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'97 analog speedometer quit

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Old Nov 1, 2018 | 06:15 PM
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'97 analog speedometer quit

My beater '97 f150 regular cab, short box 4x4 with the 4.6 and m5od speedometer quit working a while back. The odometer and trip meter too. I replaced the vehicle speed sensor and no dice. The old one was physically broken, however. This was several months ago. Pretty sure I got out all the pieces before installing it. Every now and again the speedometer will move, but not to anywhere near the speed I'm going and not for long. Ideas? Thanks.
 
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Old Nov 1, 2018 | 09:11 PM
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Old Nov 1, 2018 | 09:43 PM
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Originally Posted by steve(ill)
Thanks for that.... Do you know if there is a similar plastic gear that drives the speedometer too?
 
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Old Nov 2, 2018 | 04:53 PM
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don't you have a cable screwed into the back of the speedo ? If NOTHING works, I think I would check the drive cable / input to the speedo.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ive+gear,16095
 
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Old Nov 2, 2018 | 04:57 PM
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I haven't pulled the guage cluster yet. I don't think these trucks have a mechanical speedometer cable. Can anyone confirm?
 
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Old Nov 2, 2018 | 04:59 PM
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I thought 1997 there was a cable input, then two sets of gears inside to drive speedo and odometer ................... the LATER trucks have digital inputs................ I may be off a few years... by 1997 there may be an electrical input that drives a MOTOR that turns the gears... I believe that is right.
 
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Old Nov 3, 2018 | 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by steve(ill)
I thought 1997 there was a cable input, then two sets of gears inside to drive speedo and odometer ................... the LATER trucks have digital inputs................ I may be off a few years... by 1997 there may be an electrical input that drives a MOTOR that turns the gears... I believe that is right.
i ordered two gear sets as neither speedometer nor odometer are working. They were cheap enough on fleabay. Hopefully this works.
 
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Old Nov 7, 2018 | 07:01 PM
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I replaced the drive gear on the speedometer yesterday. The driven gear was different than the one in the kit I received (same part number from the video above) but the old one looks ok so I reused it. No dice. Thinking maybe the wires from the vss to the speedometer got damaged. I'll have to get under the truck and check them out later.
 
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Old Nov 12, 2018 | 09:49 PM
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Input for 97 odometer/trip meter is mechanical. Often a tiny gear in the instrument cluster goes bad. But speedometer is electrical I believe. One of the wires connected to the cruise control servo carries electrical speed signal (whether cruise control is in place or not) and I believe the same signal is fed to the instrument cluster.
 
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Old Nov 13, 2018 | 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by paker
Input for 97 odometer/trip meter is mechanical. Often a tiny gear in the instrument cluster goes bad. But speedometer is electrical I believe. One of the wires connected to the cruise control servo carries electrical speed signal (whether cruise control is in place or not) and I believe the same signal is fed to the instrument cluster.
This is interesting because the cruise had not been working for some time as well. Might be related... I'll have to do some additional investigation and report back later.
 
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Old Dec 16, 2018 | 07:05 PM
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Turns out the gear inside the transfer case was stripped... Swapped out the$11 part. Speedometer working now.
 
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Old Jul 1, 2023 | 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by stephen.osborne1
I haven't pulled the guage cluster yet. I don't think these trucks have a mechanical speedometer cable. Can anyone confirm?
I can confirm that they do have the speedometer cable. Ford did away that a long time ago when they went to more electronics. Your local Ford parts dealer can tell if you call them.
 
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Old Jul 1, 2023 | 04:08 PM
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No speedometer cable for your truck. I called the Ford parts department, Being that I have the same problem, no speedometer meter and no trip meter too.
 
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Old Jul 1, 2023 | 04:09 PM
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Originally Posted by stephen.osborne1
I haven't pulled the guage cluster yet. I don't think these trucks have a mechanical speedometer cable. Can anyone confirm?
I can confirm that they do have the speedometer cable. Ford did away that a long time ago when they went to more electronics. Your local Ford parts dealer can tell if you call them.
 
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Old Jul 1, 2023 | 04:14 PM
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DMy bad....they do NOT have the cable. To confirm this you can call your local Ford Dealer and make sure you ask for the Parts extension.
Good luck. I have the same problem with my 1997 Ford Lariat F-150.
 
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