# Speedometer Cable Issues, '89 Sentra



## The Red Flame (Jan 13, 2012)

Yes I did a search and found a few old threads on this...

So the issue is my wife drove one of our B12s to work yesterday and on the way home the speedo and odo just quit. Today on the way to work she says it didn't work at first, then it bounced all over the place for a while, then it was normal for 5-10 miles, and when she got off the highway it quit again.

I have owned B12s for about 10 years now so I have done quite a few repairs but have not had any issues with speedometer cables until now. From what I read, there should be a bung somewhere on the transmission and then a cable that comes up, through the firewall and into the back of the gauge cluster.

I'm going to be diagnosing this soon (don't want a ticket and it's hard to keep track of speed on the open road). I want to know all the possible faults. From what I read it should be one of the following:

1) Transmission end came loose or teeth are stripped
2) Gauge cluster end came loose
3) Cable broke, or
4) Any combination of the above.

Questions:
I don't have the car here to look at but is finding the cable pretty obvious, just see where it goes through the firewall and trace it back to the tranny? Which end is easier to get to, tranny or gauge cluster? Will anyone in the world stock speedometer cables for B12 Sentras if I need one?


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Nissan is the only one I know of that sells replacement speedo cables for your B12. The transmission end is the easiest to get to, as the cluster end requires removal of said cluster. From the top of the engine compartment, look straight down from the driver's side near the firewall. You should be able to see the cable. Sometimes they can be a little stubborn to break loose. Spray a little P-blaster and a crowsfoot on a long extension to break it loose and then you should be able to unscrew it by hand. The pinion assy. is held into the trans with a 10mm head bolt. Once removed, a little twist and it should pull straight up (in theory), but they can be stubborn to, at times (the joys of a 20 year old car!). Once removed, you can inspect the teeth on the plastic gear; they typically "apple-core," as I call it...where the center area teeth that engage the drive gear strip. If the gear is okay, more often then not, it's the cable that's failed. They tend to loose grease and will bind with the metal cable housing. Sometimes you can remove the inside cable and grease it, but it depends if the cable has already started to fray or not.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

I had to change the cable on my 90 sentra and having never done one before I can say it was fairly easy. I bought mine from the dealer about 4 years ago and I think it cost about $30. Never found one from any aftermarket company.

I think it is also common for the cluster end of the cable to break off and when you remove the cluster it may still be in the back of the speedo.


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## The Red Flame (Jan 13, 2012)

Okay, I'm working on this now. I took out the transmission end, it was only finger tight. But there's now gear there, just a metal piece that I can best describe as a tooth on a skeleton key. When I spin that end quickly by hand, the speedometer bounces up to about 2-5 MPH. 

Now I've got the gauge pod mostly apart, do I need to snap out the clear plastic, or remove the four screws? I think I'll start with the screws.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

the plastic gear is on the bottom of the pinion assy., inside the trans. If you look at where you removed the speedo cable from on the trans, you should see a 10MM head bolt close to it. Remove the bolt and the pinion assy. will pull out of the transmission. Once you remove the speedo pinion assy. from the transmission, you can inspect the plastic drive gear.


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## The Red Flame (Jan 13, 2012)

Okay, I removed the four screws, removed the gauge cluster. Everything looked fine, but when I pulled on the square white end of the speedometer cable it just came out. So the end was sheared, and the occasional contact was enough to make the speedometer sometimes work. Looks like I'll be visiting a Nissan dealer tomorrow.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

as I said common problem, glad you found it


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## The Red Flame (Jan 13, 2012)

Do you think I should grab two cables at the dealership and keep one as a spare? I do have two B12s after all...


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

wouldn't hurt to replace the other one than you wouldn't have to worry about it for a long time.

Should do the tach cluster swap while you have it out, unless your car has one already. Just if you ever do the cluster swap do it my way and not the unnecessary cut and splice wire way, it's in a sticky on here, top of forum


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## The Red Flame (Jan 13, 2012)

ahardb0dy said:


> wouldn't hurt to replace the other one than you wouldn't have to worry about it for a long time.
> 
> Should do the tach cluster swap while you have it out, unless your car has one already. Just if you ever do the cluster swap do it my way and not the unnecessary cut and splice wire way, it's in a sticky on here, top of forum


I just ordered one cable, it was $50. 10 business days out, he said it ships from Tennessee. I'll do the other one some other time. Maybe I'll pull the old one from the B12 I'm not driving for the meantime, so I can tell whether I'm going 65 or 90...

I would love to get a gauge cluster with tach, but the nearest one is 200 miles from here. Heck I'm lucky to find any B12 in a local junkyard these days. I'll look around though and read your sticky. Is there a way to retain my current odometer reading? That's the other thing holding me back.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

When I swapped mine, I took the odometer from mine and used it in the new cluster.

Don't know what's going on with the B12's at junkyards lately, maybe they are getting harder to find?? My one local junkyard keeps inventory online and I haven't seen anything older than 92 listed for last few months, other junkyard I was at last Monday had ONE B12 and it was older and didn't have much left to it.


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## Crazy-Mart (Jul 14, 2002)

i bought some from a part store (aftermarket).. just call them you never know ... as for them beeing brittle, i havent had any problems with them but : rolling over 200km/h wich will snap the cable and mating it to the transmission without making sure the keyway was right in ... wich just wont work ...


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