only when it's cold outside does the speedo dial (or cable?) make a grinding or shaking noise (kind of like in a bind or something) the dial shakes and vibrates
once the engine warms up it's not so bad, and when it's warm outside, it does't happen at all

and theories???
thanx <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Cable lube drying up is one possibility.

I once had the identical symptoms in my 2nd gen 4Runner. Roger (as usual) is spot-on.

mine's been doing it forever. I've sprayed in some wd40 throught the insert of the speedo gauge end, it's still making noise. Understandably, it doesn't get higher than -10?C here. Yes it's annoying, so just crank up the music!!! If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I thought I had a similiar problem with my '94 4X4, but when I pulled apart the dash and pulled out the instrument cluster I was suprised to see no speedo cable connected to speedometer. Maybe its because its a 1994, but there was no speedo cable must be electronic sensor I guess.
My speedo needle didn't shake, but I can hear a ticking noise when driving and its not the engine (ticking doesn't follow RPM's of engine)

I am missing somehting ?

does the sound/ticking follow with the spd of your car rolling in neutral let's say? Mine does.

Yes allochris my noise follows the speed of the car (in neutral), not engine RPM's. So its either the speedo cable if I have one, or something in the front driveline.

I guess I'll look on my transmission again and look for a cable, but I don't think my 1994 has one.

Ooooohh Dang! Maybe I'm NOT losing my mind. ( 'course,, THAT wouldn't take long , anyway ) Just clicked this link from another post. Scroll down to the last entry -- Type 6-B Transfer case. It appears that the speedo drive is, in fact, electrical and not mechanical. If ya look at the entry just above that, Type 6-A, it lists a mechanical drive cable. Evidently, Toyota switched sometime around 91-92 and started installing electrical senders for the speedo.


http://www.marlincrawler.com/tcaseinfo.html

Mike in AR

Funny, just today, on the way to work, I decided I was going to post on this exact problem. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Mine sure sounds like a cable flipping around in the housing, it seems odd that it only does it in cold. Is factory lubrication a form of grease that hardens up in the cold? Shouldn't grease still lubricate when cold? What happens to your wheel bearings when the temp is cold?

Another clue, if I warm up the truck, but don't blow the heater (specifically the defroster) in the cab, it still does it. If I heat the cab, it goes away.

It is... a mystery. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

So...Has anyone fixed this or is everyone just turning up their stereos? My 90 SR5 PU is doing the same thing and i'd like to fix it. It appears that the instrument cluster needs to come out, which i am not looking forward to (it was -20 yesterday AM). What kind of lube needs to be used? I seem to recall that speedo cables require a dry graphite lube, not a grease or oil.

I looked in the 93 FSM that is linked to this site and I couldn't find anything-I assume that in 93 Toyota used an electronic speed.

If anyone has fixed this successfully I'd sure love to hear aboout it.