R32 Speedo Cable Problems

[Dahtone Racing]

has anyone had any issues with the speedo cable breaking on thier R32

ive broken two and its starting to really shit me

i must be doing something wrong

help, someone pleaseee

[Beer Baron]

never had one break, or heard of one breaking but i've seen heaps with the dodgy speedo needle boogie at low speed (even my GTR does it up to about 20kmh).

i would say yes, something else is wrong. was the second one you broke bought brand new? if not i'd suggest buying a new one this time around.

[Dahtone Racing]

i bought it second hand

when i fitted the second one, where it goes into the gearbox, the cable part looked to be on too sharp an angle.

is there meant to be anything else or just the cable straight into the box

[Blue32]

The problem with speedo cables is having bends where the cable lies which are too sharp - it causes whip (which after a while will present itself as the needle 'boogie' as described above up to 20km/h. BTW It will gradually get worse until the cable snaps.)

There are a few ways to rectify this:

1. Rerun your cable with minimal bends and the largest radius on those bends which you need.

2. Remove the inner cable and grease it up as much as you can. Use bearing grease and run the inner through the grease packing as much as possible onto the cable / into the inside of the outer cable as you can. This will act not only to lubricate but it will also dampen the cable whip which should reduce the amount of funky needle bounce at low speed.

3. Find your nearest cable manufacturer (ie Gaugeworks in SA) who can build you a new inner cable - should cost approx $70 if you remove and install your speedo cable or around $140 if you give them the car - drive in drive out.

Good luck with you cables peoples!!!!!

[Sydneykid]

Is there a how to guide on changing speedo calbes in R32's? If not, those that have done it care to share any tricks to changing the cable, how to get to the back of the speedo, etc

cheers

Edited December 7, 2005 by Sydneykid

[Bl4cK32]

Yer, dont remove the outer casing, just take out the dash cluster and the end from the gearbox.

You can slide the new inner (made from Gaugeworks (who even make it with a metal end where it goes into the cluster so it doesnt snap)) with new grease.

I dont see the need to remove the whole lot if its the inner thats snapped....

Edited December 7, 2005 by Bl4cK32

[TokyoTaxi]

I've had one snap. I grabbed a very good condition second hand one and grabbed a can of motorcycle chain lube and sprayed as much as I possibly could down the guts, repeating this every minute or so until evidence of the lube started coming out the other end. Installed it and so far so good ( 3 years on ).

BTW. I used motorcycle chain lube cause it sprays in as a liquid and penetrates well then solidifies somewhat to a grease consistency.

[lwells]

Sorry to resurect an old thread, but my GT-R's speedo has decided to sit at 0.

Anyone know if there is somewhere in Sydney/ACT that can fab replacement speedo cables?

Cheers,

Lucien.

[lwells]

Quick question: where on the gearbox does the cable connect? I've had a quick flick through the workshop manual a couple of times but haven't found anything conclusive.

Thanks.

[heller44]

Lay on the ground drivers side, look along the body of the gearbox, it'll jump out at you.

You can repair the end, strap and glue the hard sheath and replace it back onto the cable if you want a repair, not a replace.

Need a step by step for the repair just ask, mine snapped the other week and a successful repair still holding.

James.

[arbess]

yep mine sat at zero about 3 months ago. it was the plastic needle casing thing that sits at the end of the cable. it had to cracks down the side which meant that the needle that is held this plastic casing wasnt transferring the rotation to the dial.

what i did to cure this, and today it works ok, but still has boogie, was i pulled the casing and needle out, becareful not to lose the spring, got some electrical "heat shrink" which you can buy at.... electrical shops... and cut about 1/4 - 1/2 inch, place that over the casing with the needle in it, then heat it up and it will shrink onto the casing holding it into place. thats my cheap fix, cost me 1 hour and no $$$.

some interesting facts: nissan sells new ones at around 100 i think (for gtst). gtr cables might be different in design to gtst, and it would cost you less to put it in yourself.

[heller44]

Last I hear they were $110 from nissan. Probably the cheapest GTR part in the catalogue.

I basically did the same as arbess, but put a dab of devcon metal epoxy on the end bit where the cable end sits into the plastic sleeve, as an extra precaution. After fixing the sleeve, it just clipped back on the end of the cable anyway.

James.

Edited March 17, 2007 by heller44

[burnsie]

mine broke a while back it was the bit going to the back of the speedo. which is the plastic little rectangle bit. all i did was get a plastic sewing needle and make a new one. and works fine now.

[lwells]

Ok. I had some time today (hurrah for "Canberra Day") and managed to get the gauge cluster out (which was a bitch). Unsurprisingly the white needle end behind the speedo has snapped off. (Worse news is that it snapped below the needle end itself, so I can't easily repair it).

Yer, dont remove the outer casing, just take out the dash cluster and the end from the gearbox.

I dont see the need to remove the whole lot if its the inner thats snapped....

How do I remove the inner? Just pull the inner cable from the gearbox end with some pliers? I doesn't exactly feel like it wants to budge.

Edit: So I tried pulling the inner cable and it doesn't seem like its small enough to pass through the larger black cable, so the black cable started to pull out. Is there some trick I'm missing here?

[Godzilla32]

A new cable is from nissan is $90 dollars, bite the bullet.

[arbess]

A new cable is from nissan is $90 dollars, bite the bullet.

thats the option i would do, if my gtr wasnt eating my $90 is petrol

[lwells]

A new cable is from nissan is $90 dollars, bite the bullet.

And its $35 to have the inner cable replaced (and with metal ends). Do the maths

[Bl4cK32]

from memory the end inside the car has a cap inside the end which is spring loaded. If u were to remove it u may end up farking it in the process. Might be best to take the cable out and give it complete to the person putting the metal ends on.

[Tofu]

the plastic rectangular jig is broken in the cable. I am resorting to replacing the cable and the plastic jig in one go. Hopefully this should see the speedo come back to life.

I am astounded by the amount of people who are having the same problem.

I will take happysnaps of the process for those who want to do it themselves.

Edited March 22, 2007 by Tofu

[blk180]

I broke two for some reason it seems to be a 3 piece speedo cable. both spilt where the plastic joins the steal cable beacuse i had it apart anyway i just super glued the plastic peice back onto the metal lol and havnt had any problems.