Technical Speedo question on an enclosed driveshaft.

I reinstalled my driveshaft two years ago after a rear end issue I had.
My Speedo hasn’t worked after that.
I’ve checked my Speedo cable and speedometer with a drill and they move freely. I’ve tried different turtle gears and still no luck.
I notice the Speedo gear attached to the driveshaft slides up and down the shaft approximately 1/2”.
What am I overlooking here?
Is the turtle installed the wrong direction?
Or worse yet, is the gear in the shaft installed backwards?
Are there different turtle configurations that would cause the teeth not to reach each other and make contact?
The gear on the driveshaft has no free play and turns when the shaft turns.

 

The Turtle should be bolted on so that the cable connection is on the DR side. pointing to the passenger side it would spin backwards i believe...

 

Does it have no free play or does it have 1/2"? Is it possible the gear is spinning on the drive shaft?

 

The 1/2” free play mentioned is forward and rear along the driveshaft, there is no free play of the actual gear on the shaft as the driveshaft turns.

 

Opposite of my installation shown on the first picture?

 

yes, opposite of the way it is in the first picture

 

You are missing the snap ring that holds the speedometer drive gear in the correct position. Look here;
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/FH_images/FH_rearend-pics/ford-rearend-32-48-A.jpg

 

Well I’ll be damned. Thx BJR!
Duh….
I don’t suppose there’s any way to access that snap ring groove without removing the driveshaft?
Is this groove for the snap ring forward of the gear near the tranny or behind the gear??
How about the idea of drilling a pilot hole through the gear collar and then into the driveshaft to run a threaded screw in place??

 

That snap ring is probably going to be 17286 in this image. It also confirms what Nailhead Jason said on the direction the Turtle is installed.

 

Sorry but the rear end needs to be pulled back far enough to access putting on the the snap ring. Or the rear end needs to be removed for access. You may be able to drill in the snap ring groove and insert a roll pin to hold the gear from walking forward. But I have never tried it. Good luck, Brian.

 

Thanks everyone!!
I’ll first try turning the turtle in the correct position. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it’ll work without the snap ring. I may try drilling but it doesn’t sound too doable.
I’ll let you guys know if I run into any luck with this. Thanks again.

 

don't feel bad about the snap ring. When I put the banjo back in my 39, i tightened up the clam shell, went to bolt the turtle back on and realized the I left the dam gear completely out of it.......

 

Sure looks like I already placed the snap ring in there after I slid the gear away from the area.
Am I correct in that assumption?
Is there normally that much free play fore and aft?

 

Perhaps these photos of a 1940 Ford speedo set up will help.
The speedo cable points downward on the driver side of the car.
You can see the snap ring. Note the angular direction of the teeth.
I aedded the top grease fill plug in the top clamshell.

 

Thanks. It sure looks like my snap ring is in position comparing your pic with mine.
My only concern is the fore and aft movement of the gear on the driveshaft. It moves close to 1/2” freely.
Am getting ready as we speak to fire it up and see if the Speedo is working.

 

No joy.
Am again going to check the speedometer and cable to see it is operating with a drill.
Removing the turtle and checking to see if the gear moved out of position to engage the turtle.

 

I don't see the snap ring in your above photo.
The set up looks different than my 40.
What year Ford vehicle are you working on?

 

Am stopping for the evening.
This is a 34 pickup.
Here’s a pic with the snap ring being pointed to. In this picture I’ve push back the shaft gear to it further most movement.

 

The one I worked on was a 32 and there was less than 1/8" play in the gear fore and aft. Did you put the shim in that goes on top of the bearing. Refer to the exploded picture of the assembly. Is the seal in place under the bearing?

 

Yes sounds like something isn’t assembled right with that much play. Time to pull the driveshaft.

 

It appears that the snap ring shown in the 1935-48 pictorial assembly drawing is not the same as the snap ring being pointed out in your photo. The 1935-48 snap ring is a thin wire snap ring that fits in a groove in the splines The item being pointed to in your photo looks like a spacer or thrust washer, not a snap ring. It would be great to see a pictorial or photo of a 1934 speedo assembly as there appears to be a difference from 1934 to 1935 -48.
However, I did find this 1928-48 kit so perhaps I am incorrect. Notice the snap ring.
Buy New 1928-1948 Driveshaft-Torque Tube Front Bearing Repair Kit Flathead SCTA 1932 in San Dimas, California, US, for US $33.00 (2040-parts.com)

 

Thx!
Here’s the picture you referred to.


You’re correct. I pointed to the incorrect area.
Another close up of my assembly. The ring is actually at the bottom.



I know more when I decide to pull the driveshaft at a later date.

 

So what did you do when you had it out? Did you replace the grease seal, or just the bearing and race?

 

It appears that your snap ring has been bent/damaged and not fitting correctly as it should.

 

It’s been a while, a few years now.
I’m thinking I replaced it all.
I pulled the floorboard off a few days ago to polarize the generator and decided to get back to the Speedo problem since it was open again.
I’ll check the snap ring seat fitting before I start disassembling. Thx.

 

Be sure and take pictures of what you find so you can post them for advice.

 

On my 40 one, Ford. The gear inside the torque tube moves back-and-forth Quite a bit, but my speedo still works.

 

Well this interesting.
I decided to double check for speedometer function again.
Here the thing wasn’t working.
I disassemble the Speedo and found something quite interesting.
This gear wasn’t engaging the workings of the odometer and speedo needle.
There’s play in that gear moving it out of engagement. See photo.



Installing my turtle incorrectly at the passenger side instead of the drivers side forces that gear to move in the wrong direction and moves it out of engagement.
Going to reassemble assuring engagement and try it again.

 

Please keep us posted on your pending solution.

 

Success. It was a two fold problem.
The Speedo and the Turtle position.
I push the speedo gear at the driveshaft clear back to actually view the machined groove for the snap ring. Pushed the snap ring in place.
The speedo is also working perfectly with its gear positional repair.