Just had that open myself, thought I had a bad cable but turned out the speedo drive at my wheel was bad. The washer that drives mine was bad and took out the drive. As for the grinding sound you have, really seems hard to have put that together wrong and my first thought was the cable not seated correctly. If you did it a 2nd time seems you wouldn't do that twice. Did you take a good look at the gears when you had it apart? Any play where they ride? Teeth worn or chipped?

I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!