im new here and im in need of some help. my speedometer quit working the other day so i bought a new speedo, cable, and gear. i put it all in and it still wont work. the cable turns and so does the odometer but the needle doesnt move. if i take the car up to about what im guessing 60 or 70 the needle will bounce alittle but thats it.  if any one nows what might be going on here please help.

thanks matt  

If your cable is turning, and your odometer is working then your speedometer is the culprit. The speedometer is deflected by a magnetic rod (or bar, there are different systems) that is turned by the cable. The faster you go, the more deflection and the dial reads more. There are two pivots (aka, friction points) and the magnet.
If you want to save the odometer reading, take the entire gauge pod to a technician to get the speedometer to work.  If you don't care about the odometer reading, then just get yourself a used gauge pod off of Ebay.  

i took the gauge pod out yesterday and hooked up the old cable to a drill and it worked fine. it just doesnt work in the car.  

I'm confused.  Did you just hook up the cable by itself to a drill and it worked?  Or did you hook up the drill to the cable while the cable was attached to the speedometer and the speedometer worked?  OK, let's back up.  You first stated that the cable was turning and the odometer was working but the speedometer was not working.  Obviously that is not the case now.  Leave your gauge pod out of the car and take the car for a spin around the block with the cable attached to the tranny.  Now, does the cable turn?  If not, then your speedo gear in the tranny is shot, or the end of the cable is boogered.  

no i hooked the drill to the cable and the cable to the speedo. i drove the car and the cable spins just fine. the speedometer will work on the bench just not in the car. i read some where that some times the inner cable can be to long and cause binding. is this true?  

I'm the one that wrote about my new cable being too long, but it did operate the speedo. It just had this bouncing. I shortened it when I noticed while attaching the cable/housing to the back of the speedo that the cable itself was bottoming in the back of the speedo as the threads on the housing engaged and from that point on while tightening, it was putting a bind in it. Are you positive that the cable is engaged in the speedo when in the car? The speedo is capable of working and the cable is turning. Is it engaged?

cushman  

Any kind of extra force on the cable will affect the operation of the speedo. if it's too long it wraps up and when it releases the needle bounches. Same for over or under lubrication.  Make sure that the cable is not being preloaded when installed to the speedo head or drive gear. You may also want to check your trans drive gear for excessive wear.  

the speedometer will now show about 20mph when im going about 60. oh and the transmission is brand new.  

Just get you a new gauge cluster off of Ebay and be done with it.