CableX - VSS to mechanical speedometer unit - anyone tried this?

[jaredrawk]

http://www.abbott-tach.com/cablex.htm

 

Has anyone tried CableX?  I have a '69 510 wagon I just aquired from a ratsun member.  I want to preserve the old speedo, but also want to use the VSS with a Speed Sensor Interface to help the stock ECU control idle better.  I had conceived of this idea and thought of building one using Arduino and hobby motors.  But then in the process of researching that I came across the universal truth of the interweb, someone has done it.

 

So now I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this product and how well does it work?  Pros?  Cons? 

 

If not, I guess I may become the official guinea pig.  Or I may just try and build one myself, if I can scare up the time I think I can do it for half what is being charged here.

[lostforawhile]

I have the opposite problem, I eventually want. To use stack gauges, and I need to convert cable to vss

[jaredrawk]

Are your stock guages digital and a new transmission cable?  Or do you just need a digital signal somewhere for a another reason?

[lostforawhile]

my future project is to replace all my instruments with stack gauges, mine are analog now, so i need to convert from cable to vss, then i also need to find one of the vss amplifiers to create the square wave the voice module needs for it's input, those black stack gauges with the white pointers are some of the cleanest gauges I've ever seen ,they look like my factory ones, not trying to derail this guys thread, these technical threads are   really interesting

[jaredrawk]

BTW if I forgot to mention this is a s14 sr20DET swapped 510 wagon.  Hence the need here to go from VSS to mechanical.

 

Also I misread stack as a typo for stock.  Now I get it I think.

 

For the VSS to ECU I am using one of these speed sensor interfaces this guy in Australia makes:

goo.gl/oywgD  It basically turns the sine from the VSS into the square wave for the ECU.

 

 

For the other part I don't know.  I imagine there is a VSS somewhere that would fit and mesh, since I found a pinion mentioned in another thread that meshed and fit that would take the VSS to fully mechanical.  Since I wanted to use the VSS in there I am going this direction.  But also if you can get a magnet onto anything rotating and a reed switch mounted I believe you can use one of these: http://goo.gl/chCNn

 

I have done neither yet, righ tnow I am throwing out what I saw on the interweb.  But maybe it gets you started.

 

I am buying the CableX.  I found a few more reviews.  Sounds like it is install sensitive, as in you can end up with a lagging or jumpy speedo.  But then others say it works fine.  I mostly get my speed from the tach, but kind of want to see that horizontal guage moving (I also want the inspection guy to see it moving so he will give me a pass) and I want to keep the old square sucker. 

 

So here goes I will post some more to this thread once it gets to me.  In the mean time if anyone knows I am wasting money feel free to jump in!

[lostforawhile]

sorry for the confustion, stack brand gauges.  

[qwik510]

I used the Abbott Industries Cable X box in my 240Z LS1 conversion. It did what it was supposed to but we could never get the speedo to read exactly accurate compared to my GPS. It was off by 2-3 miles per hours. This never really bothered me as it read faster then I was going so I was not speeding but if it read slower and was off by more mph, it could be an issue. There are a bunch of small throw switches you need to set and play with and we called Abbott Industries and they gave us good phone support but still, we could not get it perfect. I did speak to someone else that had one in a 280Z LS1 swap and he said his was spot on.

 

If you want to keep stock gauges and run a modern engine/trans. what other options do you have?

[jaredrawk]

Thanks for the report!  I think you are right David, my only other option would be to do the pinion assembly swap conversion and figure out another way to feed a speed signal to the ECU.  But that seemed even more dauting, so I did buy one and I will update how it worked for me.  Should have it next week.

[DRIVEN]

I've used CableX on 3 or 4 projects.  Only one ever had an issue.  It worked fine but made some noise for a few seconds when it was cold.  That only started after 30-40K miles of service.  They were all accurate.

[jaredrawk]

OK, I got my CableX and the first phase completed, there are issues with install to report.

