Odometer quit

[Waxman]

The odometer quit last week on my 1990 s2, is there an inexpensive (right!!) fix

Waxman

[89-944NA]

if you can figure out the right gear, and want to take the odo apart, you can fix it yourself. Most places charge about $125. to replace that gear. It's a plastic gear the gets brittle with age, and a common failure.

[Grandad#3]

Most gears are the 20 X 21 tooth count. Not that hard to change out, but a PITA to get to it. You have to remove the Steering Wheel (Disconnect the battery ground wire and let the car set for 45 min. to deactivate the Air Bag). Clark's garage.com has a good writeup on how to remove the dash trim as the Gage Cluster has to be pulled out to change the Odometer Gear.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/elect-07.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/ksearch/PEL_search.cgi?command=see_more&please_wait=N&db_record_number=71468&FILTER_9144=Y&FILTER_911E=Y&FILTER_911M=Y&FILTER_911L=Y&FILTER_996J=Y&FILTER_997M=Y&FILTER_986M=Y&FILTER_987M=Y&FILTER_987C=Y&FILTER_356M=Y&FILTER_944M=Y&FILTER_928M=Y&FILTER_PORS=Y

944 Odometer Gear Replacement

Cheers,
Larry

[Litesonic]

Not trying to hijack thread, but I have a question as well.

I have replaced the gear (thanks Pelican), put it all back together... no rolling. ?
The trip resets, the speedoworks, all other gauges work. But the odo doesn't.

Anything else I should look at? A sensor somewhere?

Thanks!!!

[monteolsen1]

There's a gear for that, too.

[Litesonic]

right, all the rest (gears) are fine. I think (having searched more in this forum) that I need to look at the sender rod/sensor. My transmission mount seems shot as well, so that area needs attention anyway.

Thanks.

[968 GUY]

Removing the steering wheel may be the best method for someone who has not removed the dash trim and gauge cluster.
It is not necessary if you are careful. I have left the steering wheel on and done repairs to the instrument panel several times. I did;nt the first time, messed up and triggered the airbag light on one of my 968's.
There are several places to get odometer gears. The place I bought mine from was very helpful and spent some time on the phone to walk me through the steps after replacing the gear and it still would not work. Mine had one broken tooth, I could never find the tooth, but my odom. is up and running.

I will try to include all that I remember him telling me. I do not remember the orientation of the gear, as in which way to put it on, you will see what I mean when you either recieve the gear, or disassemble the odom. So pay attention to how the gear comes off, reinstall the same way.

Make sure the broken piece(es) are not in the assembly.
wipe all the old lube off the assy.
gently blow out the assy., I used duster spray for computers, etc.
check the new gear for any burrs, remove as needed.
make sure the larger gear is in perfect shape...it mat be a good idea to order both if unsure, mine looked good.
make sure the new gear is replaced correctly.
make sure the gears mesh and are riding and turning well.

I was told that any resistance will keep the odometer gears from turning, that is why the lube should be cleaned off, it is old and has too much stiction for the small amount of torque it takes to overpower the assy, as well as the probable cause for the gear to become brittle over the yrs.
It took me two tries to get it right, but it works great, and only lost a couple hundred mi. on the odom. brfore I got it fixed.

[DannoXYZ]

Wasn't there someone that was selling replacement odometer gears made from aluminium?

[Litesonic]

mine is pre-airbag, so removing the steering wheel is a piece of cake. Plus, I needed to clean up all the vents, etc. in the dash (PO didn't seem to care)... so it was actually several small jobs into one. And, I recovered the reflective material and replaced dash lights as well.

So now I have a perfectly illuminated non-working odometer. Oh well, take it apart again and trouble shoot some more.

[JimNap]

Speaking of illumination... I'm about to tackle my odometer gear repair as well and want to improve the lighting. Perhaps it' sjsut because a few bulbs are burnt out, but is there a mod or fix to improve the backlighting for night driving?

Any links or recommendations on perhaps white gauge faces?

Any other "while you're in there..." recommendaitons?

Jim

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by Litesonic

right, all the rest (gears) are fine. I think (having searched more in this forum) that I need to look at the sender rod/sensor. My transmission mount seems shot as well, so that area needs attention anyway.

Thanks.

The gauge uses two separate electric motors, one two drive the speedometer iteself, and a second stepper motor that drives the odometer/trip odometer. Check that the gauge's electrical connections are seating securely in the cluster (use some contact cleaner or the like) and put the unit back together. The speedometer just has simpe friction-fit connections and it's possible for the odometer motor's connection to come loose without the speedometer motor also coming loose.

[JAXTURBO]

I think I just found my next "what am I going to do with all my spare time" project? Thanks guys!

[thekidd]

when mu odometer stopped, my car had about 181K on it when I bought her, and when I had to fix the odometer. Didnt need a new gear. My gear was just slipping side-to-side on the shaft. Just took the odometyer apart, and super glued a stop on the shaft, but still let the gear spin to others spin. She just turned 190K last week.

[aljolyn]

Originally Posted by thekidd

when mu odometer stopped, my car had about 181K on it when I bought her, and when I had to fix the odometer. Didnt need a new gear. My gear was just slipping side-to-side on the shaft. Just took the odometyer apart, and super glued a stop on the shaft, but still let the gear spin to others spin. She just turned 190K last week.

Same with mine. Gears ok but after taking it apart a dozen times I think I fixed it. There was a lot of play on the numbers of the odometer. They would move laterally and the gears would jamb. Took a plastic spray paint top and cut a 3/4" washer from it. Cut a slot to fit over the number shaft and put it on the left side (Highest #) between the numbers and mount. The washer had just enough curve from the cap to keep a slight pressure on the numbers to keep them in place. It's been working now for about 500 miles where as every other time I took it apart it only lasted about 25 miles before stopping.

[HondaDustR]

Ahh, good old plastic scrap. I had to shim loose bearings on the worm drive shaft with strips of plastic milk jug (early car). Has worked fine for probably at least 20K.

[Gordon Rankin]

A small tip.. I've found that the dealership will normally NOT want to deal with speedo/odo issues on older cars. But you should be able to call their parts dept of the local Porsche dealership to find out where they send their work out to. Its worked for me since 1970.

[schmedes1]

Originally Posted by AaronM

The gauge uses two separate electric motors, one two drive the speedometer iteself, and a second stepper motor that drives the odometer/trip odometer. Check that the gauge's electrical connections are seating securely in the cluster (use some contact cleaner or the like) and put the unit back together. The speedometer just has simpe friction-fit connections and it's possible for the odometer motor's connection to come loose without the speedometer motor also coming loose.

Aaron,

Where is this odometer motor connection located?? The odo trip button on the center vent works okay, the main odo and trip odo are dead in the water. Thinking this means the gear is shot (114k miles), but not excited about pulling the wheel and dash again.

[RKT951]

I have my odometer apart and replace the bad 20 23 gear its the electric motor with the worm gear tat is frozen I took it out and got it spinning again and placed a drop of lube on the shaft and it worked for 23 miles and is froze again. dose anyone know if this motor can be purchased anywhere.

[DannoXYZ]

did you put spacer on shaft so that all the gears are engaged across from each other? The problem is slack which allows one gear to engage multiple gears on other side.

[Jfrahm]

Some similar-year Volvo cluster parts will swap in and a god working Volvo cluster might not cost much.