Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

The speedometer needle just started bouncing on me the other day. It is a big bounce at low speed and then as you drive faster the bounce is less.

Anyone got a fix for this?

Thanks

Lubricating the cable should do it. Never done it, but the procedure is to remove instrument cluster (instruction on the forum here somewhere), the disconnect speedo cable, spray graphite or WD-40 down it. Let sit for a while, reassemble and hope it did the trick.

Lubricate the speedometer cable. You can get special lube for this.

Gumdrop's speedo has a minor case of the shakes as well. Most older cars do. I will attend to it once the weather calms down.

...laura

this can, I believe, also be caused by a broken cable in the housing or teeth missing from the gear this is less likely but it is still something you should check.

Sounds like possible tooth wear on the speedo drive where the cable goes into the transmission. Its located on the rear side of the transfer case above the output shaft coming in from the passengers side ( automatic) Its held in place by a 10mm bolt .

Unscrew the bolt and grab the knurled cap of the cable and pull. Try to pull straight out on the same angle it sits . You may have to wiggle it a bit as you pull ( try to clean around the area before you disconnect with a small wire brush to avoid dirt and grit to fall back into the tranny.
There should be a small plastic gear that slips onto the end of the cable. check the teeth.

A quick way to check if its the gear or the speedo cable is to attach a drill to the end of the speedo cable, and have somebody sit in the drivers seat and observe what the speedo does when you flash up the drill. ( It should be clockwise rotation)

You also want to check to see if the square brass ( or metal ) end or the cable that goes into the plastic gear hasnt stripped . The cable end may have a tiny clip holding the gear in place.

Although I havent actually taken my Deli cable apart - it is the same principal for every Ford/Chev pick-up Ive ever owned.

Please don't use WD-40: it's more a cleaner than it is a lubricant. I know, it says lubricant on the can, but I've been working/maintaining bicycles for many years, and WD-40 will strip out whatever grease/lubricant remains in that cable and then dry up and disappear. On it's own website, the product is acknowledged as a 'solvent' (this means, amongst other things, that it is expected to disappear after a while).

Chain oil is good, lithium grease (but you'd have to pull the cable out of the sheath), or graphite grease.

Golf Cart wrote:Sounds like possible tooth wear on the speedo drive where the cable goes into the transmission. Its located on the rear side of the transfer case above the output shaft coming in from the passengers side ( automatic) Its held in place by a 10mm bolt .

Unscrew the bolt and grab the knurled cap of the cable and pull. Try to pull straight out on the same angle it sits . You may have to wiggle it a bit as you pull ( try to clean around the area before you disconnect with a small wire brush to avoid dirt and grit to fall back into the tranny.
There should be a small plastic gear that slips onto the end of the cable. check the teeth.

A quick way to check if its the gear or the speedo cable is to attach a drill to the end of the speedo cable, and have somebody sit in the drivers seat and observe what the speedo does when you flash up the drill. ( It should be clockwise rotation)

You also want to check to see if the square brass ( or metal ) end or the cable that goes into the plastic gear hasnt stripped . The cable end may have a tiny clip holding the gear in place.

Although I havent actually taken my Deli cable apart - it is the same principal for every Ford/Chev pick-up Ive ever owned.

Thanks for the detailed info.

I will try lubing the speedo cable. I use synthetic oil to lube the cables on my motor bike so I figure that should work for this application also.

If it is the speedo drive do you know how I can get another one?
what is the part number is so I can maybe get one from Mitsubishi?

Thanks.

DucRider wrote:

Golf Cart wrote:Sounds like possible tooth wear on the speedo drive where the cable goes into the transmission. Its located on the rear side of the transfer case above the output shaft coming in from the passengers side ( automatic) Its held in place by a 10mm bolt .

Unscrew the bolt and grab the knurled cap of the cable and pull. Try to pull straight out on the same angle it sits . You may have to wiggle it a bit as you pull ( try to clean around the area before you disconnect with a small wire brush to avoid dirt and grit to fall back into the tranny.
There should be a small plastic gear that slips onto the end of the cable. check the teeth.

A quick way to check if its the gear or the speedo cable is to attach a drill to the end of the speedo cable, and have somebody sit in the drivers seat and observe what the speedo does when you flash up the drill. ( It should be clockwise rotation)

You also want to check to see if the square brass ( or metal ) end or the cable that goes into the plastic gear hasnt stripped . The cable end may have a tiny clip holding the gear in place.

Although I havent actually taken my Deli cable apart - it is the same principal for every Ford/Chev pick-up Ive ever owned.

Thanks for the detailed info.

I will try lubing the speedo cable. I use synthetic oil to lube the cables on my motor bike so I figure that should work for this application also.

If it is the speedo drive do you know how I can get another one?
what is the part number is so I can maybe get one from Mitsubishi?

Thanks.

Not sure if Delica nitpicky stuff like that is the same as Montero nitpicky stuff. Maybe Glen or Mardy will know. Glen (CCAuto) may even have a used one from a bagged tranny.

Jesse - any idea ?

hi, there is no problem wiht the cable. you just need to clean the speed cluster meter they are just dusty. i did fix some of those by cleaning & it works for me.
hope this help.
cheers
Mardy

Golf Cart wrote:Sounds like possible tooth wear on the speedo drive where the cable goes into the transmission. Its located on the rear side of the transfer case above the output shaft coming in from the passengers side ( automatic) Its held in place by a 10mm bolt.
Unscrew the bolt and grab the knurled cap of the cable and pull. Try to pull straight out on the same angle it sits . You may have to wiggle it a bit as you pull ( try to clean around the area before you disconnect with a small wire brush to avoid dirt and grit to fall back into the tranny.
There should be a small plastic gear that slips onto the end of the cable. check the teeth.

Thanks for pointing out where this bloody speedo gear exactly is. Couldn't find it in the workshop manual. Want to replace it with a different gear to have a good working speedo with the bigger tires. Hope its actually at the same position on a 5spd.

Could this also be the cause of a howling, wind-like noise? Mine seems to appear right around 60kmh and up, though the speedo is still reading correctly.

jwfchase wrote:Could this also be the cause of a howling, wind-like noise? Mine seems to appear right around 60kmh and up, though the speedo is still reading correctly.

Could be wheel bearings or u-joints. Could also be ring & pinion bearing

Golf Cart wrote:

jwfchase wrote:Could this also be the cause of a howling, wind-like noise? Mine seems to appear right around 60kmh and up, though the speedo is still reading correctly.

Could be wheel bearings or u-joints. Could also be ring & pinion bearing

... that sounds worse than a noisy speedo cable, no?

Hi JWFChase,

Re your "howling wind-like noise at 60" we had several postings on whistling noises last year. Mine is from my driver's mirror (yup), to prove it, while driving at speed, just wrap your hand around the bar and the top of the mirror then splay your fingers down the back side of the mirror, see if that changes the noise.

Cheers, Christine.