One small screw holds the speedo cable in the transmission. It should pull out easy when screw is removed and usually the gear will come out with the cable unit. If not a set of needle nose pliers will do the job. If the gear looks good then check for a broken cable which is quite likely. It could also be the gear on the trans shaft that could be bad if everything else looks good. That's a little more difficult to fix than the others. Good luck.



-Gary Burnette-

I believe the gear on cable is either not engaging gear in transmission or the gear is missing in transmission,  How can I tell?  Wish I had video probe to look in there.

I had a speedo problem on my Parklane.  A rebuilt C4 and a new cable had been installed, but the speedometer still didn't turn.  I took the speedometer out of the dash and worked on it a bit -- think I only moved it by hand -- it ultimately freed up and works fine now.  The car sat for many years but all it needed was a nudge.

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

No one got the correct gear problem - he is talking about the gear on the output shaft if I read it correctly.  The only was is to be sure that the gear is there is to get one of those scopes with a flexible shaft to look in side or  remove the tailhousing.  You might try putting your finger in the hole to see if you can feel it, but your finger may not be long enough.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Paul, I think you've got it right. I don't mean to seem like a s....a.., but I've got a magnetic pick up with an LED on the end. It's amazing where you can take a photo with it and a smart phone camera. Lot of of them are wrong, ' cause you can't see where it's pointing, but take a lot. They're free, you just delete them. One might show the gear, and the shape it's in, or if it's gone. Cheaper than a scope.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

It’s not a big job to simply pull the speedo cable from the tranny and see if the gear comes out with the cable.  If no gear, then do a little probing in the speedo hole area to see if the gear is visible.  If the speedo cable is intact but no gear, then simply put another gear on the tranny end of the cable and give it a try.  Using some white grease on the speedometer gear will help to hold it in place while the cable is being reinserted into the tranny.
 
Keep in mind that the speedometer gear design changed for the 1957 models and the ’56 and earlier gears are specific to those earlier models.  If the transmission has been changed out to a ’57 or newer model, then the ’57 and up speedometer cable and gears are used to facilitate that change.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

The gear is on the cable and installed in transmission but the cable does not turn when driving,  I am suspecting that gear on trans shaft is missing and I was asking if that is a big job to open up trans to install new gear, Whipper

Depends on your definition of a ‘big job’.  The tail housing comes off of the transmission relatively easy once the drive shaft is removed.  You may get by with simply raising the transmission enough to unbolt the transmission mount so that the tailhousing can be slipped off.  A more drastic scenario is where you’d have to remove the transmission mount to get the tail housing free of the transmission. Be prepared to replace the tail housing gasket.  If the rear bushing and/or seal is worn, then this is a good time to replace those.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)