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1990 Dodge Ram speedometer


CALCXX

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Anyone ever trouble shoot a Dodge Ram speedometer of 1990 vintage?

The odometer quit first. Now the speedometer wildly bounces around when first moving and then settles at speed with occasional 5-10mph bounce. Never been into a speedometer.

 

Where to look first?

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Maybe the speedo cable leading into the transmission or transfer case, if 4WD. Hopefully Oscar chimes in. But that's where I would start. Work from there to the back of the gauge cluster.

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The speedo bouncing could just be a cable problem.  A tweaked cable that's spinning out of round because of wear/damage or it's just sticking, but could also be an issue at the speedo.  I'd start with checking and maybe lubing the cable, maybe replace it if it's bad.  With most vehicles you can pull the cable out of the sheath from the transmission/transfer case end and put it back in without a problem.  If the cable is frayed then the sheath is probably also damaged and might need replacing, but a new cable will generally work pretty well for some time.

 

The odometer dying was probably unrelated to the needle bounce that you're now seeing.  I assume the gear that runs it took a dump, but have never had a Dodge speedo apart to know what to say to look for.

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Dodge cars of that year had already gone to electric pick up for speedo/ odo.

neons were known to have cold solder joints at the base of the cluster where the connectors plugged in. I fixed a couple by running the connections with a soldering iron.  The Lebaron had the same issue, and a sensor that screwed into the transmission that fails. 

My limited  Google skills showed on guy who swapped out a sensor on his 92 to fix it.

I would try cleaning connections at both ends if you don't find a cable drive.

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