Thread: B13 SE-R Speedo Cable

I was driving my SE-R today at highway speed when suddenly the speedometer needle started to drop on its own, bouncing around at the 30mph mark, before dropping down to zero. Stopped at a gas station to check it out and noticed transmission fluid at the area where the cable attaches to the transmission. I disconnected the cable and pulled it up to inspect - I can't remember what it looked like when I hooked it up after installing the engine. Is it supposed to look like this or did a piece break off? I was also able to pull the actual cable out of the protective cover like it isn't even connected to the speedometer anymore.

Is this a regular issue or a bizarre fluke? Very strange. Trying to figure out if the cable itself is broken or if I have a more serious issue.

Just an update, I've played around with the cable a bit more today. I can rotate the pinion-end of the cable by hand and it moves the odometer, so that side seems to be okay. I need to figure out if the pinion-end of the cable has rounded off somehow, or if the speedometer pinion in the transmission has failed. Are either of these two common failures on a B13? I reinstalled the cable for now and it worked very briefly before dropping back down to zero.

It looks like the drive lug pulled out of the speedo pinion? It has been a long time since I last had eyes on a speedo cable.

Drive lug...I'll have to see if I can find an exploded view of the whole assembly so I can figure out what I'm looking at. Whatever happened seemed to cause a transmission fluid leak.

The cable you have now is done for. It's not supposed to pull out like that, out of the part that screws onto the speedo gear.

I have an extra cable you can have for $18 shipped and paypaled. It's not new, and a bit dirty on the outside but it's in good condition.

Thanks for the confirmation, it definitely seemed like something was seriously wrong with the cable itself. There isn't anything on it to really engage the pinion at this point.

Let me see if I can find anything locally for a speedo cable (unlikely) and I'll be in touch with you about the one you have. Thanks!

I have a new one as well if you need it (ended up with 2 new ones.)