jrpat

Hey guys, long time listener, first time caller.

I recently bought my first 1985 Porsche 944 used. It's in ok shape. My goal is to turn it into a racer.

It's definitely got some things wrong, first of which is that the speedometer doesn't work. After doing a bit of research I decided that the speedometer cable must be broken. So I ordered another one. When it came time to install it, I discovered (being the Porsche new guy) that the speedometer cable doesn't attach to the transmission, but rather to the front driver's side wheel, where there's a clip in the hub that holds the speedo cable in place. .

Now this is where it gets tricky. The guy I bought the car from took off the original rims and put some fancy ones on instead. They don't have the little hub cap clip to hold the speedo cable in place, so as a result, it kind of just sits there motionless, not turning (and thereby not turning the speedometer). So at this point I think the speedo cable isn't broken. Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:



Speedometer cable sticking out of the middle of the wheel. This is the view without taking anything off. It's sitting on the street right now looking exactly like this (ie, no dust cap, etc).

My question is: what's the best way to go about fixing this? I'd rather not buy new rims if possible, but y'all are the experts. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks very much for your time,
-James

marc abrams

Nothing tricky, you need the dust cap. The dust cap is part of the hub, not the wheel. Clean and repack the bearings too!

Holytin

The speedometer itself is known to fail as well. Maybe you should include this one in your decision?

jrpat

Thanks for the responses.

In terms of what part to buy for the dust cover, I've been looking around a lot online and I'm not sure exactly which part I need.

I've found this one: http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...-405-692-C-OEM

I'm thinking it might be what I need. It says "right" on it, but I'm guessing that might be because a lot of 944s are right hand drive? Or am I totally off?

Any advice for cleaning and repacking the bearings?

Thanks!

marc abrams

Part numbers: 477405691D cap
90011600302 clip

and for cleaning and repacking the bearings:
Be sure to use wheel bearing grease and not chassis grease. I don't use a packing tool, I just put a glob of grease in my hand and work it into the bearing. Why?, because I'm a man!

jrpat

Thanks for all the great info! I've placed the order for those two parts, I'll definitely post back here once I get those put on the car.

Out of curiosity, where do you go to figure out what part number you need? I don't have an owner's manual or anything.

Thanks!
-James

Holytin

Search the WWW for the PET Porsche 944 - that's the Porsche spare part catalogue.

jrpat

Thanks! That's a tremendous resource!

88Silver924S

Re: "I'm thinking it might be what I need. It says "right" on it, but I'm guessing that might be because a lot of 944s are right hand drive? Or am I totally off?"

The dust cap on some cars have a square hole in the center for where the speedometer cable comes through and the circlip then holds the cable; the dust cap drives the speedo cable. I don't recall if that is the case on our cars. Go to Google Images and type in "Speedometer cable dust cap" and you will see examples of a square hole in the center of the dust cap. Hope that helps.

StoogeMoe

If it's going to be a race car, why do you want a speedometer? Also, racers don't like that hollow spindle where the cable goes through. It's weaker than a solid spindle and has been known to fail at the track.

luv2ride

agreed. My front left wheel flew off before the back strait at Limerock. not a good feeling to have no front wheel . Spindle failure. No I've got no speedo and a solid spindle.