idosubaru Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 this is for an XT6, i'd imagine most EA82's are very similar if not identical. if you think you might want to regrease your speedo cable to avoid it failing or smooth out your speedometer, skip down to the bottom as i believe there's an easy way to do it that requires very little time/work. the end that threads into the transmission is plastic so use a 17mm wrench to get it out. very easy from the passengers side to unthread, don't even have to remove anything. pliers or channel locks can be used, but the end is made of plastic so squeezing it will deform it and not allow you to use a 17mm wrench in the future. if you're removing a bad one, then who cares. if you're removing a good one to regrease i'd stick with a wrench. once that is out, the cable just pulls out of the firewall and back of the instrument cluster. so it only requires one tool to remove. installation is the same. install the instrument cluster side first, thread it through the fire wall. this is the tricky part. you can't see the back of the instrument cluster, so if you want to play hit or miss it will take probably 10minutes to an hour depending how lucky you are getting it to hit and seat properly without being able to see or feel anything. lucky for us, there's an easy way. if you remove the bottom gray, metal cover plate that's held on by 4 phillips head screws you can actually see the receptor behind the instrument cluster very easily. look up and there it is, makes installing the speedo cable very easy. this is XT6 specific, but check your vehicle for covers/plates that are easily removable underneath to give a visual aide in seeing behind the speedo cluster. it offered no access as there's too much in the way, but it was very easy to at least see. guide it, seat it and you're done. including removing the cover plate it can be done in about 3 minutes. 1 minute to remove the 4 screws and cover plate, then 2 minutes to guide the cable in place. install the transmission side and you're done. regreasing is really easy. it's just a cable slid through a sheath. once it's out of the car you just wipe it clean and spray graphite lubricant all over it. it sprays on as a liquid but coagulates as a thicker lubricant as it dries. spray the cable down and spary some inside the sheath and run it back and forth a little bit to get everything covered. for those that might want to regrease: since i pulled this one out, i did it out of the car. but what i found is that the cable pulls out of the sheath from the transmission side. so you should be able to just disconnect the transmission side with a 17mm wrench, pull the cable out and reinstall it without ever messing with the instrument cluster side of things. i would highly recommend this for any daily driver that i plan on keeping for any lenght of time. i think this would take about 5 minutes to complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 My problem is trying to rethread the cable into the transmission itself. The plastic threads will go in halfway and then it'll pop out. I have had no luck with a couple of used cables in good shape.. anyway.. what is recommended as a lubricant for the cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 My problem is trying to rethread the cable into the transmission itself. The plastic threads will go in halfway and then it'll pop out. I have had no luck with a couple of used cables in good shape.. On the end of the speedo cable is a flat head that has to match a groove in the transmission. I've found it's easiest to pull the cable out, insert it in the groove in the transmission, then try to screw on the plastic housing. ymmv, -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobscript Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 anyway.. what is recommended as a lubricant for the cable? Grease. I used AMSOIL bearing/all-purpose out of the grease gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Hi Dave, YMMV is right.. that's exactly what I did and it won't thread. I'm wrapping up loose ends on the car lately and I'll be tackling the speedo again soon.. thanks Andy On the end of the speedo cable is a flat head that has to match a groove in the transmission. I've found it's easiest to pull the cable out, insert it in the groove in the transmission, then try to screw on the plastic housing. ymmv, -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 hmm, are the plastic threads all bunged up? On one occasion (before I knew you could just transfer the cable ) I carefully cut the threaded portion off one cable (long vertical cut), and put it on the good cable. -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 14, 2007 Author Share Posted February 14, 2007 anyway.. what is recommended as a lubricant for the cable? graphite lubricant. i've been told by people more knowledgable than me that cables should be lubed with this type, not other types of grease. as for it not threading in, if you've tried multiple cables then it's likely your threads are jacked up or dirty on the transmission side. this is now in the USRM as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.