[Shotimes] speedometer cable

[George Fourchy]

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 10:21:00 -0500, drv027 wrote:

>Hi,  Can anyone tell me the best way to replace the upper speedometer cable

Boy...CAN I!!!

First, the cables are obsolete.  You have to get one from a wrecking yard.  That's
the place to take a car apart getting one out, and learn the secrets so that you
don't mess yours up.  Did yours get burned by the EGR tube?  The upper cable is the
same as ones in 1991 Tauri with the 3.8 L engine.  The smaller 3.0 engine might be
the same, too, but I don't know, as also I don't about other years.  I'd suppose the
'90 3.8 cables are the same, too, but I'm not 100% sure.  (Makes sense that they
are.)  Aftermarket cables ruined my speedometer drive gear, so I will never have
another speedo reading on this car.  Cables look like cables, but these were not
machined right, and they got tight when installed, and locked up, and ground the
teeth off the drive gear, which requires removing and disassembling the tranny to
fix....also the gears are obsolete.  Thanks, Ford!!!

It snaps onto the back of the speedo head with a nylon clip, and just presses into
the lower cable, just below where it comes out of the firewall.  

When you get your replacement, wherever it comes from, COMPARE the two, cores and
housings.  The lengths MUST be exactly right.  If the protruding core is too long,
at either end, it will bind up and ruin your gears.

Under the hood, remove the large rubber air tube to the throttle body, to get room
to get to the cables.  The clamp on the upper radiator hose might eat into your
hand....loosen that and rotate it around 180 degrees.  Find the connection between
the upper and lower cables and unsnap it....pull it apart straight back...don't bend
the joint while you put tension on it.

You have to take your dash apart....the bezel and instrument cluster have to come
out and partway out, respectively.  To do that, you have to lower the steering
column.  To do THAT, you have to remove the metal panel under it, using TORX screws,
then remove 4 nuts holding a lower metal brace onto the column mounting studs.  Take
that off, then lower the next set of nuts all the way down....leave them on, but
they come all the way down.  The wheel will drop down so you can work on the dash.

Remove the headlight switch, take that nut under it off, remove several small TORX
screws, then snap off the bezel.  There are 5 or 6 screws all around it, some on
top, some on the bottom.  The foglight switch, antenna, and clock will give you some
trouble.  Use a screwdriver to get under the plastic clips on them....don't break
the clips.  The clock comes out easily from the front....the other two are HARD!! 
Now take off the cluster, with 4 more TORX screws.  Unsnap the two huge wire plugs,
being careful of the printed circuit.  Press the backside of the speedo cable white
clip....if you press it a certain way, the clip can be pushed off center, releasing
a tab that holds the whole thing to the speedo head.  You just have to experiment to
find the right place.

Notice the routing of the cable from the speedo to the firewall opening.  Run the
new one the same way.  Take the core out first, and lubricate it with some cable
lube.  The kind I've seen and like is like vaseline.  I've also seen graphite powder
and liquid.  I wouldn't use that....graphite crystals are very hard, and have sharp
edges.  They can cut and wear the cable over time.  Check with an auto parts store. 

Slide the old cable out, and the new one in.  A used cable from a yard will have a
set in its shape...a curve that won't come out.  Make sure it lays so that curve is
where it should be...goes around the corner easily (the cable bends down at each
end...don't have the ends wanting to go up).  Connect the ends, making sure before
you connect the bottom end that there is no drag when you spin the exposed core,
moving the needle....takes two persons or a mirror.  If it is OK, confirm (again)
that the protruding end of the core is THE SAME LENGTH as the old cable's protruding
core.....no longer....and snap it into the bottom section.  

Slide the whole thing as far as you can into the firewall, and clip it with a zip
tie.  That EGR tube is what eats the cable housings.

Good luck!!  If I've skipped anything, leaving you adrift, let me know.  I just got
up.

George