Broken Odometer Options

[kopper69]

Hey guys,

I have decided to start documenting my work that I do on my car. I am not a mechanic but i do like to do my own work on my cars and any problems that I have I try to repair myself. To help me i usually scroll the net in search of tips and ideas, and I thought that any repairs I do I might as well document so that if someone has a similar problem to myself than they will be able to fix it at minimal cost. So here is my first of hopefully many repair manuals. I like the visual aspect so I will always include lots of photos. This guide will be on a broken odometer. I odometer broke a few months back. For those who dont know the odometer records the distance traveled by your car. Everything else continued to work, speed and revs gauges but the odometer just stopped (not that this was too much of an urgent matter to fix but when you do go to sell your car you may need it to get a roadworthy or whatever).

At first I was going to replace the whole instrument cluster, going for around $70 on ebay. Then I found a little kit that sold for $40 that said it would repair the problem. So i purchased one and when i received it I almost vomited. It was a little envelope with a piece of A4 paper with 4 blurry pictures and a few circles around some screws. It also had a tiny plastic gear sticky taped on it. Hardly worth $40 but if it fixed my problem I spose it would make me happy. Save me a bit on buying a whole new cluster.

So the only part that you will need is a gear. You will see the gear you will need in a moment. Im not sure where these can be purchased from but i think holden may stock them. I have been told that holden can repair this for around $80, so if you do it yourself i have saved you a bit of money. If anyone can confirm where this gear can be purchased from that would be fantastic.
------



So first to remove the instrument cluster...
There are two screws which you will need to remove.

------



You will need to lower the steering wheel to give you enough room to maneuver it all out. Simply pull the clip down then move the steering wheel down.

------



To remove the dash holding the instrument cluster in you will need a flat blade screwdriver to pry the outer sides. They are cliped on so you will need a bit of force to pull it from the clips.

------



Now you will have the dash off, you will need to disconnect the wiring from the Air Con/Demister/Hazzard Switches as well as the Lights switch. You will notice them when you try to remove the dash. They are clipped on and you can just use your fingers to unclip them (see below for another angle).




This is the dash, once it is removed.

------



Now there are two screws either side of the instrument cluster. You will need to take these out (unless one of them is broken like mine).

------



Remove the instrument cluster and place it face down on a piece of newspaper or old sheet to prevent scratches on the screen. There are 8 screws which can be removed using a flat blade screwdriver and 3 nuts which will need a 10mm socket.

------



The odometer/speedo will come out as well as tachometer.

------



In order to get good access to the gear you are trying to repair you will need to remove the small screws and needle. The needle simply pulls off.

------



You will then need to remove two more screws connecting the circuit board on the end. The flat round cylinder is the motor that turns the odometer, just for general interest.

------



This is the little gear that commonly causes the fault. The teeth are supposed to extend the diameter of the gear on the smaller gear. This is the one you will need to replace. It simply sits there on a small lip, so just lift it off and put on a replacement gear.

Putting it all back together is simply the reverse of removing it. Hope it helps someone out there, please let me know if you have any difficulties.


Chris

------

[roweysvn]

I need to do this to mycar, stupid shit box, but thank you, i shall attempt it now

Very well done article, explained nice and easily with good pics

This post has been edited by roweysvn: Aug 11 2005, 11:42 AM

[Tweak]

best tools to buy for this things it a long handle pick set
u can pick em up for $25
best thing to dash work

[vh-holden]

just a couple of extra points

1 - dont' touch the black surface of the guages - you will never get them perfectly clean again

2 - if you can find a way to do it without removing the needle, do it. otherwise the accuracy of the speedo can be affected.

read them on another forum.

[nferno]

Hey thanks alot for the article! I pulled my VR instrument panel out thismorning and have just been having a look around to see what the problem could of been and BINGO!

[HunterGT]

thanks for the article! i'll be fixing this for a mate on the weekend for some extra coin!