The speedo on my 1988 range rover V8 jumps up and down when driving. I have checked the cable, by undoing it from the speedo dial at the back with the car off the ground and can see that the cable seems to spin but in a jerky way. When you push your finger against the cable end that sticks out though, it spins continuously, as I would think it should do normally.

Logic says to replace the cable, but does anyone know if it is a gear driven thing or magnets or something. I remember reading somewhere that the cable is in fact two cables joined, but I don't seem to be able to trace the cable once it goes up behind the engine.

Any ideas?

When I had that problem I just dripped 3 in 1 oil down the inner. My cable was one piece all the way to the drive which is located at the rear of the gear box, the only time you can spin it inner is if you pull it at the head end to dis-engage it from the drive.
Of course the inner may be broken they do that sometimes.

Fairly easy fix if its bust to repalce,also the input on the back of the spedo may be warn and need help.

OK, rather than messing about with it, I'll just replace the whole cable and outer. If it's all in one piece, then maybe just the inner cable.
Think the input on the dial is OK.

Beast, you say its easy, so do I just undo the gearbox end somehow. It doesn't look like a nut or anything, just some weird clip maybe? Then pull the inner through?

Some models do have a two piece cable, and yours may; theres a sender unit on the near side chassis rail, hidden behind a heat sheild, that contains a magnet and reed switch to give the EFi unit a speed signal. On later models with electronic speedo,it also provides the signal for that, and the second cable port is blanked off.
Had to look at mine recently (electronic head veriety) and wear in the sender unit meant that the shaft inside the sender was 'sticking'; if you are getting a jerky and intermittent speedo, could be the same deal; the shaft in the sender is sticking.
Its sealed, but I drilled out the rivets, cleaned it up, packed it with crease and glued and screwed the cap back on teh end..... seems to work OK.

OH... also becouse teh shaft sticks, cable gets wound up, and can 'click' in the sockets, and go round. Old trick, but with a butane soldering iron, I 'tinned' the ends of the cable and filed them square again to get a good tight fit. Provided the cable itself isn't strained or broke, can be a good way to get a bit more life out of one that would other wise be binned.

Cheers Teflon, but the cable runs up from the gearbox and behind the engine. There is no sender unit it seems, so I must have the normal cable/worm drive type.
I will take it off if I can and see what's what.

BTW, spot on with your guess it was a CV joint on the car. Haven't fitted the new one yet, getting it tomorrow, so will probably have more questions!

88RR said:

Cheers Teflon, but the cable runs up from the gearbox and behind the engine. There is no sender unit it seems, so I must have the normal cable/worm drive type.
I will take it off if I can and see what's what.

BTW, spot on with your guess it was a CV joint on the car. Haven't fitted the new one yet, getting it tomorrow, so will probably have more questions!

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If you haven't got the CV yet, check on the Paddocks (Though may have been Craddocks!) Web-site; was pricing up dampers and pretty sure that there was a CV joint 'Kit' on the front page, of 'Web-specials' and it was something like £30...... unless you've got a better price..... may be worth a look.

I saw that kit on the Paddocks website, but the picture is the same as on the Britparts website!
Anyway, I needed it quick so have got a local 4x4 garage to get one in tomorrow. Only about £5 more than the web.
They asked me if I needed a 9mm or 12mm rubber seal, so that may be another thing I will be asking about on this forum as I don't remember seeing a seal when I took the old CV apart.

88RR said:

I saw that kit on the Paddocks website, but the picture is the same as on the Britparts website!

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Your getting the hand of this Land-rovering M'larky quite quick, intcha!

88RR said:

They asked me if I needed a 9mm or 12mm rubber seal, so that may be another thing I will be asking about on this forum as I don't remember seeing a seal when I took the old CV apart.!

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Cant help you there; from 83 to 90 the RR parts book was in chaos as they brought in loads of changes shoving the thung up market.
Case of trawling through the microcat I'm afraid; may be worth trying to find the seriel numbers on the axle casing; and taking them if you can find and the chassis no with you when you buy..... or possibly easier to just get them to give you one of each! They cant be more than a few pence!

As far as Britpart goes, you couldn't wish for a better quality product, according to Britpart. I have no experience of them, but reading the forum tells me to stay well away if possible.

Yes, I have ordered 2 seals, they were about 60p I think. Thing is, I don't recall seeing any when I took the CV out, but I'm sure the garage will enlighten me.

Then it's just the speedo to fix, the water temp gauge, the bonnet release cable, the rust......