MG Car Repair: 1976 mgb speedometer cable noise, loose thumb, thumb nut

Question
QUESTION: Is it advisable to grease the speedometer cable?  It sounds like the cable is dry when I start driving is the morning.  Could the inner cable need lubrication?

ANSWER: Hi Fran,
Yes, it is advisable to lube the inner cable. That is the most cause I seen for cable failure. The cable gets dry and binds enough to break the inner cable off. The other major cause is a tight bend in the outer cable housing. Also loose thumb nut connectors at either end of the outer housings.
Howard

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QUESTION: Would you please advise me on how to disconnect the cable and pull out to inter cable and lubricate it.  Which end (at speedometer or at transmission) should I disconnect to pull out the inner cable and will it go back in ok without moving the car, etc. to get it to mesh with the gear?  Thanks.

Fran

Answer
Hi Fran,
Remove the thumb nut at the back of the speedometer and you can just pull the inner cable out all the way and you can just wipe the inner cable off with a cloth wet with any oil solvent like Mineral Spirits, kerosene, Diesel fuel or even a spray can of WD-40 or such. Then lube the whole length of the cable with a light grease and feed it back into the housing. If it stops before going all the way in just rotate the cable as you push it in. This will also allow it to connect the the small socket of the shaft that has the gear on it in the transmission. Then reconnect it to the speedometer and then connect the thumb nut to the back of the speedometer. If you have difficulty getting the end of the cable to slide into the back of the speedo, take a small screw driver into the back of the speedo and rotate the inner shaft a little and try again. The end of the cable is square and sometimes the cable and the socket are not aligned so you have to move one to get them to fit together.
Howard