Has anybody got any tips on fitting a speedo cable (top half) to an STI 2?
I have had the dash out and the inner cable is broken about 80cm down and pulled straight out!
Any help would be apreciated as i am getting fed up with being limited to 4000rpm!!!
Cheers....JAMES

 

Howdy...

Erm..not alot I can say... disconnect both ends (gearbox end is a little tricky)... and pull it out..try taping the new one onto the end before you pull it out... might help..

J.
ps - I bet 4K sucks... lol
pss - Where are you based ?

[This message has been edited by firefox (edited 14-11-1999).]

 

Jay/Firefox thanks for the reply.
This might sound a little silly but how easy is the gearbox end to access,and how would i go about it? can i just get an inner cable and feed it down or does the whole lot need replacing? Also where would the MPH/KPH converter be, and how this affect the repair?
Sorry for the questions but i havnt looked that hard at it yet and am evaluating doing it myself aposed to giving the car to a dealer.
Btw i am based just south of leicester in Market Harborough. If your passing feel free to drop in and say hello, I run the car/cycle shop in the town center, and can sell you a dam good air freshner!
Cheers...JAMES

 

James.

Don't need to tell you how to remove the d/board, as you've obviously already had it out (Don't drive the car with the dashboard out/disconnected!!!)

Pull the top cable, (approx. 30 inches long) out of the connector with the spring clip on it, the clip is a swine to seperate.

Pull the cable into the car through the open dashboard aperture, try not to pull out the fire wall grommet and insert the new one back through the grommet.

Fit the speedo cable to the dashboard speedo socket, make sure when you put the dashboard back in that you have fitted all of the multi-plug connectors, not only to the back of the d/board itself but also to the outer d/board surround.

If you forget to connect the hazard light plug, your indicators won't work (for example)

The last bit is the hardest, connect the male end of the new cable into the female socket above the g/box housing (or probably into the reduction g/box if you have had the relevant speedo conversion (KMh to MPH), regardless it is still blo*dy awkward.

It will be easier if you remove the heat shield from the clutch fluid reservoir, 1 bolt 12mm spanner, just loosen it and pull the shield off (down slightly then wiggle it forward).

If you can't get at it then take your turbo heat shroud <I>(correct name?)</I> off and you should be able to get at it.

Make sure you re-fit the rubber boot on the connector once it is engaged correctly and make sure you keep the cable away from the exhaust.

Don't pull the cable too hard when re-fitting in the engine bay or you will pull it off the back of the speedo.

Drive your car and don't let it drop below 4000 RPM for maximum grin factor.

Mike.

 

Got my cable converted by Speedy Cables (London) 0171 226 9228.
Connected the cable gearbox loosely to see where it fitted best (you may have to rotate it to stop it snagging on master cylinder/ hoses).
Tighten it up when you've sorted that out.
Feed the speedo end into the bulkhead, I cut the grommet so I could 'wrap' it around the cable and re-use it.
by removing the panel under the drivers knees (6 screws- 2 between door and end of dashboard) and 2'clips' pull that away and you will find by lying under the steering wheel (some athleticism required here) and you can reach all the way under the dash to re-connect the speedo with it mounted in place. whole job took about 1 hour taking it slowly.
Take special note of where the cable goes between master cylinder and bulkhead to avoid frying it on the turbo.

good luck..fairly easy job, just take your time.

Connect to gearbox (

 

James

Did you get your cable sorted out?
If so, where ?

My 94WRX speedo cable has just gone
Not sure what side of the in-line reduction gearbox.
Quick inspection seems to show all the cables ends are plugged in tight
but can't get sufficient access to disconnect it and check exactly where it has failed.

Anyone have any recommendations for suitable speedo conversion specialists, preferably in the South (Hants/Berks/WestLondon) area?
Would prefer to only have to pay for a suitable replacement cable rather than a whole new cable / reduction gearbox assembly

Thanks

 

Hi Stephen.
Yes i did get my speedo sorted.
Originaly Graham Goode were getting me the cable, but when it arived it was totaly wrong!The cable i had taken off had a screw on end oposed to push/clip in of standard.
I found out that just about all early cables were the same.
So then traced the car back to the importer and it turned out they had had a kmp/mph conversion done by Seedy Cables of london.
I rang them the week before xmas and sent it back it arived back 3 days later with a new inner cable fitted at the cost of about £12, a bit better than the original parts £50 from Goodes.
It took 5 minutes to fit and i had full power straight away.
Graham Goodes were very good, they took the time to sourc both english and Japanese cables for me to compare. Also speedy cables were excelent to have a 3 day turn around that close to christmas. I dont know how much the conversion is but it looks a lot more simple to others ive seen.
Hope this helps....JAMES

 

(replying via the BBS as it doesn't record your email address)

Thanks for the info
I'm not sure about the "took 5 minutes to fit" -- the cable seems to be extremely difficult to get to, especially the gearbox end.
Maybe you only had to replace the 'top' section from speedo to reduction box ?

Any advise on how to get access to the cable and remove the bottom section from the gearbox ?
(sounds like it either screws in or clips in -- either way I don't see how one can get sufficient access to get your hand/arm etc down their, nor from underneath)

Stephen

 

Yes Stephen, your right it was only the top half that was snapped. And it did only take 5 minutes(in the dark aswell!).
I didnt look at the bottom half so dont realy know what to expect. But i took the intercooler off when i first was looking for the cable which made life a lot easier.
....JAMES

 

Well I took out the top section of the speedo cable, and that was fine (unfortunately!).
Then removed the in-line reduction gearbox (after a struggle to get access to it) and that was fine.

Managed to get the bottom section of the cable off from the gearbox, relatively easily (see below) and confirmed that is what had failed.

The bottom section is actually in two parts (as mentioned on other speedo cable posts)
with an inline joint held with a simple spring clip covered with a red rubber cover.

The bottom end screws into the gearbox -
brown plastic connector under a red rubber cover.
Can get at it reasonably well from under the car (car up on ramps).
Need a short handled 17mm spanner.
Thread is normal right handed

In my case it was the inner cable in the very bottom section of the cable. It had come loose from one of the cable ends.
Managed to re-crimp it and its ok now
(well actually I haven refitted the top part of the cable yet, but everything is rotating properly.)

Hopefully these notes will be of help to other people in the future

Also for info - the normal direction of rotation, when driving forward, is anti-clockwise as looking into the back of the speedo, or clockwise as looking into the connector hole in the gearbox.

Stephen

 

Exactly what ive been looking for, know this was all written a while ago, but useful things like this should be refreshed every now and again

cheers for the write up.