speedometer still not working

Cainon

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i turn the speedometer by hand (where the cable attaches) and it works. replaced the upper and lower cable with one long cable bypassing the CC and still speedometer will not read. doesn't even budge a little bit. has anyone gone through this before? What was the solution?

1985 f350 6.9l dually with 5speed trans.
 

chillman88

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That means you have to pull out the driven gear from the side of the transmission and check the gears for wear. Not sure how it comes out on the Ford, never looked at mine. GM it's one bolt holding a retainer then the gear housing slides out.

I think maybe... @laserjock just fixed his? Can't remember if it was him or not though.
 

chillman88

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is there a part number?

You'll have to pull it apart and look at it first. There are different part numbers based on gear ratio and stuff. They are color coded though so if you take it out and it's just the gear that turns the cable you can find it by searching for the same color speedometer driven gear. If by chance you are unlucky, it could be the drive gear and not the driven gear. Drive gear is on the inside of the transmission and I'm not sure what all would be involved in changing it if that is the problem.

You won't know until you look, and looking won't hurt anything, it will go back together and you can still drive it either way.

If you need to get a working speedometer in a rush, I bought a $25 GPS speedometer off eBay a while back for my suburban with a bad speedo. Worked good enough to not get any tickets!
 

Randy Bush

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If you have a good transmission shop near you there is a good chance they will have the gears, The one on the cable is not to hard to come by on line, color of the gear and tooth count, the one in the trans is harder to get. and you will need to pull the rear transmission yoke and the back of the transmission to change that gear. I would recommend changing both if either one is wore out.
 

Cainon

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Thanks for the detailed explanations. Its drives just fine for now. So I'll just go the gps route for now lol. Wonder if there is an aftermarket cluster replacement that is gps guided. Or maybe software to download to a tablet and just mount that?
 

Philip1

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Thanks for the detailed explanations. Its drives just fine for now. So I'll just go the gps route for now lol. Wonder if there is an aftermarket cluster replacement that is gps guided. Or maybe software to download to a tablet and just mount that?
There are gps speedometer apps for your phone if you want to go that route
 

chillman88

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There are gps speedometer apps for your phone if you want to go that route

Yeah I forgot about that. I used this one for a little while before I bought the eBay one.

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IDIBRONCO

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If you need to get a working speedometer in a rush, I bought a $25 GPS speedometer off eBay a while back for my suburban with a bad speedo. Worked good enough to not get any tickets!
I've been using one of these for about 5 years now. The biggest issue I've had was leaving the thing on over the weekend several times. The LEDs that make up the 0 got dim and hard to see in the daytime. I bought another one and now unplug it every time that I'm done driving.
 

Cainon

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There are gps speedometer apps for your phone if you want to go that route

I have been using my phone last couple of days. I'm trying to get a more permanent setup. Something I can actually mount to the dash or better to replace my cluster. Also if I do go that route do I just leave the cable in the transmission or can I remove it and plug the hole with something?
 

IDIBRONCO

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One more thing to add. Most of these use the OBD2 somehow. maybe they plug into the diagnostic port? Of course you'll have to find one that isn't ODB2 specific. These plug into the cigarette lighter.
 

IDIBRONCO

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Also if I do go that route do I just leave the cable in the transmission or can I remove it and plug the hole with something?
You could leave the cable there. That would be the simplest. I seem to remember seeing some transmissions and/or transfer cases that still had the hole for the cable, but had a soft plug (by looks anyway) in there. I believe these were used on the early trucks with the VSS in the rear end. You may be able to find a plug that fits. There shouldn't be much internal pressure here, just some splashing fluid. I still have my cable in the transfer case.
 

catbird7

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Here's a pic of the drive gear.
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