Speedo Grease

Going to dig into an old speedometer this weekend. What grease specifically should be used? I figure red and sticky is out. I have seen mention of lithium but not really specific on the type. Thanks

 

I think whale oil was probably OEM specification. At least on the needle pivots. Nowadays that would be a substitute sewing machine oil.

The worm gears I've seen, the OEM grease was dried out and crusty. It would be good to avoid that. Silicon grease, I wonder???

 

Sewing machine oil.

Don't use grease.

 

10-4

 

for the speedometer cable sheething, I've always used lithium spray.

 

The issue with grease is that the speedometer needle uses very weak magnetic fields
to generate a linear curve with rpm. Any grease at the cup will stick to the speedometer needle assembly and spin it right round
Baby
Right round
Like a record

And break the speedometer needle or spring.
I used assembly lube on the plastic odometer gears and I wouldn't do that again since it simply oozed out. Just use sewing machine oil on the speedometer head components.
The cable should use graphite powder if I recall.
Lithium spray is likely ok but anything thick will destroy the cable. It needs to move smoothly and free or it will twist up like a doughnut, Housing and all.

 

I have it apart, cleaned. The clock spring is not broken. How tight do you preload this when you assemble? I seems it will get tighter the faster you go.

 

The actual gears, like those that drive the odometer, need thin grease. I use a small amount of Lubriplate, a thin white lithium grease. For the needle and fragile parts, sewing machine oil sparingly.
-Donny

 

Upon further review the main shaft is broken. The needle is broken too but I thought I might epoxy that. I would guess if anyone has parts this shaft is the first thing to go. I started off thinking I could swap faces (I have a later model installed right now) but I’d chance breaking a working unit for the sake of vanity. Oh well

 

I can only imagine the difficulty you'd have re-calibrating after a total rebuild. Even gluing the needle could alter the balance.

Looking for a good used unit would be my first choice. That said, there are specialists that can re-man and tune pretty much any speedometer.

 

I have mine in at a repair shop now. I'll report back on the results.

 

I have a nice intermediate speedo I bought from a member here a while back. I was saving it fort when I re wire but I think I will be going with a gps. you can have it for what I spent.
pm me if interested.