[blake_mcguire]

Hey guys, I'm getting back to the process of putting my 88 Shelby Z back together now that I have time during the Winter!

Anyway, I need to fix my odometer, too. I remember someone mentioning a kit or something that you can order to replace the broken gears, but I can't find it with the search function. I would send the odometer out and have someone else fix it, but I'm confident I can do it myself, and I'm on a budget.

Any suggestions?

-Blake

 

[ImperialCrown]

If broken plastic gears are the problem, try these guys:
http://www.odometergears.com/products/Chrysler-Dodge/All+except+Monaco/125

 

[george w]

Odometergears.com has the replacemnts. You'll want both the small gear ( which is most likely missing teeth ) and the large gear which it attaches to. If it isn't broken yet it wil be soon. The original plastic degrades and get's brittle. The little gear get's stuck on the large gear and the teeth break off. The new gears are made by the odometer gears people from their own molds and better materials and solve the broken gear issue permanently.
There are replacement instructions on the website and probably on YouTube as well.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

And make sure not to reset the trip odometer while in motion. Several of us believe that is what contributes to the teeth shearing off the gears.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Thanks Bob. I would have never thought of that. Nylon is usually pretty hardy stuff.

 

[blake_mcguire]

Great help, as usual!

Thanks guys!

 

[ChargedDust]

If the small gear doesn't turn completely freely on the pin of the large gear, drill the hole in the small gear half a HAIR bigger, use some vaseline to stick the small gear in place while you reassemble it all.

 

[george w]

You can reset the trip odometer without any problems once the gears are replaced. Depressing the trip rest post disengages the trip odometer wheels from the large drive gear and when it's released they re-engage. I'm sure this re-engagement is the "straw that breaks the camels back" with the original gears. It's always the little 20 tooth gear that goes first since the teeth are so fine, but having said that you'll want to change both gears as the large gear will be brittle and close to failure as well. Replacing the gears isn't difficult, but it's something that one would prefer not to have to do twice.
While you're in the instrument cluster it's a good time to clean and polish the lens, clean up the lamp socket contact pads and replace the any of the instument lighting bulbs that appear blackened.

 

[pSun]

Holy Farknarkles...I did this today, that is, I reset the odometer while accellerating from 2cd to 3rd gear; then no odometer. Narts!

 

[TurboPacifica]

I wonder how that differs with the digital dash????

 

[blake_mcguire]

So as an update, the odometer works; however, the trip odometer is still having an issue. It ticks over, but the numbers aren't lined up with the windows, so the little wheels are about halfway off (you see the bottom of the number above and the top of the number below). It's not a huge deal right now, but maybe you guys know why it does that?

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Did you actually remove the number wheels? That's not necessary to repair the gears. If so, you may have misaligned them.

 

[OldsVistaCruiser]

Thanks, guys!

I found the parts at odometerguys.com (and the YouTube video) and even though it's $50 for a pair of tiny gears, it seems to be the perfect fix for Mom's car.

I also drove out the pin that has the star gears that keep the odometer wheels in line (and advance the numbers), and reset the odometer from 144,434 to exactly 157K, since this odometer has been broken (or out of the car, replaced by a junkyard cluster) for nearly a year. I figure that's approximately what's been driven since the odometer has broken. The new reading lines up perfectly.

The inspection doesn't expire until January 2014, but I can get the new 1-15 stickers as early as November 1. It will also need a windshield, as the current one got two stone chips and Mom didn't get the chips sealed, so they spread into cracks.

Thanks again,
Bill