Series 3 Speedo cable removal question

Hi ,
Having issues with speedo so planned to replace the cable , should be pretty straight forward .... of course not. Have taken the screws & bracket off , the manual seems to show it just slots in , no further retainer , but guess what the cable doesn't want to come out of the gearbox . Have given it a decent tug , but seems well stuck . So before I start applying pliers and gorilla strength , which could well see me breaking it , I wondered if anyone has had a similar experience , or has any advise
Ta
Steve

From memory, it's just 3 screws holding the bracket in... Should just pull out

Nowt to stick from memory.
Just a straight rod on the end of the cable.

Do lube the new one before fitting though. They tend to bounce the needle a bit.

Well gave it a big tug with the pliers and it came out , looks like the cable had been flattened and forced in . Fitted the replacement , and ended up having give both ends a whack with a hammer to widened/ flatten them enough to engage at both the drive & gauge ends . Unfortunately the wildly bouncy reading remained , Checked the drive element by using a drill which produces a smooth steady rev , still bouncing all over the place ... may end up having to look at the actual gauge . Will give some thought

stag888 said:

Well gave it a big tug with the pliers and it came out , looks like the cable had been flattened and forced in . Fitted the replacement , and ended up having give both ends a whack with a hammer to widened/ flatten them enough to engage at both the drive & gauge ends . Unfortunately the wildly bouncy reading remained , Checked the drive element by using a drill which produces a smooth steady rev , still bouncing all over the place ... may end up having to look at the actual gauge . Will give some thought

Click to expand...

Think about it........................
The inner cable is braided rope. If for any reason it is snagging on a bend it will stop turning until the drive side tightens up and springs the whole length back into action. Thats the bounce..............repetitive starting and stopping. It needs lube.

Check output flange nut on rear of gearbox is not loose the speedo drive gear is only fixed to the shaft by pressure from this nut.

I to have a bouncing wildly inaccurate speedo so I will keep an eye on this thread before tackling the issue.

Thanks for the thoughts & the link , much to consider !!!! , Did lube up the new cable , and really tried hard to route it smoothly , so don't think that's it , have managed to borrow a gauge ( which I don't know the condition - another variable) , so will have a play again this weekend , lets hope either by elimination or luck I get a result .
Ta

Make sure it's well located at the dash end. The clip fitting is very stiff, possibly not fully located.

Take it for a spin with the clock end stuck out the dash and pinch the end betwixt digits. You should feel a steady spin even under a little pressure.
Not easy as you can feel its perfect until its bent back to the rear of the clock and the extra bending makes it snag again...............

Well tried the spare speedo , that made the difference , tested initially with the drill , and the bouncing had disappeared , so decided to swap speedo's . unfortunately not all series speedos are the same , turned out the good one had a threaded connector for the cable , not the type that clips on like the one the cable is designed for ... managed to modify using some copper tubing... then realised the threaded prongs on the rear used to put the brackets that hold the speedo to the dash where half the length , so had to modify the brackets , also no place to attach the voltage regulator , so another mod. but finally back in .
Took the best of the advise , lubed the cable , ensured no severe bends , and off for a test run . All good , smooth ... however under reads by approx 15% ... says 25 doing 30 . That'll be down to my larger wheels / tyres... so in the end got there , and now able to swap a speedo & cable as quick as a formula 1 pit team . Hopefully I never need to .
Cheers
Steve

The series speedo drive uses a ratio of 2.2:1 and correction for tyre size is done at the speedo head ...

A bit more info on alternative drive gears can be found here

Well didn't take long for me to decide I wanted the speedo to read correctly so had to find a 1408 speedo , took about a week , GO ONE , cleaned it up , new rubbers , re sprayed the bezel & fitted , all good.... as near as identical / accurate on speed with the sat nav & going back to the original issue the has flickering gone . Touch wood definitely all sorted .
Cheers
Steve