Speedometer Issue - What's likely wrong?

[ctaarman]

Hi folks,

I did a complete restoration of my Rallye instrument panel on my '70 AAR cuda. Everything disassembled, properly labeled, etc. then reassembled. My speedo had the needle broken off at some point during previous ownership and needed a new needle, but it still worked fine with the broken needle - no jumping. After removing the speedo from the cluster I fastidiously followed the directions on how to remove the needle. Held the back wheel while I gently pulled out the needle from the shaft from the front, put on the new needle face onto the existing needle and reinstalled gently. Made sure everything was flexible and freely moving, no binding, thought it was great. I put the cluster back in, snapped in the cable on the back, but the speedo is dead. No jumping, nothing. The odometer portion of the speedo works just fine.

Any help appreciated. I dread taking this thing all apart again. Is there a source for magic speedo additive?

 

[fasjac]

I’ve never worked on individual gauges but, replaced several speedo cables and gears. I’m sure you’ve checked that the cable seated in well on the speedo. If I remember correctly, there’s an ear that snaps in a plastic connector on the cable. Then eliminate the cable is not binding possibly.
then it sounds like you may have to revisit the gauge, since it was functional when you removed it.