Speedo problem, please tell me this isn't true!

[Jan@xxxx]

Hello all,

Yesterday we had a GREAT clubmeeting hosted by the DeLorean Club 
Netherlands (DCN) the drive to and from the meet was very nice and 
since it was sunday traffica was quite light, so I drove the car at 
somewhat higher speeds (peeking at about 120Mph at one point) than I 
normally do and on this occasion for a longer stretch too...

Above 100Mph I heard a high pitched sound coming from in front of me, 
at first I thought it was the air whistling through the 
windshieldwipers, but operating them didn't change the sound at all. 
The speedometer was my second guess, since it WAS "pegged out", but 
I've drive 100+Mph before without trouble or noise.

When I was about 400meters from my house I had to use my indicator and 
as I moved my hand toward the lever I SAW the spedometer drop to zero.
It never rose again, so I suspected the drive had failed on me, even 
though I'd lubed it shortly after I bought the car 7 months ago and had 
even lubed it last week when I was working on my horns.

I took a look to see where the problem was;
whipping the upper Speedo-cable (just above the Lambdacounter) made the 
needle jump, so that seems OK. Lifting the left wheel and spinning it 
didn't make the lower cable move (just below the Lambdacounter), so I 
took off the left wheel to inspect the angledrive.

Upon removal of the wheel my problem was clear immediately: the plastic 
cap that is pinched between the wheel and the hub fell out with a piece 
of cable attached to it and the other end stuck inside the hub.

NOW PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN'T TRUE:
In the partsmanual it looks like this piece of cable is part of the 
angle-drive (ADAPTER,SPEEDO CABLE is the official term used).
Do I actually have to buy this $189.50 assy just because of this piece 
of &%$^$#%@$!-cable that snapped?

I allready know what caused it to snap I think: I had the left front 
wheelbearing replaced two weeks ago and it seems like the cable broke 
when they tried to remove the plastic cap (is this the Dustshield, 
part# 105104 or am I wrong here?); the broken-off bit was in there 
REALLY stuck: had to use a couple of pliers and pull very hard to get 
it out. Probaly can't even blame them: mine was the first DeLorean they 
ever worked on and even though they probably DID break my speedo-drive, 
the rest of the engine work they did is great, so I WILL go back to 
them next time I need an annual inspection or other service.

If any one can tell me if there's another way to fix this other that 
replacing the angledrive, plese let me know.

Thanks in advance,

Jan van de Wouw
Thinking Different... Using a Mac...
Living the Dream... Driving a DeLorean...

#05141 "Dagger" since Sept. 2000

Check out the DeLorean-Files at:
http://www.deloreanfiles.nl/
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