Rattling Sound Instrument Cluster

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Hteverow
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My tercel:: 1986 SR5
Location: Maine

Rattling Sound Instrument Cluster

Post by Hteverow »

I've got this rattling sound that appears to be coming from the instrument cluster. It started recently, and makes a very regular sound that increases in frequency with speed. Sounds like rattly speedometer gears or something? Anyone with any experience fixing this/hearing this?
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Texas
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Re: Rattling Sound Instrument Cluster

Post by BaileySims »

I have a some what identical noise in my 87 toyota pickup. I would have to assume it would be the speedo cable or where it connects into at the back of the cluster. It only started to make noise after I pulled it out and put it back. I'm just going to remove it and put some grease on the cluster side and lube the speedo cable in hopes it will fix that noise.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Rattling Sound Instrument Cluster

Post by Petros »

easy thing to to try is to pull out the speedo cable from the trans end (unscrew the ferrule and slide out the inner cable). clean it off good, and than coat it with light grease as you slide it back into place (messy, but greased fingers work best for this job). make sure you slide some clean card board under the car so it does not drag on the ground and pick up sand and grit.

That usually stops most speedo noise. it could be coming from the speedo itself, but that is more rare and more effort, try lubing the cable and see if it helps, if not than you can move on to pulling the instrument cluster and try to get some silicone lube on the moving parts of the speedo. Not too much, but enough to freshen the 35 year old factory lube. if internal speedo parts are worn out and sloppy, causing internal rubbing and noise, usually best than to just replace the assembly. Usually you can find good ones at wrecking yards for $40, you just need to be paticet and check the local wrecking yards inventory regularly.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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