Speedometer making noise when cable is tightened

[ChicagoRob]

Howdy.

My speedometer gear recently gave out. Foolish me didn't realize that it needed maintenance. What used to be gears are now fine dust. Lesson learned the hard way. (Again)

Anyway, I eBay'd another one, cleaned/lubed the cable, installed it and things are working again except if I tighten the connection from the cable to the speedometer, the speedometer makes a whining noise. If I loosen it a bit, no noise and it still works.

I'd swear that it's the right part (they have a number on it and it's the same as the old one.) Could it be that my cable is a little too long now and is forcing the gear in the speedo to rub on something? How can that be?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[jbs80106]

I'd say you need to lube the inner workings of the speedo. My speedo and tach need an occaisional spray of WD-40 or similar, especially if it gets really dusty.....tricky to spray 'up' but with the red straw attached it seems to work okay...

[donkey]

Hi, I know I'm late here but my 81 gs850L had the same problem. It was whinimg and jumping all over the place, maybe you got yours fixed by now, but I had to take the speedo apart, had to grind around the face of it to dissasemble and lube everything up inside, and slightly bend-adjust something rubbing in there, can't remember what. then j-b welded it together works great now. there's a post in here somewere on how to do it, wished I found it first!!

[pmong]

Whining revisited

Hi,

Just want some advice on how to lube the speedometer. I had a loud whining from the front when it is cold. Could not tell if it was the cable or the speedometer, but the whining came and went at around 15-20 mph. Tried lubing the cable, but the noise did not disappear. Asked on the forum, and some suggested I get a new cable. Noise seem to have disappeared initially but returned. Now, I suspect it is the speedometer.

Ran across this thread, so I figure I would ask how to lube the speedometer. Don't want to take it apart. How do you get WD-40 into the inner parts?

Thanks.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Before you cut it apart !! Turn it upside down and put some light oil/trans fluid into the connector and let it soak...

[hjfisk]

I oil them up side down , but have also drilled a small hole through the plastic case then stuck the straw from the lube can in the hole sprayed the whole inside good then just sealed the hole with a bit of silicone.

[tkent02]

All you need to do is lube the space between the rotating part that the cable spins and the threaded part that the outer cable screws onto. When the factory applied grease is gone, the inner piece wobbles around and makes that bad bearing sound, it higher RPM it sounds like a squeal. Use real oil, it will last a long time.
3n1 oil, sewing machine oil, motor oil, whatever. Light grease would be ok, like the white lithium grease in a spray can with the little red tube. Not sure what would be the best, they have all worked for me. Turn the speedo and tach upside down, a drop or two in there, you are done.

WD-40 is not real oil, it will be squealing again in no time...

[Notz]

I had the same issue, I WD'd it, noise returned, I oiled it, noise returned, I PB Blastered it, noise returned, I turned it over and repeated the above steps, noise returned although the quiet lasted for a longer length of time. What worked the best (for me) was, I finally tried some liquid wrench silicon. Silent since.

[koolaid_kid]

WD40 is for water displacement, PB Blaster is a penetrant, a silicon product is a lubricant. So it makes sense that when you finally lubricated it the noise went away.

[Alan Schlosser]

Had the same problem. It started to "scream" so loud and bounce on one ride, I had to disconnect the cable. I took the speedo off its mount so I could tip it upside down. I shot some cable lube in there, let it soak a minute and then put it all back together. It's been quiet and steady since.

[bwringer]

Before you cut it apart !! Turn it upside down and put some light oil/trans fluid into the connector and let it soak...

I used air tool oil on mine. Any decent oil you can get in there will work.

[Sebby110]

This site never ceases to amaze me. It's chock-full of so much "Knowledge Base", it rivals "Microsoft" really.
I had a screamin' speedo, just like Alan's. It was so bad, my ears would be ringing for 20 minutes after my ride. I just had to disconnect it. I looked over so many options; ebay replacement, or cut it open and figure things out, etc. I remembered the 1st rule; start with the simple/easy/ less expensive ($$$) stuff first. I inverted the speedo, a dab of white lithium between the spinning gear and the housing, spun the mechanism to make sure the grease made its way in, let it sit for a while, reconnected and...Ta-Da
a smooth, functioning, noiseless speedo. I'm sure a screamin speedo has its function to clear away any deer in my path. But at least now I can hear myself think after my ride. Thanks Guys and Gals of the GS Forum.

[Phred]

WD 40 works as a lubricant for a while but then it dries out and becomes very sticky resulting in more problems. Be careful using it in areas that should require grease or penetrating oil as a lubricant.