85 or so on the highway. Then it stopped for the longest time and now its been acting up again the last week or so. Do I have the same problem?

You might, do you hear a slight "dinging" sound when the needle jumps or is it just a steady rattle. If your hear the "ding" (sounds like a little bell) when the needle jumps then the speedometer bearing has done worn to the point where the magnet is jumping forward and contacting the speedo needle drive, causing the rapid jerking back and forth.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

No man, this is a steady rattle until I slow enough enough to where its like it stops the sound and fixes itself after I slow to a certain MPH. Maybe around 15 or so? Any idea what the rattle means?

Sounds like a dry cable to me. Follow Dan's procedure to lube it and see if it doesn't quiet down. That can also happen if the cable housing is damaged so be sure to inspect it from top to bottom and replace it if it's kinked or dented.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

sometimes a long cable works along with a slightly worn bearing (probably wear cause: long cable in the first place) and produces needle jerks and hesitation at low range speed. Sometimes, it produces noise as it continues to produce wear. There should be any amount of plat in the speedo, from 1/8" to 1/4". If your cable just engages both ends without further jiggle, you might as well have a long speedo cable. You should have to "engage" the cable by wiggling it a bit. If it's long, you can trim 1/8 to 1/4" with a dremel cutoff wheel.

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Juan Ignacio Caino

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