odometer wtf?

[95xltthumper]

i have had my Ex for just about a year now. other than a water pump, thermostat, plugs, wires, belt, and tensioner Ive had no problems.

my odometer and trip meter have not worked right since i got it. i would burn thru 3 or 4 tanks of gas and they would only go up 150 miles or so. knowing my mpg was not the terrible i just assumed it was a bad gear or something normal. 2 days ago i looked down and realized both were running normally. keeping accurate mileage.

what could be the cause of this? i am totally stumped. secondly does anyone know if a working odometer is required to pass the NY state inspection?

 

[KyBucks10]

My truck was doing the exact same thing but I fixed it 2 nights ago. I figured out what was wrong because of this forum (the search feature is your friend). But lucky for you, I made videos of what to do and posted them on this forum! Here ya go and hope this helps!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=347635

 

[KyBucks10]

Oh and by the way, when I fixed my truck, it took me all of an hour to pull everything apart, replace gears, and put it all back together. It is a very simple job. Holler at me if you have any questions or if you cant figure something out.

 

[KyBucks10]

This is why your odometer is not working.

 

[95xltthumper]

but how.....

my big question is how is it working now? it has been running solid and true all week now. is ticked off the last 250 miles accurately and reliably.

Where did you get the replacement gear, a bone yard? what is a reasonable price? thanks for the info, its the only thing on my EX that doesnt work right now.

 

[KyBucks10]

Take a look at the picture I posted. The reason it works sometimes and not others is because that gear may slide up that shaft and not have enough friction to spin (in turn, spinning all the other gears making your odometer work). That gear is supposed to be almost all the way down. Just millimeters from the motor. I would sometimes go 1000 miles with mine working, and then all of the sudden it quit for 100 miles. This last time that it quit, it was done. I went over 1200 miles without it working.

I got my new gear from www.odometergears.com. From what I read on this forum, guys were finding the gears for 40-50 bucks online. I got mine from them for 25 plus 5 for shipping. My personal recommendation is buy a new gear online. I went to Pull A Part in Louisville Kentucky and pulled an instrument cluster from the same model truck as mine. The gear that i found in that cluster was still in good shape. Not broken or anything, but when I went to pull it out, it crumbled. When I read up on these gears, I found out that they are made from a urethane and lubricated with petroleum jelly. That jelly breaks down the urethane over time, therefore causing them to crumble.

This really is an easy fix. I was nervous about pulling all of my panels off my truck because I have never done anything like that before. I went to the junkyard that day, and basically practiced (you're welcome to whoever needs to pull the cluster off that truck!!). I feel like I explained it pretty well in that video. Honestly, 30 bucks plus a couple hours one night after work and you are golden. I will point out that if you do pull the speedo needle like I did in the video, before you put everything back together, plug in your cluster, grab a GPS (I used my iPhone) and drive down the road to make sure your speed is correct. I found that out the hard way because I had to pull my cluster again this past weekend to adjust my needle.

Again, just ask if you have any questions. Good Luck!

 

[95xltthumper]

cool, thanks for the info. i hate not being able to check the mpg, this will be something ill be doing in the next few weeks

 

[KyBucks10]

Check that. To my VERY surprise, my odometer quit working on my way home from work today. Unfortunately, I will be diving back into it tomorrow night. I will let you know what I come up with. If I figure anything out, I will try include some pictures.

Sighhhh.................

 

[95xltthumper]

ok, i await your findings

 

[KyBucks10]

I havent pulled mine apart yet, but I did get back into the one from the junk yard. There are only 2 gears that I think could possibly messed up as well. If you watch the video of me taking the cluster apart, watch for when I start to spin the gear to turn the mileage up. Thats the first gear that I think could be problematic. The second one is the only other gear that it touches. Like I say, I still have not gotten into MY odometer yet, but I do think I know what the issue is. I wont be doing it until this weekend. Ill report back!

 

[KyBucks10]

Okay. So basically my solution was to think the setup from the junk yard had to be better than mine since it had gotten up to 215K (mine is only 185K), so I wanted to put it in my truck. I figured out how to pull all of the numbers apart and I adjusted them to my mileage, put everything back together, and installed in my truck including the odometer motor and speedometer setup (circuit board and all). I know this isn't a "how to make your original" work again explanation, but I think it will work for me. I will let you know over the next couple of weeks whether it stops working again. If it does, then obviously I have a problem outside of the cluster. If you want me to make a video of how to do everything that I did, just let me know. Good luck and holler if you have anymore questions.

Thanks!

 

[KyBucks10]

Well after filling up and resetting my trip meter 3 times since my last post, my odometer is still running strong. This seems like its going to work out (Fingers crossed). Holler at me if you want me to do a video of how to pull the numbers apart.

 

[jimwww]

I have also heard that if you reset the 'trip' odometer while it is moving you can break it. Always push reset station while not moving.