Speedometer not working in 72 Charger

[jboucher250]

Hi,

I have recently finished a complete restoration on my 72 Charger. Included with that restoration was a new 408 crate engine from Blueprint and a new 727 transmission from TCI.

I took the car out for my first test drive and one of the issues I have is that my speedometer does not work anymore. It worked with the old engine and trans. So far, the only test that I have performed is that I have unscrewed the speedometer from the transmission, and spun it in my hand and found that the speedometer works when I do that.

My next step was to take the speedometer gear out of the transmission to make sure I installed it correctly, but I quickly found that when I remove that plate from the transmission, fluid quickly starts to pour out. So, I was not able to do that - I quickly put it back in. This would be the old speedometer gear out of my 904 transmission.

Any advice on next steps would be appreciated, thanks

 

[Jerry Hall]

Your FSM should tell you how to clock the speedometer gear in correctly. I agree it's a messy job, but with an old speedometer cable end and a little patience you can get the gear engaged without actually pulling the gear.

 

[jboucher250]

Thanks, I will take a look at the manual tonight and look for a small tool i can use to try to spin it and see if it engages.

 

[jboucher250]

I took a look at the manual and now understand better. The gear holder has to be clocked correctly based on the gear in it. I was off on the wrong setting. I was able to rotate it, I can no longer spin the end by hand, so I am willing to bet this has solved it but I just won't be able to try the car our for a few days.

 

[Wietse]

Hope that was the issue you had.
Although i can tell you that the amount of transmission fluid that will come out is not much when you pull the speedo gear from the housing.
How i understood is that the oil there is just splashed over in that area, but it does not contain any oil that comes in direct contact with the sump.
Just catch it in a tray below, do what needs to be done.
After you can measure the quantity you lost, and add this amount of fresh tranny oil and no harm done.

 

[jboucher250]

Thanks all, I went for a test drive after clicking the speedo gear holder to the correct number and now the gauge works!