Speedometer Gear is being chewed up

[toyotalandfj40]

I recently bought a new speedometer gear, 6x18, I installed the new one and jumped for joy when the speedometer cam back to life (this was Monday) At the end of Tuesday the speedometer didn't work anymore, got home and pulled out the speedo gear, it was a little messed up, I regreased it and took out the o-ring that was making it a bit tight, it was making a lot of friction. It worked for a good while but after ten minutes it just didn't work anymore, could it be that the speedo gear is messed up enough or should I check out the transfer case gear.
For more information I used white lithium grease for the speedometer gear and the speedometer cable is turning by the power of a drill. Nothing is frozen. It is just the speedometer gear.

 

[Buckwheat]

You have to disconnect the cable at both ends & see if you can turn the driven cable by hand. It should turn easily. You can pull the cable & inspect it, too. It may need lubing or, more lkely, it may be binding in the housing. Using a drill motor to turn it isn't a useful way to diagnose if it's binding because of its high torque. You should even be able to turn it by hand while it's connected to the speedo & see the needle movement. Put the o-ring back on the drive assembly & use only minimal lube on the gear, if any.

 

[pbgbottle]

what gear count did you pull out of there ? it may be the wrong one ? i think 6x18 is the one odd gear that only matches to a certain drive gear .

 

[cruiserbrett]

You should check to see you dont have the 6x17 drive gear. it will chew them up quick if they are mis matched.

 

[toyotalandfj40]

The old gear was 6x18 and Marv Specter sold me the 6x18, due to the year, the cable spins by hand when connected to the speedo and odometer. I think the transfer case gear is messed up, I sure hope not. Has this ever happened to you?

 

[Trollhole]

Not me but a friend of mine had the same problem over and over only to find out he was missing the spacer behind the speedo gear on the output shaft.

 

[Poser]

Not me but a friend of mine had the same problem over and over only to find out he was missing the spacer behind the speedo gear on the output shaft.

That should have been just the beginning of his discovery of issues....




The spacer that he is talking about has a taper on one side and needs to be installed towards the speedometer drive gear on the output shaft of the transfer case.



I would bet that you do not have the correct combination of drive and driven gear.

The only way to figure that out would be to remove the parking brake assembly and rear output housing on the transfer case and inspect the pieces...

 

[cruiser user]

You might also want to check the odometer . the lube they used turns to glue over the years and the number barrels freeze up. I had the same problems with both my 75 and 82 . I had to take them apart and clean them . Reassembled with a little Lionel Locomotive Lubricant and they worked like new.

 

[toyotalandfj40]

The spacer, which I think is that filt thing, is on correctly. I restored to cluster myself and everything moved by hand. The little rubber o-ring on the inside of the sheath was really tight, I think that was my problem. Most of the gears are fine, only 3-5 teeth are messed up. When I bought the new speedo gear it came with all the components, except the big metallic sheath that holds everything.

 

[wbb72fj40]

Mine was a little simpiler than that I found that my parking brake drum was loose, letting the drive gear slide back and chewing up the reader gear.


Didn't take much. maybe a full turn on the nut. fixed her right up working ever since. just another one of those P.O. things I might not be the best mechanic in
alabama but he proves that i am not the worst.