Speedometer going crazy

[Indyharleyguy]

Hey All, I'm sure others have seen this and wondered what the fix is. When I start to drive my 1984 M1009 the Speedometer bounces all over the place. After driving it 15 or 20 minutes it stops and starts giving the actual MPH. Wondered what I could try to fix it? Thanks

 

[Mullaney]

Hey All, I'm sure others have seen this and wondered what the fix is. When I start to drive my 1984 M1009 the Speedometer bounces all over the place. After driving it 15 or 20 minutes it stops and starts giving the actual MPH. Wondered what I could try to fix it? Thanks

.
The first place to look is at the speedometer cable.

In a perfect world, it would be easy to reach in behind the dash, disconnect the cable, spray if full of penetrating oil and smile because you fixed it. It's a PITA to get to the cable. Grease (white lithium) is better than penetrating oil, but for trouble-shooting light weight oil gives you an answer faster.

Might even find that you could disconnect the bottom end - rather than behind the dash - and squirt as much penetrating oil into the speedometer cable as you can. Then get and air hose and some safety glasses and try your best to make oil run up hill.

Quick search and I found a discussion from 2008 about a similar bouncing speedometer. Link below:

Bouncing Speedometer Needle

I didn't find anything in the CUCV forum relating to this. My speedometer needle bounces, (worse during hot weather). Is there any fix short of ordering a new speedometer? I've already installed a new cable. Thanks.

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[Indyharleyguy]

Thanks for the info. I'll give the greasing a try

 

[Barrman]

I remember that old thread. I didn’t post to it then, but I used it when I had the same bouncing problem.

I ended up pulling my speedometer, lightly cleaned, oiled it and used a pneumatic drill to check function on the bench before I installed it again. All these years later it still works perfect.

 

[Indyharleyguy]

Thanks, as soon as the weather gets a little warmer I'll try these things.

 

[WWRD99]

Thanks, as soon as the weather gets a little warmer I'll try these things.

I know people use the sprays and such but I have always used graphite when dealing with the speedo heads....even the cables I'll puff a bunch of that in it too. It doesn't gum up like the oils do.

 

[CenterMass762]

Mine does the same thing. I usually just assume that I'm doing whatever speed is in the middle of the bounce.

Maybe I'll try to lube mine today.

 

[cucvrus]

My experience has been to disconnect the speedometer cable from the speedometer head unit and pull the inner cable out of the housing. Clean the cable and housing well. I even went as far as disconnecting the cable at the transfer case and blew compressed air thru the housing. Closely inspect the cable and look for frays or any sign of unraveling on the cable. They sold a tube of cable grease, and I would smother the entire cable and reinstall it. It was fairly simple and reconnect everything and give it a try. I always left a generous amount of lube on the upper flare part of the cable housing, so it had some lube in the head assembly. Good luck. Also make sure the housing is not rubbed thru and is running in an unkinked route towards the speedometer head. Good Luck. I hope that helps out. I have a few speedometer head units, and some may even be close in mileage to what you have.

 

[87cr250r]

Don't be tempted to use lithium grease here. That stuff hardens up quickly with time. Use a dedicated cable lubricant as mentioned above, typically silicone based. Check your local bicycle shop if you can't find it elsewhere.