Speedo drive gear?

[rusty ol ranger]

My speedo is driving me nuts with the bouncing and other bullshit it does, im gonna order a new cable, gear and speed sensor.

Anyone know which gear i need for an 87 Ranger 2wd with a TK5, 2.9, 3.45 rear and 205/70/R14 tires?

Yes i could crawl under and pull it and see...but would rather just see if anyone knows.

 

[kishy]

I'm unsure if this will be really useful for a Ranger, but with the other Ford products I am familiar with, the gear is colour coded. My 85 with 3.45 gears and a TK5 uses a white gear, and yours was my stock tire size.

IMHO the gear may be totally unnecessary...Go under the truck and pull the speedo gear out of the trans. If all the teeth look healthy, that doesn't need replacement. Would also be good to put eyes on the gear that is inside on the output shaft but it's hard to get a decent look through the hole.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I'm unsure if this will be really useful for a Ranger, but with the other Ford products I am familiar with, the gear is colour coded. My 85 with 3.45 gears and a TK5 uses a white gear, and yours was my stock tire size.

IMHO the gear may be totally unnecessary...Go under the truck and pull the speedo gear out of the trans. If all the teeth look healthy, that doesn't need replacement. Would also be good to put eyes on the gear that is inside on the output shaft but it's hard to get a decent look through the hole.

Rusty #1 had a bad gear in the trans. I dont think this is whats happening here. The speedo usually bounces around about 10mph +/- and sometimes wont even register till you drive a few miles.

@adsm08 told me a bad bearing in the speed sensor can cause this, and would also cause my jerky cruise.

I knew they were color coded but i couldnt remember the color. I was thinking peach but i think thats what was in my old F250.

 

[Dirtman]

Speedometers tell you how fast you are traveling.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Speedometers tell you how fast you are traveling.

Really? Wow. Thanks for that useful tidbit!

 

[Locotomb]

Mine are Green.

 

[ericbphoto]

Years ago my F150 had a twitchy Speedo. I cleaned and relived the cable as best I could and that worked well.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Years ago my F150 had a twitchy Speedo. I cleaned and relived the cable as best I could and that worked well.

What exactly is the best way to lube the cable? Just squirt wd down it? I dont get i guess how it would lube anything but the end you squirt it in

 

[RobbieD]

If I remember right, you can pull the cable itself out of the outer jacket part from the top, or speedo gauge end. Clean the cable, flush the jacket, new lube, then reinsert the cable back into the jacket.

 

[ericbphoto]

Yup. What he ^^^^ said. I used white lithium grease in a squirt can to lube it. Pull the transmission end free to get the gear off so you can pull the cable out of the sheath from the speedo end. That also prevents you from squirting cleaning stuff into the tranny.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Im gonna try that. I wasnt aware it was a good idea to pull the cable out like that. Thanks fellas.

 

[Locotomb]

If the cable is anything like the old brake cables on my race bikes, I would use graphite. And not WD, that will dry up whatever lube is left in it. And potentially whatever lube you add too it.

Yup. What he ^^^^ said. I used white lithium grease in a squirt can to lube it. Pull the transmission end free to get the gear off so you can pull the cable out of the sheath from the speedo end. That also prevents you from squirting cleaning stuff into the tranny.

Agreed that sounds like it would work well too, but if you can get your hands on some liquid type graphite, you'd be set. Baring any cable fray.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

If the cable is anything like the old brake cables on my race bikes, I would use graphite. And not WD, that will dry up whatever lube is left in it. And potentially whatever lube you add too it.

Agreed that sounds like it would work well too, but if you can get your hands on some liquid type graphite, you'd be set. Baring any cable fray.

I think i actually got some liquid graphite kicking around.

 

[RobbieD]

Don't know if was was the best thing to do, but I mixed white lithium grease and liquid graphite (didn't quite have enough of the liquid graphite by itself). The mix seemed to do the trick, though.

 

[ericbphoto]

Sounds good. Maybe like this stuff