63 Speedo driven/driver gear

[CheezeMan]

Friends,

My speedometer seems to stop working... runs smoothly for a while and then drops to 0 while I am moving (any speed).

Sometimes the next day, it works for a mile or 2 and then stops again.

 

I have replaced the cable and put in a new driven gear (19 tooth). So, when it works, it is really smooth

The gear came from james kehr and is one of those Chinese made ones. Anyone have a good experience with those?

 

Anyway, I am thinking that the teeth are not meshing like they should. Can anyone provide me details on the driver gear specs? I wonder if that has worn or otherwise is not functioning as it should.

I have removed the new driven gear several times to check, and there is no wear on it. Again, it is brand new. Properly seated in the bullet with the new O-ring and seal.

Looking for any guidance on what to do next? A donor tranny for parts? I am thinking I may have to open the bearing retainer housing and check it out.

 

BTW... this tranny has a history of "eating" driven gears. This is the 3rd one I have had since I acquired 11 years ago. The first gear was DOA, then 2nd gear lasted 15,000 miles, and the 3rd is new and only used 20 miles.

 

Pictures below are after about 20 miles of use. nothing seems wrong with the bullet or driven gear

 

Thanks,

Cheezeman (Chuck)

Edited June 4, 2020 by CheezeMan (see edit history)

[Turbinator]

Cheese,,, I had troubles with my speedo cable. Cutting the cable the exact length or as close as humanly possible is critical. Won't argue the 19th tooth bit, but the number of teeth on the gear drive is suppose to match up with the rear end ratio you have in your car.  You find the ratio stamped on the rear end. The size tooth you need is in the all encompassing parts book.

Any way the cable has got to seat in the speedo head and the bullet correctly. Now, once I got that done the speedo was working but not correct. There is a company in Texas that made a "calibrator" that went in between the bullet and the speedo cable. The widget was not too expensive, but not $10.00 either. The widget made the speedometer accurate. I checked the speedo with on an online app for your smart phone and the speed on my speedometer was correct. Cheese, you got the short version. Since you've done this before you shouldn't have too much hassle.  The speedo drive gear that you paid a lot of money for from overseas hopefully will work for you. A very good friend found a speedo drive gear from a donor car in a salvage yard. My friend said try the one of the drive gears that was made for your car. Well, my friend put it in the donor drive gear and that solved my speedometer working problem. The widget from Texas made the speedo have the right mph.

Turbinator

Edited June 4, 2020 by Turbinator (see edit history)

[Chasander]

Not seeing the retainer in your picture.  Ck. your parts manual. It’s labeled “AL” I think it stops the gear from floating around. 

[drhach]

Don't rule out the speedometer head. It's a system and everything in the system needs to function properly. Mine didn't have a gear in it when I got the car. I bought one from "bestoffercounts" on ebay. I don't know if that's the same guy you're referring to. Anyway, it was $99. I put it in and it lived 13 miles. Talk about frustrating. I formed a similar conclusion as you. The cable seemd to move freely, s it must have been the drive gear. Although, if you think about it, it isn't likely. That thing is metal and it drives a nylon gear. 

 

Anyway, I bought another gear and a new cable and sheath. Everything worked, but the speedometer was pretty wonky. It would work intermittently and do pretty much what you described at other times. I immediately disconnected the cable at the speedometer head. I took apart the speedometer head and it was pretty bad in there. Things were fairly gummed up and the rotating shaft that is driven by the cable had some back and forth free play in it. I bought another head on ebay for parts and it had none. My conclusion was that the shaft would wobble in there and fail intermittently. I cleaned and greased everything in the replacemnet head and transferred that to my existing unit. It's all working great now and hopefully is good for another 50 years. 

[telriv]

Like Bob mentioned above & I suggested to him as I've run into the same problem where a replacement inner cable was fitted & was 1/4" too long. Cut off the too long 1/4" & ALL the problems went away. So DON'T count that out also.  These plastic gears I'm sure are made in China where most all this crap comes from.

James is just supplying what he can get & the quality is beyond his control.

 

Tom T.