Hey there fellow XJ'rs! Got a lil issue here and it's a head scratcher for me. Got an 88 Laredo, auto, inline 6 that has a jumpy speedometer needle up until about 25-28mph, then it's back to normal. I've looked through as many threads on here as possible but haven't come up with anything as of yet. Any help or direction would be much appreciated.. Thanks comrades!
Bow

 

I'm having the same problem except mine is a '98. Not sure if the speedo is the same. Maybe start at the speedo gear? Are '88s cable or elec.?

 

I'm not sure of that to be honest..

 

My 88 is cable. I have the same problem.

 

I've got an '87 and mine bounces because my cable got bent a little installing new gauges. Normally when a cable gets old and racks up milage, the inside of the housing gets bigger from the wear letting the cable wobble inside. That wobble gives the gauge an inconsistent reading which is what causes the needle to bounce. I've got a '71 Nova SS and a '72 El Camino that have the original cables and they do the same thing. Replacing your cable with a new one should fix it. As for the guy with the '98... That should be all electric, there is no cable. I don't have a clue on that one.

 

If you tap on your gauge while it's bouncing, does it make it stop? This is for the electric, because sometimes when going out the electric's will bounce, and usually a good tap will bring it current, if that's the case, then it's your gauge itself.

 

Yours has a speedo cable, 9 times out of 10 it is your cable that causes the bounce, sometimes getting hold of a good one or new one can be costly. If you can live with the bounce then I would say save your money til the cable snaps then replace it then.

 

mine started doing this when i changed out the instrument cluster a couple days ago. and this thread just reminded me i didnt hook up the speedo cable mount underneath maybe check that i will tonight

 

Don't mean to hijack... The fix for my 98 is cleaning the terminal on the cluster and solder in a longer connector. $6 is all. TSB from Jeep

 

On my 71, I pulled the instrument panel out because the lights didn't work... when I put it back in, i didn't get the throttle cable all the way secure and it would bounce at low speeds to, so pull the cable out and put it back in, make sure you get it secure. When mine was doing that I could hear a clicking noise until I readjusted it.

 

Replaced with a new cable, done deal!! Thanks to all you guys are awesome!

 

I got that issue too. Which cable would I need to replace?

 

The one the comes out of the back of your speedometer, it's flexable, looks like this.....