Speedometer stripping out dust sheilds

[bruscreen]

I took the wheel off last night. Found a human error that kept the cable from turning. The upper cable wasn't lined up properly to the lambda counter. Unfortunately I think I've had that apart since the speedo last quit so I can't prove it's the source of the problem.

The root of the alignment problem seems to have been the way my footwell was arranged. My wiper controller mount has been hanging since I bought the car, and I think some of the wires were pulling on the speedometer cable. I just found where the mount belongs in another thread and I'm working to clean it all up.

[David T]

You also only drive your car about once a year! Ok a few times a year. Btw the original adaptor cup was fine. I'm referring to the current repro's unless they were recently improved?
Rob

While it is a low mileage car it goes out to cruise nights, car shows, and some paid engagements. My point is, a properly taken care of speedometer system can work well on original parts. Over designing one part to compensate for deficiencies in other parts of a system is not always the best way to 'fix" a problem. Oftentimes it just moves the failure point.

[opethmike]

While it is a low mileage car it goes out to cruise nights, car shows, and some paid engagements. My point is, a properly taken care of speedometer system can work well on original parts. Over designing one part to compensate for deficiencies in other parts of a system is not always the best way to 'fix" a problem. Oftentimes it just moves the failure point.

Start driving your car and we'll see how long that speedo system works.

[sdg3205]

+1 with Mike. I think we can all agree the original DMC speedometer system is one of the most failure prone issues with the car.

[David T]

Actually the worst (IMHO) system is the electrical system. It tends to be the root of most of the problems with the car. Next would be the fuel system but in most cases it is because of stale fuel and aging of the parts, not because of inherent design defects.

[PJ Grady Inc.]

While it is a low mileage car it goes out to cruise nights, car shows, and some paid engagements. My point is, a properly taken care of speedometer system can work well on original parts. Over designing one part to compensate for deficiencies in other parts of a system is not always the best way to 'fix" a problem. Oftentimes it just moves the failure point.

You're not listening to what I said David. We made the cup more equivalent to the strength of the original because we saw repeated failures of the repro part commonly available. To use the prior analogy we replaced a 20A "fuse" with another 20A instead of a 10A. That is not over engineering but rather just common sense engineering. If you don't understand my point now then I give up. As usual you can have the last word. Carry on.
Rob

[opethmike]

All I know is I'm far more inclined to listen to advice from someone who actually drives their car, or the guy who has been working on DeLoreans on a daily basis for nearly forty years.

Practical, real world knowledge versus book "knowledge".

[David T]

I will always defer to Rob Grady's advice. He speaks from years of "Hands On" experience and if he hasn't seen it all, he has seen more than any of us. That said, I also have a lot of years of experience working on, looking at, and speaking to many owners and other Deloreans. While my advice on Deloreans cannot ever be as good as Rob's, it still has a lot of credibility. IMHO there is no better authority on Deloreans than Rob. That includes all of the people at DMCH because Rob has been at it since the beginning. PJ Grady was an original dealer and the only surviving one. No one else can make that claim. Not only does he work on the cars himself, he gets parts made to reproduce or replace the original service parts. As for the dust cap, if it is made to the same specs as the original it HAS to be better if only because the originals are so old and brittle. Getting deeper into the speedometer drive system, it has a LOT of problems. The design of the dust cap, the cable through the spindle is wound the wrong way, the angle drive is an engineering and design mess, the original cables were the wrong length, there was no support bracket for the lower cable originally, no one EVER lubes the cable or the angle drive, etc.With all of that said, it can still be made to work in its original configuration. Getting back to the original specs for the dust cap is a good place to start.

[PJ Grady Inc.]

I will always defer to Rob Grady's advice. He speaks from years of "Hands On" experience and if he hasn't seen it all, he has seen more than any of us. That said, I also have a lot of years of experience working on, looking at, and speaking to many owners and other Deloreans. While my advice on Deloreans cannot ever be as good as Rob's, it still has a lot of credibility. IMHO there is no better authority on Deloreans than Rob. That includes all of the people at DMCH because Rob has been at it since the beginning. PJ Grady was an original dealer and the only surviving one. No one else can make that claim. Not only does he work on the cars himself, he gets parts made to reproduce or replace the original service parts. As for the dust cap, if it is made to the same specs as the original it HAS to be better if only because the originals are so old and brittle. Getting deeper into the speedometer drive system, it has a LOT of problems. The design of the dust cap, the cable through the spindle is wound the wrong way, the angle drive is an engineering and design mess, the original cables were the wrong length, there was no support bracket for the lower cable originally, no one EVER lubes the cable or the angle drive, etc.With all of that said, it can still be made to work in its original configuration. Getting back to the original specs for the dust cap is a good place to start.

Thank you David for your confidence in my competence. Over the last 36 years of my Delorean experience it might be fair to say I've managed to forget more than many people know about the cars ! Is that a good thing....maybe?

You are correct that the original speedometer system can be made to last a long time with the proper lubrication of the drive and cables. Lubing the gears with 90wt gear oil from a pump bottle and the cable in the stub axle with a good spray grease will assure the longest life possible. We do this at every oil change for our service customers and it minimises the reliability issues. Making sure you update the lower cable and bracket to the better design used after VIN #005179 is also important. Our rebuilt angle drives with a properly wound, thicker, cable better initial lubrication also have an excellent track record. We can also make the axle cable a double square for easy removal and servicing if someone wants that feature. Finally for the non-purist eliminating the lambda counter and using a one piece cable takes an additional load off the system and simplifies it. Ours are made in America and the core is servicable unlike the Chinese copy. (Please note I am not anti-Chinese but the quality varies greatly from supplier to supplier and verification of specifcations is much easier when you use more local supply sources). Failures most often occur on the parts exposed to the elements but even the upper cable benefits from lubrication if you have your binnacle removed for any other reason. I think that covers it from top to bottom but in the reverse order.
Rob

[opethmike]

Dave still owes me a hug.,