Clicking noises, Dry Weather strip., and Other 1980 Malibu Questions!!

[MalibuHacon]

Hello!
I have a 1980 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon, it has the 305 V8 and 350 trans.
I'm planning on fixing or improving overall feel and quality of the car.
- In the interior there is a clicking sound, by the looks of it it clicks in line with my jumping speedometer needle. (i do not have the horizontal speedometer, nor tachometer).
Is this clicking sound actually caused by my speedometer wire? it clicks at speeds roughly 35-40 km/h and sometimes above 60 km/h i'd say..

- Also only my clock (does not work) and speedometer is lit up with dash lights, aren't the other gauges, (fuel, gauge, temp etc.) supposed to be lit up, how do i fix it?
can i remove the clicking sound easy? or change the wire easy?

- My left rear window (the long one by the trunk) has poor weatherstripping, it has almost comletely disappeared in the back. Will some "Make your own gasket" material work? or the Automotive black glue mass work? I'm thinking of sealing with this?

 

[Longroof79]

Hakon,
The clicking sound you describe certainly sounds like your speedometer. It could be a dry cable...or a problem with the speedo itself.
I'd say, try removing the cable...slide the inner cable out, coat it with grease, and reinstall...but if you're going thru the trouble, just replace it.

Does your car have cruise control, or not? With cruise there's two cables with a transducer inline. You'd remove the one cable feeding into the speedo head. If not, you have to disconnect the cable from the transmission to the speedo. That would entail removing the speedometer cluster from the dash just enough to get your hand behind...and un-clip the speedo cable from the speedo.

 

[MalibuHacon]

Okay that sounds like a plan, good to hear its nothing more serious than that. Thank you!
but regarding the weather window stripping, would the black sealant mass (auto) work for assuring no water leakage? I haven't seen any leaking in the car apart from moist carpet under the mats on both driver and passenger side. but i'm afraid that water/snow will be forced into the car in the back where my window seal is bad... (see picture)
Red arrow: bad seal opposite side though, green arrow some rust, does not seem rotten...

 

[MalibuHacon]

Longroog79
No cruise control... How do i disconnect the cable from the transmission? :O

 

[Longroof79]

Hakon,
Jack the car up, go underneath the car on the driver side. You'll see the speedometer cable attached to the side of the transmission. You unscrew it from there, follow it to where it goes to the firewall, and then unscrew the faceplate around the speedo. You'll then see small hexhead screws holding in the speedometer and speedometer window. Pull it back after unscrewing the hexhead screws...until you have enough room to stick your hand in back of the speedo unit. There's a small clip that needs to depressed. That will release the cable. Then carefully pull it through the firewall.

While the car is jacked up and the cable is disconnected from the transmission. You can connect a cordless (or corded) drill at the end of the cable. Set the drill to turn counter clockwise.
You can then look in the car and see the speedometer needle turning and listen for the clicking sound.

 

[MalibuHacon]

Ok, when I connect my drill will the speedometer wire be connected to the speedo gauge? What am I supposed to do with the clicking sound though if I hear it? Just grease the wire? this sounds complicated 😉 ...

I just bought a Jack today, where am i supposed to jack the car up from? I actually found my original owners manual hiding under the seat, it said to jack the car up from the bumpers, that seems shady to me.. can I just place the jack head underneath the frame, and can I also place it on the rear Differential? Changing to studded winter tires soon... Does the parking brake work on the front tires? should i stump something in front of the front tires while changing my rear tires?


Thank you for bearing with me.

 

[Longroof79]

Yes, keep the cable connected to the speedometer. Jack up the car from either under the front cross member, or the rear axle/ differential.
Make sure you place jackstands under the corners of the frame...otherwise don't crawl underneath the car without it being supported. I've heard too many grizzly stories of either the jack giving out, or cheap jackstands collapsing and people getting killed or seriously injured.
I can't stress safety enough.

DO NOT....I repeat, DO NOT jack the car up by the bumpers. If you're jacking up the front only, it wouldn't hurt to place bricks or chocks under the rear wheels...just the opposite if you jack up the rear.

The parking brake will only work on the rear wheels.

 

[Longroof79]

- My left rear window (the long one by the trunk) has poor weatherstripping, it has almost comletely disappeared in the back. Will some "Make your own gasket" material work? or the Automotive black glue mass work? I'm thinking of sealing with this?

Do you mean where you have the arrows indicated? Does your car have the flexible rubber moldings around the side quarter windows? Do not use caulk, or rubber sealant if you can avoid it.
Unfortunately, replacement moldings are no longer available new.
You also mentioned your front carpet being wet. You may want to look into the reason why. Do you have a leak anywhere. You might also want to pull up the carpeting and see what condition the floor is in...and while you're at it, perhaps you can dry the carpet out. Although it might not be the right time of year to attack this job.

 

[ssn696]

You can lift the frame in 6 locations. To lift the rear only, put the jack under the differential. Be careful not to slip forward and hurt the driveshaft - also try not to bend the differential cover and cause a leak. To lift the front only, use the crossmember under the engine - don't let it slip off and dent the oil pan. The best locations to jack or to tie down a G-body on a trailer are the four corners where the frame rails bend out to go under the door jambs. These are where I put jackstands when working under the car. In the attached picture, these are all labelled with a red 'X'.

 

[ssn696]

The heater core is in the the big black enclosure on the firewall (air box) in front of the passenger. When it leaks, you'll find a puddle on the passenger side. If you have air conditioning, the air box can also fill up with dirt and leaves and block the drain (a rubber flap on the bottom of the airbox), letting the water run into the car. It is a common place for rust. If you decide that is the problem, we can write up instructions to get in there and fix it.