ODO Fails Again? AARRGGHHH!!

[OK-944]

After the somewhat (very) painstaking replacement of my ODO gear…followed by 172 miles of both the odometer and trip odometer working perfectly - both have once again failed! WTF?

Speedo and tach are fine…but what could possibly have gone wrong to cause both main and trip odometers to fail - aside from the new ODO gear somehow breaking again?

After noticing that the trip odometer was not moving past 172 miles, I stopped the car and did a successful reset to zero - but after this the trip odometer would not move, nor would the main odometer. Very frustrating!

Anyone?

[944 Ecology]

It could be that a small bit of debris has clogged the gears. Very common, hence the need to clean all of the debris from the old gears and from the new gear on installation. I have also seen the motor and circuit board die from old age. Either of these problems would cause the odo and trip odo to stop moving.

[walfreyydo]

Ive read you should never reset your odometer while the car is moving, as that will strip the gears. Only reset while stationary. Not sure if thats the issue (or if its even true) but just some food for thought.

[OK-944]

Nope...I've always set with car stationary, and I'd replaced the ODO gear awhile ago. Just looked a video of someone with the same "intermittent" ODO issue I have, and he removes the gauge periodically and moves the gears around...which gives him a temporary fix. My sense is that the plastic gears themselves might need to be smoothed a bit on their face. Might try this.

[944 Ecology]

Originally Posted by walfreyydo

Ive read you should never reset your odometer while the car is moving, as that will strip the gears. Only reset while stationary. Not sure if thats the issue (or if its even true) but just some food for thought.

Old wives tale... ancient mythology.

[Jfrahm]

Yes it does not matter if the odo is reset when stopped or moving.
When they keep sticking it could be gear teeth loose in there, or I think someone had an issue with a gear spinning on a shaft it was not supposed to.

[9FF]

Originally Posted by 944 Ecology

Old wives tale... ancient mythology.

+1

Couple of things come to mind that may cause your failure.

There are various types of gear that will fit our cars but have a different number of teeth. Did you get the same as what you removed?

Also, check that all the gears are firmly attached to the shafts and they don’t move. I’ve heard folk having to add a washer as a spacer in the past to prevent those gears from walking along the shaft.

There was a long thread on here from a while back with good photos of all this but my search foo is failing me today.

[azbanks]

I have hit the reset button lots and lots of times both moving and stopped. never had a problem.

[Plum]

I was advised not to even hit the reset so, I don't.