Speedometer head cleaning and lubricating

[onchiman]

I have disassembled the speedometer on my '79 850 and want to clean and lubricate the movement. What is the best way to clean the internal gears and then lubricate the gears and needle etc. I am leaning toward using a spray electronic component cleaner or perhaps brake cleaner and a spray can of air for the cleaning but what sort of lube would be best?

[Steve]

Be careful with the brake cleaner. Might not be compatible with the plastic parts. Same thing with carb cleaner, if you had thought of that. Electronic contact cleaner (Radio Shack's is among the best) is usually pretty friendly toward plastics. Be careful with the compressed air, too. Lots of little parts in there that might get blown off-axis.

Grease? Something in a synthetic grease should work quite well. You want it to be thin enough to work when cool, yet viscous enough to stick to the parts, but be temperature-stable enough to not drip when the speedo sits in the sun all afternoon.

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[posplayr]

Be careful with the brake cleaner. Might not be compatible with the plastic parts. Same thing with carb cleaner, if you had thought of that. Electronic contact cleaner (Radio Shack's is among the best) is usually pretty friendly toward plastics. Be careful with the compressed air, too. Lots of little parts in there that might get blown off-axis.

Grease? Something in a synthetic grease should work quite well. You want it to be thin enough to work when cool, yet viscous enough to stick to the parts, but be temperature-stable enough to not drip when the speedo sits in the sun all afternoon.

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Yea good luck on the grease. I had a speedo that was jumping so I lubed it from the drive with all in one oil (thin sewing machine oil). It worked great for a while then at about 1000 miles got very sluggish. Don’t know what happened but the damping certainly increased due to something. Not sure if it was bits in the oil or the oil just coagulated.

I found a brand new NOS tach for my ED, and it tends to bounce more but I need to find out more on what works best before trying anything else.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I would try something like lubraplate sp

[onchiman]

I wonder if something like a high quality oil meant for watches and clocks would be preferable. I know a jeweler and will ask him about it. He repairs clocks as a hobby and I bet the stuff they use for clock movements would work well.