Hi

I have a 1990 Ford f250 4x4 with the 7.3 diesel and e4od transmission

The transmission overdrive light was flashing so I borrowed a code reader and ultimately it was determined that it was the vehicle speed sensor which I'm assuming is the piece on the transfer case where the speedometer cable attaches into as well as a plug

Anyways since the speedometer cable was probably factory original and was actually reading strangely (slow speed variable speed Etc) I decided to change the speedometer cable as well as the sensor that it plugs into

Anyways today I managed to get everything done except for the life of me I cannot get the speedometer cable to physically stay in the sensor

When I took the old one out (the speedometer cable) it seemed almost come out by itself well maybe not quite that easy but I had to pull pretty hard and it popped out ultimately...

I was trying to put the speedometer cable back in while the sensor and everything was bolted into the transfer case but I couldn't get it to work so I decided to take off the sensor and assemble it as a unit underneath the truck and then reattach the sensor inside the transfer case

But for the life of me that funny looking cotter type pin I can't get the cable in .... Basically what has to happen is the cable has to push against an o-ring inside the sensor and somehow that clip holds everything together

I tried pushing it in from the top but I'm worried that I'm going to put so much pressure on it and I'm going to crack the plastic gear that I had on the pavement on a paper towel

I even tried taking the funny looking funny shaped pin out pushing the other piece in and trying to put it in afterwards but I can't seem to get it all to fit together So the pin holds the cable into the sensor

Anyways is there any trick to doing that? I've been working on it for literally hours on and off with no real luck

I almost hate to resort to straight push through cotter pins and then flaring them at the end because I don't think it would have the same contact area that that funny shaped pin would have in keeping the whole Cable in

Here are some pictures which I hope will explain what I'm talking about

Thanks in advance for any and all help

In this picture I thought somehow cocking it to get it in would work but it doesn't work or I couldn't get it to work at least ... Hoping there's some trick to getting it in that I'm overlooking or not doing

Basically that ridge on the speedometer cable needs to go underneath that cotter pin looking piece but I can't seem to force it through there

Here is another picture of the funny looking cutter type pin where that ridge needs to go underneath so the speedometer cable fits inside the sensor and that funny shaped pin holds it in place with tension .... I'm almost at the point of trying to just shove a couple cotter pins in and flaring them to have it hold in there

 

Pull out on the pin, but don't pull it all the way out. Then, while holding the pin out, push the speedometer cable in. Then push the pin back in, to the position it's in, in the above picture. That's it's seated position.

 

It's at the 3:45 Mark in this video:

 

Does the new cable fit in the old sensor?