 

I had a little time to work on this.  Removal of the old Speedo cable went ok.  The gasket/grommet in the firewall pretty much disintegrated when I attempted removal.  So I am on the hunt for some sort of replacement.  Best I have found so far is one comes with a new speedometer cable.  Seems a waste, but I could not find this particular grommet at any of the regular Datsun rubber sites.  If anyone knows, appreciated.  Also the old cable transmission side was not in good shape after hanging out not being connected to anything so I don't think I have a part worth saving for someone.

 

The removal from there was so easy it almost convinced me I would be able to complete this without removing the speedometer.  However contorted with hands squeezed up behind the dash I could not get the new cable to mesh with the speedometer.  The cable itself, the squared end wire part is just not inserting into the speedo.  It will go in about a quarter inch, but that is not enough to work the collar up and thread and tighten.  I spun it plenty, so I don't think it is orientation, but maybe size or maybe something is going on with the receiver.  I don't want to force things here, nor really can I even get the leverage.  So I am thinking I might have to remove the speed to get my eyes on what is happening back there. I did compare the end with the original, to my eye they are near enough the same. Maybe calipers would tell me different.  Maybe this is the kind of thing where an old part has grooved itself in?

 

Anyone who has done the install have tips?

 

Sooo... what this may mean, and I think this will be a separate post soon... I need help getting the speedo out.  I found the two wingnuts on the back, and two screws up into the dash pad.  That loosens it, but I could not get it out, only to wiggle or the left side to come forward.  I am wondering from here if the metal plate below has to come out as well, but after removing 5 screws It would not come out as well and I could not quite figure what else was holding it.  Basically it is clear I need some instruction on how to disassemble the dash/instrument cluster.  Also perhaps someone knows if it is possible to get the '69 speed out on its own or how much of the dash needs to be removed to get to the back.  Or if the steering needs to be dropped.

 

I have done about 3 hours searching the forum and the internet even looking through old scanned manuals and have not found anything on the dash assembly/disassembly.

 

Thanks to anyone who has advice!

[jaredrawk]

Phase Two Completed, cable is attached to speedo.

 

I figured out the speedometer removal and what was keeping this from working.  Remove the wiring harness & speedo cable, Take out the two screws at the top, take off the two wingnuts behind and either side of the steering column, if it is not bound up with glue or gunk in one of the holes at the top like mine was, it really will just rock forward, up and right out.

 

Once I had it out I could see the cable end provided by CableX was not meshing.  It is just a millimeter or so too big.  The original cable from Datsun is a really sweet tight piece.  The new cable... not so refined.  I had to get it on the bench and use a file to square it off and reduce the size.  This was tricky as the manufacture of this new cable does not have a square, pressed and cut end like the old one, it is just a twist of wire.  One or two wires frayed.  I had to back them down and remove them.  Major pain and I know this will come back and bite me.  But also the Cable X cable has a specialized connector on one end, so I am going to go with this until I have time to fabricate something newer and better.  I am going to send an email to the manufacturer and ask if I got a bad cable or see if they have any ideas.  At $300 shipped, it should be tighter specs than this.

 

A second thing that came up which made this bench work is the threaded piece on the speedometer you attach the cable to would spin.  Not freely, but once you got the speedo cable a couple of turns tight, it would spin.  I actually had to hold it with channel locks.  I think it is press fit or something and no longer tight enough to hold the torque of tightening this down.  I hope this is also not a future fail waiting to happen.  I considered some way to cinch it down, but actually decided I did not know enough about the piece to know what is safe to do.  So instead I am letting the sleeping dog lie and I will address it if things don't work.

 

OK, so the cable is attached and the instrument cluster back into place.  When I next have some time I am going to find a place to mount the box, wire it up and see what we get.  Spinning the cable with a drill does move the speedo needle so I think at some point I will have a speed reading here.

 

Also I got word my Speed Sensor Interface is going through the final QA checks then it is on the way so the whole saga may be finished within a month and I will see if this was all worth it, or just an experience.

