Mike, you do know that the reverser on a Smiths reverse rotation speedometer running a TKO (maybe others)
has a Zerk fitting on it?
I'm sure I have written about this in the past, but just in case you didn't know it, here's a pic of mine. A few years ago my speedometer started to misbehave. Now this was not just a needle wobble, this was a
"kerchunky" noise coming from the speedometer and the needle bounced from zero to 180. I could reach under the dash while driving and, with my fingers, could feel the rotational bind up in the cable itself. I pulled the cable off the reverser, eased out the inner cable an inch or so from inside the outer cable sheath, and rotated it with my thumb and finger. It rotated fine (being pulled away from the driven gear in the transmission). That told me the problem was either the driven gear, the right angle reverser, or the speedometer itself. I removed the reverser and, by hand, turned the little driven spike that comes out and connects to the speedometer. I could
feel it binded a bit and then loosened up as I rotated it with my fingers. I also saw it had a Zerk fitting. I greased it up with pretty good pressure with my grease gun, using the same Schaeffer's grease that I use on my universal joints. That fixed it beautifully. Just like magic. It didn't occur to me until today to mention this to you because, generally, most of us here on this forum know that if you see a Zerk, then you grease the Zerk.
But, you might not have seen the Zerk because it can be pointed over on the side away from you. So, if it was me, when you lubricate the cable, pull your reverser off and give it a good lube. It can't hurt.
