1981 Speedo stopped working
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 13,148
Likes: 7,761
From: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
2025 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
Broken cable or striped drive gear in transmission. Drive gears are plastic. With cruise you have 2 cables. without cruise just the one. All fairly easy to check, lube or replace. You will need to get at the back side of the speedo however.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 53,648
Likes: 878
From: Southern Cal Ca
St. Jude Donor '22
if it is cable issue,
disconnect cable at trans use drill to grip cable, have helper watch speedo, maybe reverse direction,,,
if speedo works then trans gear bad or cruise cable so next at cruise check cable to speedo same way .
Thread Starter
5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
or you can buy a single long cable to omit cruise
if it is cable issue,
disconnect cable at trans use drill to grip cable, have helper watch speedo, maybe reverse direction,,,
if speedo works then trans gear bad or cruise cable so next at cruise check cable to speedo same way .
if it is cable issue,
disconnect cable at trans use drill to grip cable, have helper watch speedo, maybe reverse direction,,,
if speedo works then trans gear bad or cruise cable so next at cruise check cable to speedo same way .
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 8,336
Likes: 2,809
From: Cool Northern Michigan
If you do end up ordering a new cable, you may see several options from Vette venders.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
Thread Starter
5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
If you do end up ordering a new cable, you may see several options from Vette venders.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
Manual or automatic?
w/ cruise
w/o cruise.
Different yrs?
If you have no desire to incorporate the cruise control, then order the one-piece, longer cable as mentioned to by-pass it.
The reason these cables snap is, it's likely the most neglected part on the car that requires lube. No body does this until issues arise.
Do not use oil. The spiral design of the cable could force oil up into the back of your speedometer cluster. Not pretty.
Use a heavy grease that can handle the heat from the nearby exhaust. Hoopes Gun Grease works well and will not "wick".
The removal of the cable from under the dash is a #3 star out of 5 for "swearing tasks". Have a helper stand at the firewall insert the brand-new lubed cable to you as you disconnect the old one from the cluster.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 5,339
Likes: 546
From: Central Texas
Thread Starter
5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Thanks for the offer, but I’ll probably just replace it with a new cable since I’m going to the trouble of removing it.