Speedometer Needle Snapped Off

[fireflyr]

My Landcruiser was the only vehicle that would make it out of my driveway this morning (snow and ICE) and on the way to work the speedometer needle started bouncing and making a hideous noise. Next thing I know, the mph needle was gone. I figured once I stopped it would re-appear (I'm an optimist). Long story short when I pulled it apart the needle was snapped off at its base. It looks like you could press a new one on. Anyone have to deal with this? It's the original speedo and only has 66,907 miles so I don't particularily want to replace the unit.
As for the cable I think the routing was too restrictive and there wasn't any grease in it. It's all in one piece so I won't replace it just yet.

 

[Pin_Head]

Chances are that it is toast. That is the way they fail. The spring also tends to break at the same time. A speedo shop could fix it, but it is probably cheaper to replace it with a good used one.

 

[dgangle]

Take the replacement speedo apart and set the milage to whatever you want it to read. 2 bannana job.

 

[Hltoppr]

This might sound kinda cheesy, but mine did the same thing. I just took the speedo apart, made another "needle" that covered the center circular mount, painted it black and glued it to the center, then glued the broken needle on the top....

It's seriously difficult to see that it was ever broken.

-H-

 

[D'Animal]

Send a PM to Greenfox. He probably has the speedo head you are looking for.

 

[KOOTENAY KRUZER]

Take the replacement speedo apart and set the milage to whatever you want it to read. 2 bannana job.

When this happened to me I took the speedometer apart and found that the worm that drives the odometer was broken. This is driven off the speedometer drive and if it is removed the speedometer will still work. I made a new needle from a piece of orange zap strap because I couldn't find the old needle and stuck it on to the black disc - if you know what you are looking at it is obviously not stock but if you don't know TLCs you won't know that.

The cup and magnet would stick together when the temperature was around -30*C and the needle would whip around and hit the stop, eventually it just snapped off.

Now the needle bounces, I think the broken odometer is the cause, I repaired the worm, but the odometer tenths wheel went up to 9 and stuck, probably broke the worm again, so the gear probably loads the cable and then it snaps free causing the needle bounce. I haven't tried again to fix it but my other truck does exactly the same thing, bouncing needle and the odometer doesn't work.

The needle doesn't bounce up to the stop, just about a 10kph range, the lower indication seems to be about right for speed.

 

[dgangle]

at that temp it's a wonder anything works...

 

[Pin_Head]

If the spring is still attached to the drum, it may be possible to reattach the needle. If you don't find why the cup is sticking to the magnet, it will just do it again.

 

[fireflyr]

When I took the speedo apart it looked like all the little gears were ok, just a busted needle. I used a 2 part epoxy to glue it back on and repainted the needle with a paint pen. To take care of the screaming cable I took it out, regreased it and put it back in. It all seems to work ok. From the looks of some of the other posts lately, cold and lack of grease must be hell on these things. Thanks for the help.

 

[a_traut_man]

Reaching way back on this one. Bought a 40 and the needle was snapped off on it but the speedo appears to still be working. End of the needle is still in there. @fireflyr what epoxy did you use and any suggestions for the reattachment?

I've got to get this done to pass inspection.

 

[fireflyr]

Reaching way back on this one. Bought a 40 and the needle was snapped off on it but the speedo appears to still be working. End of the needle is still in there. @fireflyr what epoxy did you use and any suggestions for the reattachment?

I've got to get this done to pass inspection.

Wow. That is reaching WAY back! Probably JBWeld but I have a tough time remembering what I did yesterday. The needle is still on there but I’m going with a Dakota Digital display on it this year.
Good luck!

 

[a_traut_man]

Ha thanks for getting back to me. For the life of me I don’t understand why no one makes a replacement needle but I guess if it’s not a problem then you don’t have a problem.

Got my gluing done this afternoon, used JB Weld Superweld extreme. Probably overkill. Got a little bit of discoloration but I’ll take it.

 

[TheHardWay]

I had the same problem with my 78 - needle was laying at the bottom of the housing when I bought it. Repaired it, installed and took it for test drive - didn't get a quarter mile before the speedo cable went wild and the needle went to the other side and snapped off. Found a used one from another Mudder, replaced the speedo cable with a new one and had no more problem with it.

 

[a_traut_man]

I’ve got my fingers crossed it will be alright but I could definitely see the speedo cable change happening