Is broken odometer common on 1985.5 944s?

robertinla · 12-19-2001, 10:39 AM

Maybe it's just coincidence but as I'm shopping for used 944's for my sister, I've come across 3 cars, 2 of them 1985.5 944's, in which the odometer stopped working.

Is this a known problem? How serious is it?

Thanks.

cduke · 12-19-2001, 10:55 AM

i'm having mine rebuilt at the moment and the loaner i got from my mechanic has a broken odometer. It's quite common in the 924/944/968 line because resetting the odometer while the car is rolling will strip out a particular gear in there and kill the odometer. I don't know what it's going to cost to have it rebuilt but i've seen the little gear for sale for $40 on rennlist & ebay (a rip off but i've never seen it anywhere else)

CD

robertinla · 12-19-2001, 11:01 AM

Thanks, for the reply.

Wow, how about that?! That's a pretty sensitive gear in that odometer. I guess it's not all too bad to fix.

I'd just hate to have my sister start with a car where the odometer doesn't work.

Obin Robinson · 12-19-2001, 12:10 PM

VDO (the company that makes the odometers) makes the worst odometers ever known to mankind. they suck suck suck suck suck. trying to find one that WORKS is more amazing than one that doesn't.

obin

robertinla · 12-20-2001, 12:14 AM

Wow, really? That's a very sobering thought.

Obin Robinson · 12-20-2001, 04:31 AM

yep... point of reference... VW and Audi use VDO guages extensively... BUT... they use Motometer odometers and tachs. if you look on the dash of my 1987 Scirocco 16V, you can plainly see how they avoided using those terrible odometers that VDO sold to Porsche for 3 decades and instead went with the more reliable Motometer ones. this is the same case in many audis. BMW doesn't use VDO guages in many of their cars (and i think Mercedes avoided them too, but not 100% sure because it's been a while since i had my Merc).

the amount of 914s, 911s, 912s, 924s, 944s, 928s with WORKING odometers that are the original ones (never replaced) is way less than the ones i've seen with broken ones. they're such a joke that most garages i've been to (and known about) don't bother jotting down the odometer reading because they know it doesn't reflect the actual mileage of the car.

and that's a fact.

obin

robertinla · 12-20-2001, 08:14 AM

One other interesting I thought about is this. If they're known for breaking, I wonder if they can just be plain unreliable.

Like for example, if you're shopping for a 944, and someone shows you a 1986 with only 44k miles (like I saw a week ago), you might be less likely to trust it.

Or is this bad odometer an all or nothing thing -- broken and complete not working, or completely working?

slevy951 · 12-20-2001, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by cduke
I don't know what it's going to cost to have it rebuilt but i've seen the little gear for sale for $40 on rennlist & ebay (a rip off but i've never seen it anywhere else)

CD

IMO, $40 for a working odometer is reasonable. Apparently, since the market is supporting this price. Also, consider the initial costs to make this. Materials and molds are not cheap. Let us know what your mechanic charges to rebuild yours. If it's more than $40, I'd start to question who is getting ripped of.......

Obin Robinson · 12-20-2001, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by robertinla
One other interesting I thought about is this. If they're known for breaking, I wonder if they can just be plain unreliable.

Like for example, if you're shopping for a 944, and someone shows you a 1986 with only 44k miles (like I saw a week ago), you might be less likely to trust it.

Or is this bad odometer an all or nothing thing -- broken and complete not working, or completely working?

it'll either WORK or NOT WORK. once in a while they will work while driving, then they'll stop working... then a hundred miles later they'll restart. this is the reason why people often do a lot of preventative maintenance when buying a 924/944.

obin

robertinla · 12-20-2001, 03:41 PM

If there's a case where they work sometimes and not work at other times, the end result is an odometer where the mileage is well understated. That's scary, too, when you shop and compare for a new purchase.

josh912 · 12-20-2001, 09:21 PM

If you think VDO odometers are bad, try their clocks!

Obin Robinson · 12-21-2001, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by josh912
If you think VDO odometers are bad, try their clocks!

heh heh, you're right. in general VDO = crap. the only thing that seems to always work are the tachs and the oil pressure guages (though the senders can be fudgy).

what do i think is better than VDO?

STACK!

http://www.stackltd.com

also, the Autometer gauges have a tendency to work quite well:

http://www.autometer.com

obin

cduke · 12-21-2001, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by slevy951

IMO, $40 for a working odometer is reasonable. Apparently, since the market is supporting this price. Also, consider the initial costs to make this. Materials and molds are not cheap. Let us know what your mechanic charges to rebuild yours. If it's more than $40, I'd start to question who is getting ripped of.......

Just to clarify: My speedo was broken (worked about 1/4 of the time), not the odometer. When the speedo was working the odometer did too. The loaner i got had a working speedo but the infamous broken odometer.

I agree that it costs money to set up molds for the gears and the illustration looked like a CAD model...it'd be nice to see them made of something more durable...but i guess if the gear didn't strip out something else (more expensive) would.

Has anyone else looked at that gear for sale?

CD

robertinla · 12-21-2001, 10:35 AM

The thing that's a nuisance in car shopping is you can't trust any odometer readings. And a carfax report won't help because a low mileages are not carfax exceptions.

slevy951 · 12-21-2001, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cduke

Just to clarify: My speedo was broken (worked about 1/4 of the time), not the odometer.

I assumed you were referring to odometer. My bad. Tell your mechanic to drop me an email if he wants that gear for the odometer.

slevy951 · 12-21-2001, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cduke

...it'd be nice to see them made of something more durable

The material I use is more durable. Mine is made from a hard plastic where the original is a more "rubberized".

marksportcts · marksportcts's Garage

Scott, how hard is it to change the gear?

slevy951 · 12-26-2001, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by marksportcts
Scott, how hard is it to change the gear?

Not hard. Just a bit involved. Requires removing the instrument cluster and the speedometer and just taking it apart until you get to the gear.

wmcneil · 07-05-2002, 12:10 PM

i found it quite difficult to replace the gear because my needle refused to budge and i broke it. i bought another speedo and it had a bad gear too.
i managed to replace the gear on my 2nd spedo w/o removing the needle, but it was difficult.
the problem is not the design of the odo, the problem is that this one gear is made of a different material than the rest and it turns to mush over time and eventually breaks up. this is probably hastened by pushing the reset buton, but the trip is disconnected from the stepping motor during reset.