86 gti speedo problem

I have a uk spec 86 gti 16 valve with a speedo problem. When I bought
the car the guy I purchased it from said that the speedo was bad and
that he'd pulled a cable from a junk yard. it was installed in the
transmission but he said that he'd broken a clip removing it so it
wasnt' working properly.

Once I got it home I took a closer look at the free end (instrument end)
of the cable and couldn't see any evidence of a broken clip. with the
motor running the square plastic gear in it wasn't spinning at, making
me thing that the cable itself had gotten broken. However, when I pulled
out the transmission side and spun it the instrument side spun just fine.

I looked into the transmission through the cable mounting hole and
didn't see anything it was supposed to mate to except for perhaps
largish worm gear. When I restarted the car and looked into the
transmission again, this gear wasn't turning.

The transmission side of the cable is just a plain squared metal gear,
but it doesn't appear to missing anything nor does it show any signs of
violence.

My question then is, is there something wrong with the speedo cable
itself, or is the worm gear in the transmission supposed to be turning?
I'm dearly hoping it's the cable, since that part is both cheap, and
easy to replace. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

-Gabriel

I hope the speedometer cable does not turn just because you start the
engine. The car must be moving or at least the wheels, before anything
related to the speedometer will turn. The clip he's talking about is the
plastic thing that holds the cable to the rear of the speedo. You squeeze
the tabs to remove the cable but on a 86 the plastic would most likely brake
when squeezed.
To test, raise ONE front wheel and turn it then look inside the
transmission while turning. Also there should be a gear attached to the end
of the cable at the transmission and it's color should match the gear ratio
of your differential. Sounds like the gear part is gone.

JoBo

"Gabriel" > wrote in message
...
>I have a uk spec 86 gti 16 valve with a speedo problem. When I bought the
>car the guy I purchased it from said that the speedo was bad and that he'd
>pulled a cable from a junk yard. it was installed in the transmission but
>he said that he'd broken a clip removing it so it wasnt' working properly.
>
> Once I got it home I took a closer look at the free end (instrument end)
> of the cable and couldn't see any evidence of a broken clip. with the
> motor running the square plastic gear in it wasn't spinning at, making me
> thing that the cable itself had gotten broken. However, when I pulled out
> the transmission side and spun it the instrument side spun just fine.
>
> I looked into the transmission through the cable mounting hole and didn't
> see anything it was supposed to mate to except for perhaps largish worm
> gear. When I restarted the car and looked into the transmission again,
> this gear wasn't turning.
>
> The transmission side of the cable is just a plain squared metal gear, but
> it doesn't appear to missing anything nor does it show any signs of
> violence.
>
> My question then is, is there something wrong with the speedo cable
> itself, or is the worm gear in the transmission supposed to be turning?
> I'm dearly hoping it's the cable, since that part is both cheap, and easy
> to replace. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
>
> -Gabriel

Finally got back under the hood today and took a look at the
transmission. The worm gear in the tranny does turn with the wheels, so
now it's time to find a speedo cable with a gear still on it. And then
figure out why the tach is also not working.

-Gabriel

Jo Bo wrote:
> I hope the speedometer cable does not turn just because you start the
> engine. The car must be moving or at least the wheels, before anything
> related to the speedometer will turn. The clip he's talking about is the
> plastic thing that holds the cable to the rear of the speedo. You squeeze
> the tabs to remove the cable but on a 86 the plastic would most likely brake
> when squeezed.
> To test, raise ONE front wheel and turn it then look inside the
> transmission while turning. Also there should be a gear attached to the end
> of the cable at the transmission and it's color should match the gear ratio
> of your differential. Sounds like the gear part is gone.
>
> JoBo
>
> "Gabriel" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I have a uk spec 86 gti 16 valve with a speedo problem. When I bought the
>> car the guy I purchased it from said that the speedo was bad and that he'd
>> pulled a cable from a junk yard. it was installed in the transmission but
>> he said that he'd broken a clip removing it so it wasnt' working properly.
>>
>> Once I got it home I took a closer look at the free end (instrument end)
>> of the cable and couldn't see any evidence of a broken clip. with the
>> motor running the square plastic gear in it wasn't spinning at, making me
>> thing that the cable itself had gotten broken. However, when I pulled out
>> the transmission side and spun it the instrument side spun just fine.
>>
>> I looked into the transmission through the cable mounting hole and didn't
>> see anything it was supposed to mate to except for perhaps largish worm
>> gear. When I restarted the car and looked into the transmission again,
>> this gear wasn't turning.
>>
>> The transmission side of the cable is just a plain squared metal gear, but
>> it doesn't appear to missing anything nor does it show any signs of
>> violence.
>>
>> My question then is, is there something wrong with the speedo cable
>> itself, or is the worm gear in the transmission supposed to be turning?
>> I'm dearly hoping it's the cable, since that part is both cheap, and easy
>> to replace. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
>>
>> -Gabriel
>
>