The speedo in my Barracuda has never worked. I know the cable is good. I pulled the gear from the trans and it LOOKS good but must not be spinning because the cable isnot spinning. I indexed it properly when checking the gear and it felt like it engaged in the trans. What am I missing?

Chris,

Put a hand drill on the trans end of the speedo cable and see if you get any needle movement.

The gears can go bad, but it would be quite visible
if it did.

Is the cable end at the speedo good?

The cable is new and I tested it before I put it in. It is not spinning at the trans. Is it possible that where the gear engages inside the trans is not spinning or not there? Jamie Passon you out there?

The gear in the transmission is cut into the tail shaft,can't go bad.Either you speedometer is bad or the cable is too short.

So the gear in trans has to be there and can't wear out? That has to mean the speedo gear is bad because the cable spins freely when disconnected on both ends and does not spin when connected to the tranny and watched with the car moving. Right??

Do you have it indexed properly? Are you lining it up with the little triangle dot? If it isn`t the gears won`t touch. Mike

There are three different diameter gears.Are you sure you have the right one? The drive end of the gear is hardened where the cable goes in and I have never seen one go bad.The gear itself is pretty tough.It is easy to tell condition just by looking at it.I would still look at cable length,speedometer or correct gear installed properly.

Thanks for all the help guys . I am gonna look at it again. The only thing that makes sense now is that I don't have it indexed right because the gear looks fine. We shall see!

What about the triangle hole the cable actually engages with. Is it wallered out?

Edit: Pay no attention to that old man in the corner. He just had a brain-fart. CRS is setting in, me thinks

Hole is square,and I doubt you will ever find a bad one.Cable will twist before there is a problem with the pinion.Would still bet on wrong index or cable short in housing.Instead of pulling your hair out,disconnect the speedometer end,make sure the cable is in the housing as far as it will go and take a drive around the block.If the cable turns,then you have a speedometer problem.

Does the cable turn freely in the sleeve?

Disconnect the cable at the speedo.
Pull the adapter out of the trans.
Screw the cable onto the speedo adapter.

Is there enough cable protruding to engage the gear ???

Set the gear on the cable/adapter. Turn the gear.

Does the cable turn at the speedo end ??

Disconnect the cable from the adapter and connect the cable to the speedo. Mount the trans end of the cable in a drill and turn it on.

Does the speedo work ??

This just occurred to me ...

since both are helical gears its possible that you "think" you have them indexed but in fact they aren't meshing. I'd try putting the assmbly in as close to the indexed position as possible. Try to "feel" the engagement as it goes in - the speedo pinion should want to "screw in" in a sense. Try inserting a small screwdriver into the gear once its installed to see if you can turn it. If not then you'll know the gears are engaged.
If you can then you need to do more work !!

if you have the flexible speedo cable seated in the trans speedometer adapter & it's not turning when the driveshaft is then the gear for sure isn't meshing(wrong type of gear) & double check that the index mark you select on the aluminum adapter matches the # of teeth on the colored plastic speedometer pinion you are using.

Ive seen the nylonn gears worn.Ive changed a bunch of GMs at work and some Chryslers.They will wear not that they dont have teeh nut kind of wallow in the teeth.Hard to describe.Years ago it was a common problem.That and not having them indexed properly.Rocky

I agree that there may be a speedo problem. What you can do, is put the car up on a lift and have someone get in it, start it and put it in gear and actually go under and see if the gear shaft is spinning in the housing. Get a SMALL straight screwdriver and try to spin the gear when they are not "driving" the car. If it doesn't turn, the gear is indexed properly.
Jamie