55T-Bird speedo gear
Asked by Gordon Jul 19, 2016 at 11:30 AM about the 1955 Ford Thunderbird
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My 55 T-Bird speedo gear kept striping the teeth, anyone have an answer why
and how to fix it . I have changed the gear 6 times already , my mechanic don't
have an answer as to why .
8 Answers
Check to see if the speedo cable is free. properly lubricated and not binding or kinked. Also checking the drive gear might reveal the problem. The speedo cable gear is the driven gear.
The cable is new , has lubrication , the gear looks like is not fully engage , 3-4 teeth gets chew up enough so is not engage any more , what is the correct # of teeth to use ? I've used a 19 tooth , and try the 20 tooth, it works for 2-3 weeks , then don't work . do any one have a metal gear in use?
The number of teeth only matches the speedo accuracy to the rear gear and tire size. You might need to look at the drive gear in the transmission and hope it is not bad. Some of them are pretty hard to find.
Thanks Bob , that's what I'm trying to avoid of dropping the transmission to get to that gear , that will be my last straw , any other ideas are welcome . Thanks Can the right angle adapter to the transmission be of problem ?
Not unless it is binding. Putting a bind on the speedo cable, too much force needed to turn the gear and the cable and a broken or otherwise defective drive gear could in theory all damage the plastic driven gear. Is the transmission original to the car or has it been changed?
The transmission comes with the car when I bought it , the speedo gear last longer back then , now is getting worse , this last gear I put in lasted 2 weeks . I have the 293 automatic transmission . My mechanic friend tells me , need to drop the trany to get to that gear . no other way to do it .
Dropping the trans to get to the gear won't be good if it is not bad. Also I would make sure I had a replacement gear before I did that and some of them are difficult to find.
