Hi,

Have just bought my eldest a 1.3 petrol felicia, and notice that it is losing gearbox oil around the speedo drive. Having bought it a new seal, I set about removing the drive. Haynes says 'Remove the 9 mm bolt, slacken off the cable, slide the plate out and pull on the speedo cable withdrawing the drive as you go', or words to that effect. Sounds idyllic!

Worryingly, having removed the retaining plate, I find evidence of copious amounts of silicone sealant, clearly a previous owner has attempted a 'repair' :rotz:

Anyway, scraped away the remaining visible goo, and pulled gently on the speedo cable. Nothing, nada, not a millimetre of movement.

Have ordered a replacement drive as a standby, as I can see where this endevour may be heading, but I have just taken the opportunity to pop down the local scrappy, primarily to see if I could get a functioning one, but also to see how the thing should come out.

Well, having snapped the speedo cables on the two cars which were at the scrappy, I am now thinking it may not be just the silicone which is causing a problem. The replacement new drive comes from the local dealers on wednesday, but I still have the problem of how to get the old drive out. It's not terribly accessible as you know, and now that a new one is on its way, damage to the threads on the old one is less of an issue. However, I would rather not be retrieving bits of metal / plastic out of the gearbox.

If I could find a way to turn the drive, would this help to break whatever seal it has with the gearbox housing, or is it slotted in someway so that it has to be drawn out vertically?

Done a search on the other posts on the fora, but they all seem to adhere to this utopian notion that the drive will just withdraw easily on the end of the cable.

Help!

Edited 28 March, 200917 yr by Jon C

there is a knurled collar which you need to unscrew to get the cable out, be carful you dont drop the plastic drivegear into the gearbox too

Edited 28 March, 200917 yr by TeflonTom

ignore the arrow on the pic

you do not need to take the bolt or plate off

Yep, I know how to get the cable off, it's getting the drive unit out of the gearbox I am struggling with!

Have tou kept the cable attached while getting the drive out? Might give you more to pull on.

Whenever I have taken mine out it comes out with ease and there is no tension or resistance there.

Phil

Have tou kept the cable attached while getting the drive out? Might give you more to pull on.

Whenever I have taken mine out it comes out with ease and there is no tension or resistance there.

Phil

Yep!

....Haynes says 'Remove the 9 mm bolt, slacken off the cable, slide the plate out and pull on the speedo cable withdrawing the drive as you go', or words to that effect. Sounds idyllic!

.... I have just taken the opportunity to pop down the local scrappy, primarily to see if I could get a functioning one, but also to see how the thing should come out.

Well, having snapped the speedo cables on the two cars which were at the scrappy, I am now thinking it may not be just the silicone which is causing a problem. ....

Done a search on the other posts on the fora, but they all seem to adhere to this utopian notion that the drive will just withdraw easily on the end of the cable.

Help!

I followed the Haynes instructions too and never managed to shift it. (Checking gearbox oil)

I followed the Haynes instructions too and never managed to shift it. (Checking gearbox oil)

is that saying 'The Haynes instructions wont shift it', or 'it is unshiftable'?

It's like there's a step missing from the instructions. I gave up for fear of breaking something or dropping something in the box.

It's like there's a step missing from the instructions. I gave up for fear of breaking something or dropping something in the box.

Glad it's not just me! So, anyone have any hints? Missing lockscrew somewhere that the Haynes book does not let on?

I wonder if the gear boxes with unremovable speedo drives have had the drive gear removed every year or two as suggested in service schedule. Could be that servicing has been neglected by a previous owner? Silicone sealant?! Yikes! O rings aren't too difficult to get hold of.

Have you tried leaving the retaining plate in situe and using that to lever the drivegear out?

As above it may have been neglected to be taken out and has maybe seized together slightly.

Phil

there's no lock screw, you just need to **** it to get it out on some of them

of course it's easier if you have a slide hammer and the gearbox is out

i leave the cable and everything attached, undo and slide out the U plate, then just pull like feck on the cable.

if its to stiff, use a flat skrew driver to leaver it up using the slot the U plate went in to.