Where Is the Speedometer Cable on a Car Located?

Video Transcript

"Where is the speedometer cable located? On most vehicles with cable driven speedometers, the cable originates at the transmission where it's threaded into the side of the transmission usually near the tail housing and engages a gear that is inside the transmission. The cable then runs up along towards the firewall where it goes through a grommet in the firewall to the back side of the speedometer. When the gear on the transmission turns, it in turn drives the cable which drives the speedometer. On many newer vehicles, the cable has been done away with in favor of an electronic speedometer, which has fewer moving parts and is generally more accurate. Instead of the cable you have a sender which is again located in the transmission and it uses magnets to determine how quickly the transmission is spinning. And those magnets pulses are converted into an electronic signal which is then sent to the speedometer which interprets that signal as a speed which it displays via a stepping motor which turns the speedometer needle itself."