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Yogie - December 13th, 2009 at 07:30 PM

Take off the hubcap and the cable sticks out through the dust cover. You will have to push off the circlip that holds the cable in place. After you do that, the cable can be slid out of the cover.

Yogie


amazeer - December 13th, 2009 at 08:03 PM

if "everything else works on it except the km/h dial" includes the mileage is still ticking over then you dont have a problem with the cable. If the needle and the odometer arent working then it could be either the cable or speedo. The speedo is just a holder for the lights, so they arent really an indication of its functioning. Usually speedo problems are with the cable though.


68AutoBug - December 13th, 2009 at 09:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Abp66
Ok so my speedo stopped working again today...
i know its not the speedo because it was working before fine and everything else works on it except the km/h dial

im sure its the speedo cable so i unscrewed the cable from the back of the speedo. and the inside of the cable was loose (im not sure if it is meant to be like that?) and jacked my car up and had a look under the wheel and it was intact there. can some one tell me how to take the cable out of the left hand wheel and see if the cable is broken?

thanks guys :D


Hi
You need to pull the LH front hubcap off...
then knock or pull the small circlip off and pull the cable from behind the axle etc...

the inner speedo cable is sort of loose all the time.. but You shouldn't be able to twist it around with the wheel on the ground... with the wheel off the ground, spinning the wheel will turn the inner cable..

Just because the speedo did work last time, doesn't mean it will work next time.. the cable can break at any time..
the circlip may have come off the cable...

BUT- usually the cable snaps off slowly which will make the needle jump up & down before it snaps off completely..

Cables are very inexpensive... I always pour a few drops of oil down from the top to lubricate the cable..

cheers

LEE


matberry - December 13th, 2009 at 10:53 PM

Sometimes the square drive hole in the bearing dust cover gets worn and looses grip of the cable. Can be repaired by peening, welding or replacing.


amazeer - December 14th, 2009 at 07:26 PM

when you get the new cable attach it to the speedo without threading it through the body first. If you cant turn the wheel end freely without any resistance you probably also have a problem with the speedo.. which could be the cause of the cable breaking. probably not an issue but you dont want to go breaking another cable to find out.


donn - December 3rd, 2010 at 08:53 AM

Did a search to find this, my problem is the speedo stoped working kinda sudden like and now I get a realy loud scraping screeching sound which sounds like the cable is grinding away at something, possibly the outer cable, I have removed the dust cap thingie from the front wheel and undone the end from the speedo but I can't draw the inner cable out of the outer from the wheel end, as it's a buggy I can't get at the speedo end well enough to pull it out from that end. Also the dust cap at the wheel no longer has a square hole in it, seems to be flogged out and when I took the center cap off the rim the dust cap was hanging loose. Am I supposed to be able to remove the inner cable from the outer from either end?


donn - December 3rd, 2010 at 08:56 AM

Hmm, seems a search found this in the wrong section, shoulda been in tech talk I think, maybe a mod can move it?


68AutoBug - December 3rd, 2010 at 02:06 PM



Hi Donn

I believe the inner can be taken out but haven't tried it..

I always buy the complete speedo cable which isn't expensive.

have two spares so don'/t need to buy another one..

I should replace mine as it sways when going slow...
I always oil the cable.. so it probably won't snap...

the cables are made from many pieces of spring steel so they don't snap cleanly...

I do remember seeing the cable end welded to the cap on a beetle.... not sure who's beetle.. lol

I remember many years ago, when the cable snapped, it did it slowly with the needle going everywhere... lol


LEE


donn - December 3rd, 2010 at 02:30 PM

Thanks Lee, my problem is that in the buggy the cable goes between the f/glass body and the steel bracing unit just behind the speedo and that dosn't leave enough room to take the knurled nut out between them, only way I can see to remove the outer is to lift the body shell, trying to avoid that if I can.


