Or a kinked/bent drive, and the noise is travelling up the cable. Remove the cable from the trans end, and spin it by hand. Shouldn't be any binding or noises. If you can feel any binding, remove the cable from the back of the speedo. Then spin it again. This will tell you if it's the cable or the head unit.
Many years ago in my youth,,,,I had a 69 Camaro that the speed cable would rattle and the needle would jump when going about 30 mph. It only did this when the outside temp got down to Zero . But,,,it was an excellent temp gauge for outside weather,,,it would always do it. True story! Back in the early 80’s,,,,it got very cold here in Tennessee in winter. That was when all the scientists were calling for another ice age ! LOL,,,I guess they were right even back then,,,and now,,,Lol ! Tommy
Take the whole thing apart. Pull the cable out clean it .Flush the cable housing and get all of the old grease out. Re lube everything and you will be good for many years. Common problem in cold climates. Especially if it has never been done or the vehicle sat up for years.
In addition to servicing the cable, make sure you clean and lube the speedo head where the cable goes in. I've had good cables get ruined because the grease in there gets hard and disintegrates.
I always liked this stuff temps don't seam to bother https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...1458796198940&utm_content=GSAPI+5ba262f6cb17c
Hello, Great advice from @36roadster. Some of our friends liked to take the speedometer cable out of the family car, to keep the parents from knowing how far their car traveled over the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday weekends. (or just a variation of days, etc.) There were long road trips to Santa Barbara and/or even down South to Mexico for surf trips. Our parents would have flipped to know their teenage sons and daughters were roving around going to places that they would not approve of, for us. So, out came the speedometer cables and we got good at knowing what speeds we were going. Plus, it was easy to stay with the flow of traffic. A simple crawl under the dash and loosening the attachment point solved the mileage showing on the speedometer face. There were plenty of times where the cable was popped out and put back in daily. Usually, the working parents did not drive on Saturday or Sunday, so it was the teenage driver’s time to have fun in So Cal. Friday nights? Since the parents usually did not go out on Friday nights, it was not a problem if a jaunt to Palm Springs or San Diego was on the menu. We, teenagers, were never called on it as the mileage just seemed normal for the mom or dad, when they were driving the family cars. This speedometer cable disconnect was a problem solved before the trip(s) even started. We just had to pull over and reinsert the cable end back into the gauge without damaging anything else. Sometimes, a slight misalignment in the speedometer cable hole caused various problems later on, like noises or metal rubbing sounds. If that was the case, we usually told the our friends to tell their parents to get the speedometer cable checked out for kinks or wear, etc. Jnaki What teenagers would not do to have fun, but not get yelled at from their parents for “over use” or going places we should not be going on our road trips. But, who wouldn’t like a 200 mile round trip to Big Bear Mountain over the Christmas holiday?
The absolute worst thing to use. Graphite is a speedometer repair shops best friend. It works it's way into the speedometer head and plays havoc. My father always said "That stuff is to sell not to use". Use white lithium grease like Lubriplate. Needle bounce below 30mph is usually cable, above 30mph tends to be in the speedometer head. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Good to now I have used it I guess I was lucky. I use DGF on a lot of places that need lub that I don't want a dirt build up mostly non auto.
Also check for the cable may be slightly unraveled. Looks like thick hairs on the ends that can be removed with a light file. Found it often when working the lite line.
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