Annoying squeak from speedometer

Hi all, brand new first post, but long time toyota truck owner since the 70's. I've never had speedometer squeak issues since my old 59 chevy. How much trouble, and/or expense is it to grease up the offending part? Do they even use cables anymore? Can it be done from underneath the dash, up on a rack or how? Anybody have this issue? At around 60mph it can occur, but not always and it seems affected by ambient temps. I would need to have a shop do this as I'm not young enough to fit underneath it anymore. Type of shop? Back in the day there were speedometer shops. Haven't seen one of those in years. The dealer would probably charge alot, but thinking of going there.

 

I have the same issue in the morning's my is super noise! how do you oil it?!?! Help tacomaworld!

 

I googled this issue and found lots of similar complaints. I could not find any readily available solution. I'm living in a new area and planning on making friends with the local dealer when I get an oil change. I'll ask about a fix.
Mine doesn't do it all the time, but when it does....ARGHH!!!! On a road trip it can make you crazy. Where to and how to put the oil is the question as to silencing it. I've heard it's common to tacomas(1st gen anyway)
Whats your mileage btw? I'm at 72k

 

I found mechanic who worked on another issue(an obscure, intermitant squealing noise) and did great so I'm going to let him grease the gears for my speedometer. My 04 does not have a cable as far as I know. He thinks it's just dry gears behind the dash assembly.

 

i had this too but i no longer have a dash lol. when you pull out the gague cluster it should pop off of this thing, i think you just need to oil inside where it pops off at. you will see what im talking about if you do it.

 

I'm pretty sure we still have a mechanical speedometer...

 

My speedo squeal is gone and what a relief. My new mechanic guy took the cluster out and greased the gears that comprise the speedometer drive. Worked and I'm very happy.

 

UPDATE: well that was back in February I had the squeal fixed. Now it squeals under a new set of circumstances. If I'm going down the highway and a large truck passes me going the opposite way I get a brief squeal then it stops. It seems to be tied to the change in air pressure or flow. Either the truck forces a blast of air in thru my grill or it just changes the ambient air pressure as it passes. It seems more the former than latter, but I'm not positive. I heard a gal in a coffee shop mention that her truck coming into town was making a squeal at higher speed, but in colder weather only for now. I asked her if it was a Toyota and she says "yep". Her thought was air coming from a vent or fan and said it seemed to stop when she closed the vent or put it on recir. I tried this and had no change or effect.
There's got to be a lot of folks with this issue. I'm leery of chasing it with more money so will just live with it for now. Any one have any insightful info to share?

 

You have to pull the cluster, inject graphite into the cable, white grease anything else you can find. It's a long-term problem, had it with my 1990 and my 1997. The colder outside the temp is, the worse it gets. This problem actually prompted selling both of those trucks it annoyed me so much.

 

Thanks, you sold your trucks on acccount of this? I'd actually thought of that LOL! Why the heck are the dealers so clueless about this common issue then? No TSB's out, so they say. It's like "never heard that one before" when you tell them. What puzzles me is why when a big semi passes it sets it off. WTF does that have to do with a cable needing grease? (shrugs)

 

I just posted about this and am not sure if its the same sound I am hearing from the dash area..it almost sounds like a radio frequensy type squeel at high speeds...I have taken out my glove box and stereo to try and figure this out, and selling my truck over this has crossed my mind as well as it drives me nuts not knowing what the loud intermitten squeel radio typ sound is in the damn dash lol

 

I'm resurrecting this damn thread. My 96 has 220k on it and I actually had a cable go back inside its sheathing a few years back, so I had to buy a brand new cable. 2 years have passed and now it's squealing like hell in cold temps again. I've already sprayed grease/lube all over it, but it's a temporary fix. Kinda ridiculous.

 

the cable design is ridiculous and that's why they got rid of it in 99.

 

Makes me wonder if I should stop putting money into my 96...just drive it and down the road grab a newer one. Kinda weird that it would do that though. My Mazda Rx7 had 180K on the chassis and the cable broke once, but never squealed or had any issues besides the one break.

 

I actually laughed out loud at all the owners in this old thread that have a 2nd gen and are talking about lubing the cable and gears. 2nd get Tacoma trucks are 100% electronic.


As for your issue Smog, unfortunately you already did the wrong process for lubricating. you do not ever use fluid lubrication for speedo cables. You have to use dry graphite, and it usually lasts a good 5-10 years or more. The problem with fluid lubricants is that they tend to eventually get stiff, and not stay where they are supposed to. You can try and get some graphite and squirt some into the cable end where the speedo is located. Hopefully it will help for a while longer.

 

Found out the squeak is windshield seal is loose, coming apart. Vibrates at highway speeds and also affected by temperature & passing large vehicles. Pushing it out from inside will stop noise temporarily. Get window re-sealed.

 

Back in the day, 60's, that was the cure, dry graphite.