68AutoBug - December 3rd, 2010 at 04:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by donn
Thanks Lee,
my problem is that in the buggy the cable goes between the f/glass body and the steel bracing unit just behind the speedo and that doesn't leave enough room to take the knurled nut out between them, only way I can see to remove the outer is to lift the body shell, trying to avoid that if I can.


YIKES...

that sounds bad...



LEE


amazeer - December 3rd, 2010 at 09:22 PM

Cut it dude, sidecutters are your friend


donn - December 3rd, 2010 at 09:48 PM

Will sidecutters help me get the new one back in?


amazeer - December 3rd, 2010 at 09:55 PM

No, but your not going to put the new cable in the same dumb place where it needs body removal are you? I'd be re-routing the cable.


donn - December 4th, 2010 at 06:04 AM

Not knocking your help amazeer, I'll listen to any comments / suggestions (actualy I'll read em :D) but in this case there is no option, the reinforcing bar is about 25mm behind the speedo and the top of the bar is about 1.76589 mm below the bottom of the outer cable, I'm tempted to just put the tremendouse forces of my right arm and a pair of vice grips to work and see if I can haul the cable out of the outer but I know that spells potential disaster


donn - July 21st, 2012 at 04:19 PM

So 7+ months down the track I'm back at it, as it turned out the square end on the cable was worn so I packed it out to a place that wasn't worn and it did the trick till now, as expected the square end on the cable is now totaly round and wont grip in the square hole in the dust cap so I have no choice but to replace the cable, I know that the cables arn't expensive but I cant get the outer out of the car (see previous posts above) so I have to do only the inner, any clues on how to do this as the inner seems to be caught and I am having trouble removing it from the outer.


amazeer - July 21st, 2012 at 09:04 PM

would some araldite buy some more time?


donn - July 22nd, 2012 at 11:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by amazeer
would some araldite buy some more time?



Hmm, kinda doubt it, maybe a spot of weld but I reckon there's got to be a way, still working on it, BTW, what happened to the subject? all I've got is a blank spot. :crazy:


h - July 22nd, 2012 at 11:30 AM

wow by the thread title I was expecting to see Officer Bar Brady with no pants on, arms in the air moving people along as there was nothing to see here :crazy:


donn - July 22nd, 2012 at 11:35 AM

Ha Ha, now it's got "pages 1,2" :rolleyes:


waveman1500 - July 22nd, 2012 at 03:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by donn
So 7+ months down the track I'm back at it, as it turned out the square end on the cable was worn so I packed it out to a place that wasn't worn and it did the trick till now, as expected the square end on the cable is now totaly round and wont grip in the square hole in the dust cap so I have no choice but to replace the cable, I know that the cables arn't expensive but I cant get the outer out of the car (see previous posts above) so I have to do only the inner, any clues on how to do this as the inner seems to be caught and I am having trouble removing it from the outer.


From memory, I'm fairly sure the inner can only be removed from the speedo end. The inner should slide freely in and out, so if you can't gently pull it through from the wheel end, that means it is not designed to come out that way.


Klaus - July 23rd, 2012 at 09:58 PM

get a rhs cap drill a small hole then file a small square into it , then file the end of the rounded cable into a smaller square too and either small split pin or "r" clip or circlip to hold it or file it off centre and weld fill half the old cap hole


donn - July 24th, 2012 at 09:37 AM

Thanks Klaus, that's what I had decided to do (sorta) but my friendly VW mechanic has given me another idea when I went down to see him, he sold me a new cable with a "return if it dosn't work" tag, but for $28 it wouldn't be worth the trip, I'll let you know how it goes.


donn - July 24th, 2012 at 05:23 PM

Please delete all mention of how difficult this is, turned out to be easy as, I'm a dope. :lol::spin::dork:


beetleboyjeff - July 24th, 2012 at 06:00 PM

After all this time of putting it off & looking for alternatives.................


donn - July 25th, 2012 at 09:50 AM

No need to rub it in Jeff :grind: