Corvair Forum

My 63 Corvair speedometer just went out on me after 40 miles of driving it on the freeway for the first time. ( just got the car last week). . How tuff of a job is it to fix it. and any tips you can help me with to make it work again.
Thanks , Cargoil

I am not sure on earlie's but it could be a simple as putting on the dust cap on the driver side front wheel. On the 65-69's the dust cap turns the cable that operates the speedometer. Otherwise the cable is bad or the speedo is worn or bad. So Could be an easy fix or could take a half a day. You have to find out what's wrong and get the parts first of course.
If the dust cap is loose or missing start there. If it is there remove it and see how easy it is to spin the cable. If the cable spins freely it is either broken or got loose from the back of the speedo. If all that checks out you probably need a new speedometer. Make sure the ends of the cable are good as well as the places they fit into if just one of those is stripped it will not work. I am not sure what lube is recommended but lube it while you have it apart.

The 1963 is not like the 65 and later cars. 60-64 feed the speedometer with a cable from the side of the transaxle. A failed speedometer can be cause by a failed cable, a failed drive gear in the transaxle, or a failed speedometer proper, with the cable being the most common culprit. Take both ends of the cable off (speedo end and transaxle end) look to see if the ends of the center drive cable are in one piece. If it is not broken on either end , with both ends loose twist the center cable. Is it smooth? Does the other end turn? The speedometer drive can be removed from the transaxle and inspected for a worn gear. If these things all look good try turning the speedometer head where the cable attaches with your fingers. It should move freely and the indicator needle should move when it is spun.

The cable is not terrible to replace. Follow it from the side of the transaxle (it attaches to the left side forward of the axle) and you will see that the most annoying parts are pulling up the front carpet, dealing with the grommet at the firewall, and perhaps fishing the new cable into place.

The speedo itself it also not aweful to service. Drop steering column loose for clearance. Remove Speedometer cluster (which involves removing automatic shifter if so equiped and disconecting a number of wires). I have had erratic speedos work fine after a good cleaning and lubrication, but, generally if the needle doesnt move at all and the problem is internal to the speedo itself it is usually a worn drive gear or other broken guage part and a used replacement is often the easy way out.

Thank you for the tips. I will do more investigation to see what is really wrong.

I have a 65 corvair and the Speedo cable works when I drove it with the cable out I saw the drive turning on the end. When I put it in the actual speedometer though it didn't work at all. What's is the problem?

You have posted the same question in multiple areas. See the responses at your other post...
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=11239&p=77156#p77156

How do you remove the speedometer gear from the transaxle? New cable, speedometer is working, when I spin the back wheel the gear will only turn if I have screwed all the way in, which prevents me from putting the clamp back on it?