I got these numbers off of the oval plate attached to the transmission: 26363

Above the plate was this: PAK 7006 with W 1 under that. Under the W 1 was another number of which I could only read 17.

It is water cooled.

Is this the original 1956 fordomatic and what would be the correct speedometer gear for it?

Thanks in advance,

Danny

If the PAK letters are on the oval ID tag, it is a '55 transmission.  That wouldn't add up, '55s are air cooled.  If the PAK is a casting ID on the case, then it is possible the case was cast in '55 but not used until built as a '56.  At any rate, '55 and '56 would use the same speedometer cable and gear.  Did your problem start all at once, or has the speedo not worked since you've had the car?

I am thinking the drive gear that turns the speedo gear has a problem or there is a problem with the cable installation and/or cable lubrication. When it warms up a bit, I will pull the speedo gear and attempt to turn the cable - possibly with my cordless drill and see what happens. I did notice that my friend did install several clamps to hold the speedo cable in place. The clamps were screwed into the bottom of the floor pan. I am not sure if the original cable was secured with clamps.

Any ideas to help solve this problem will be greatly appreciated. By the way thanks for the help with the starter install. It went pretty smooth compared to some of problems I read about on this and other forums.

Thanks,

Danny

You may just have given us "the" clue: "Odometer stopped working": Speedometer inside bearings may be very dry & putting way too much load onto transmission drive gear; thus, tearing it apart.  Speedometer head drive should be quite "easy": Try turning the drive cable at the transmission-end by hand - if it doesn't turn faily easily, you have a cable and/or speedometer head problem.  Fix that first, and your transmission drive gear should be O. K. afterward with another new one.

I've experienced this situation myself on several of that vintage Ford speedometers - just now quite torn-apaart a drive gear yet.  Those bearings are usually quite "dry" after 50 years or so!

Those are usually "oil-lite" bearigs made of sintered bronze; the "pores" get plugged too: If that is the case and they are still servicable, they need to be cleaned with a good solvent soak if possible (do not get solvent on plastic parts!!!), then re-oiled by soaking very specifically in "Mobil number 10 non-detergent"  -  this is the exact oil that "oil-lite" was designed-for; other oils may or may not "clog" the pores.  If the pores get clogged, the lubrication stops working in a very short time.

Hope that this helps you or others here.

Regards,   JLB

Thanks for your response. The speedometer is a recently overhauled speedometer from Scott's Speedometer Shop in Michigan. It turns very easily. I am going to test the cable again at the transmission to see if it turns easily - if it does, I think the problem may be with the drive gear in the transmission that turns the speedo gear - I hope not. If it does not turn easily, I will pull the cable out, lubricate it and try again. I will try to adjust the routing of the cable in an attempt to keep it from binding.

I am really hoping that it is not the drive gear in the transmission. I had someone respond in an email that the possibility of the drive gear in the transmission causing this problem is very remote in a fordomatic. He thinks it is cable and/or the speedomter. I know the speedometer is in very good condition, so I am thinking that I am not installing the cable properly and causing the problem.

Danny

Because the speedometer is newly rebuilt, I really hope that it isn't the problem; however, I've personally experienced a number of "new" items, over several decades, that were not "right" out of the box; please don't totally discount that as a possibility 'till you actually check it out.

To test several of these spedometers in the past, I've rigged a "fashioned" paper-clip into a drive-pin and driven the spedo-head from a drill (using a slim driver like this will prevent more damage in the event of a problem).  That vintage of Ford Speedo should calibrate to 60MPH at 1,000 RPM. And, you can use a variable-speed to check for operation over it's entire range (shows-up sticky spots, etc.).

Good luck,   JLB

I'm not sure about '56 and earlier, but the '57 and later speedo gears can be obtained with either a rh or lh helix, depending on application.  I have used the wrong one, and after the gear fails you can look at it and see that the steel gear in the transmission has tried to re-form the teeth on the driven gear until it finally gives up and chews the teeth off.