How to roll back odometer?

///Mike

///Mike

'76 & '85
No, I haven't started a shady used car lot. I just picked up a replacement gauge cluster but it shows ~5k more miles than there are on my car.

Is there an easy way to roll back the odo so the two match, or am I better off just changing out the speedo assembly? If so, any tips on doing that, like how to remove the needle without bending it?

TIA,

///Mike
 
removing odometer needle

I had a speedometer with a bent needle that always pointed 5 MPH faster than I was going. I had an old instrument cluster with a straight needle, so figuring I had nothing to loose I grabbed the straight needle directly over the center pin and pulled. It came right off, it was just pressed on. Pulled the other needle off and replaced it with the straight one.
Sorry no clue how to roll back an odometer.

Bob
 
Easy

Disconnect the speedo cable at the transmission and connect a battery drill to the inner cable. Pull trigger and see what the Odometer is reading to check for direction. Then use some tape or a cable tie to keep the drill going and come back in 10 minutes to see how far it has rolled back. Don't do something crazy like chuck a router at 25000 rpm to it. You will just burn up the bearings in the speedo and all will be lost.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
Spinning it backwards won't work

At least on mine, there is a free-wheeling type mechanism in the odometer that will not allow it to go backwards. You'd have to roll forward until it rolls around if you go the electric drill route.
 
I had an 89 mazda 626 that was 5,000 miles past the warrenty. The alternator bearing was screaming, and the dealer wanted over 350.00 for the a new one. No one else could get the part. I connected a high speed drill to the cable and let it run all night, it was loud. But the car was back under warrenty.
 
Yeah, I was thinking that the odometer wouldn't roll backwards too. But I guess it'd be worth trying since a couple of folks here say it'll work.

That said, seems like the needle comes off easily enough so it might be easiest just to change speedometer units between the two clusters. I just didn't want to chance hosing up the speedometer by yanking on the needle if it doesn't want to come off easily.

Thanks for all the input.

///Mike
 
I was hoping everyone would forget

that post. But, we should still let them suffer though it with drills, dremmels, or whatever. Spinning those back isn't something I personally would like to see people practiced at. :hrmph:
 
Brown , its not that big a deal with cars that are 30 plus years old. Some guys want thier freshly restored cars to be at zero when completed. Its not gonna hurt anyone.
 
Yeah, Bob SAYS it is easy, but......

Maybe I don't have little tweezers on the ends of my fingers like Bob does, but I had a heck of a time zeroing mine out when I changed speedos on my car.

Ciao,
 
Oops good point...

My thinking is innocent enough when I swapped a cluster out for a Euro component cluster and wanted to keep the mileage exactly the same.

No doubt these forces can be used for evil but there still is that tamperproof wire that if cut you know the odometer has been pulled out. :nod:
 
Hey Mike. Couldn't you kill two birds with one stone

by driving your X back and forth to Bob's house to ask your "Pimp my dash" questions in person? Seems logical to me. An additional 5K and a pimped dash in no time at all. ;)
 
I saw these guys do this in a movie once....

....Jack up the back of the vintage Ferrari, put the car in reverse and let the miles roll backwards...

...Oh yeah...that was Ferris Bueller...and it didn't work so well. :dead:
 
I just pulled the odometer part

carefully out of one and put it in the new unit. Don't let the wheels spin. Tape them together if you have to. I had to move mine back to the 85 mph head because the 140 head would just stop on 20 mph. No further movement up or down. Odometer kept working fine. Switched odometers and same problem. I disected the speedo and it seems the bushing allows a lot of movement. Anyway, sorry for the tangent! :bla:
As for the needle, a couple of pieces of balsa block and a heat gun (on low) straightened mine out.
 
JimD said:
by driving your X back and forth to Bob's house to ask your "Pimp my dash" questions in person? Seems logical to me. An additional 5K and a pimped dash in no time at all. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure Bob would let me park in his neighborhood-- nothing on my car is as shiny as his. On the outside, at least...

Hmmmm.... come to think of it, you might be onto something. I'm not sure Bob will be willing to share all of his special instrument panel tricks, but if I park my car in his driveway long enough he might spill the beans just to get me out of there.

Thanks Jim! It'll be a long trip in reverse but with a sense of humor like mine I'm used to lookin' over my shoulder. ;-)

Cheers,

///Mike
 
Mike, if you parked your car in my neighborhood

///Mike said:
I'm not sure Bob would let me park in his neighborhood-- nothing on my car is as shiny as his. On the outside, at least...
Click to expand...

If you parked your car in my neighborhood long enough, I'd drive it every day for a month... Then spin it back 5K miles for ya. Ha!

///Mike said:
Hmmmm.... come to think of it, you might be onto something. I'm not sure Bob will be willing to share all of his special instrument panel tricks
Click to expand...

You never know until you ask!

///Mike said:
It'll be a long trip in reverse but with a sense of humor like mine I'm used to lookin' over my shoulder. ;-)
Click to expand...

Just in case you wanna try, it doesn't work in reverse... :dead: :lol:
 
bbrown said:
If you parked your car in my neighborhood long enough, I'd drive it every day for a month... Then spin it back 5K miles for ya. Ha!
Click to expand...

Foiled again!

I'll start another thread for the modification questions but will ask one here since it's on topic: given what I'm wanting to accomplish, which is to keep the exact same odometer reading in the new cluster, what's the easiest/safest way to do it?

Swap the complete speedo units?

Swap just the odometer sections?

Reset the mileage on the odometer in the "new" cluster to match that of the old cluster?

Obviously I'd prefer not to have to cut the tamper-tale wire if I can help it, since I'm not going to change the indicated mileage on the car.

TIA,

///Mike
 
OK Mike,

Any way you look at it, it will require the removal of the cluster and speedo.

Greg posted my instruction in an earlier post. You can either follow that, or, if you pay the shipping both ways, you can send me the speedo with whatever mileage you want it to read and I'll do it for ya.

It doesn't get any more simple than that.
 
Not much you can do

without cutting that wire. I tried all of the listed methods (except for the Ferris Bueller method). Trying to reset the odometer to the desired mileage proved to be a futile gesture for me. I guess I'm not patient enough! Moving the entire odometer was very easy as it just pries out. If you don't want to cut the wire, the only alternative I see is to drive the car 5k more miles until the odometers match. Good luck!
 
Thanks Bob and Jim! I haven't looked at it yet so I was hoping there was a way to remove the entire speed unit from the cluster without cutting the tamper-tale. Oh well, guess I'll just have to deal with it 'cause I sure want that nifty late face look.

There's another of those clusters on eBay right now, BTW. Hard to believe two in one week-- I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Cheers,

///Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top