[jaredrawk]

OK,

 

Talked to the manufacturer.  I got a 5/8" cable.  Need a 16mm for the Datsun.  This I think was my fault in the ordering process, but they are very kindly offering me a swap and will make it to length.  I should have the old cable out and shipped back this weekend.  More info to come.  I don't know if this will also change the cable itself, certainly it explains why it was hard to tighten up.  Which that is was just silly on my part, should've realized I had a square peg.

 

But if you do order one of these, they are actually savvy, tell them it is for a Datsun 510. 

[jaredrawk]

More to report.

 

I got the Speed Sensor Interface from PLMS in Australia.  I wired it in per instructions, which was very simple especially since he threw in a plug to the speed sensor wiring that was already there.  Installing this did really help my issues around deceleration and stopping.  My stalling loping and idle problems just went away all together.  I am very happy about this!  I can now pull up to any stop sign or red light with confidence and no longer feathering the throttle.  It was really night and day actually.  This does put the speed limit back into the sr20 stock ECU, but the clever thing is you can adjust the divider on the Speed Sensor Interface by moving a a little ground sleeve over to a second set of pinouts and halve the divider and double the limit.  The ecu still reads deceleration just fine.  This guy builds these as a labor of love and to support his sr30DET swapping and wiring looms.  I am really happy he sent one all the way to the US for me.  http://www.plmsdevelopments.com/

 

Now I can split the signal from the speed sensor in the transmission to the cableX and have the trick of a working horizontal speedo and a happy stock ecu.  I hope.

 

On that note I also got the new cable back from tachman and the metric threads fit correctly, yay!  But the cable itself still didn't quite fit.  Still a little big.  But this time I was able to file it down with a slightly different technique and got it fitting like butter in only about 15 minutes.  I still need to mount the box and wire this in.  I have pictures up to here and will do a full write up on both of these when I finish this slowmotion speedo project.

[jaredrawk]

Small Update.  I did get the CableX installed.  I have a working original speedo with a sr20DET swap.  The CableX is really quiet.  Much more than I thought it would be.  It is quiet enough to live in the cabin, there is a little spot behind the heater core I will slip it into.

 

The wiring was easy.  Added fuse, spliced in the wires.  It is working great right along with the SSI.

 

Calibration was a multi-day afair for me.  I did the math, but that only got close.  From there I just started moving up and down the chart until I had something that worked.  I mean given the size of the needle and such, this is not precision work by any stretch.I will post those figures in a how to when I dig pictures out.  But my rear end is not stock so I think anyone will have to figure their own any how.

 

It is really fun to watch that old speedo work!  Strangley though the odometer does not seem to be moving.  Not that it needs to but I kind of figured it would.  Guess it is broken.

[HRH]

The odometer is driven off the cable, the speedo needle is magnetic.  It has two magnetic sides that spin around the center and each time it passes, it raises the needle a bit, but it spins quite quickly.  So if the cable from the transmission just goes to the box, then yes, odo will not work.  

[millican]

It's good that you got it working. I wish I'd have known about the cable-x device when I had my subaru. The sending unit in the automatic transmission went out and could be replaced only by taking the entire transmission apart. I went with a reed switch from a bicycle spedometer and 5 magnets epoxied to an axle. This made a square wave to keep the ECU happy so that it would shift past 1st again. The speedometer just sat still though.

[jaredrawk]

It's good that you got it working. I wish I'd have known about thee cable-x device when I had my subaru. The sending unit in the automatic transmission went out and could be replaced only by taking the entire transmission apart. I went with a reed switch from a bicycle spedometer and 5 magnets epoxied to an axle. This made a square wave to keep the ECU happy so that it would shift past 1st again. The speedometer just sat still though.

 

In scrubbng forums for install tips I saw a lot of folks who used CableX exactly this way, magnets epoxied somewhere.  It has a pretty wide range for calibrating so it seems one could get it reading a good speed off a lot of the rotating parts of the drivetrain.