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Time, weather, and ambition harmonically converged today and I finally pulled the instrument cluster to address the non-working odometer issue. Yes, the cluster can be removed without removing the steering wheel and dealing with the whole air bag issue. (I did at least disconnect the battery as a precaution). I had been dreading this, but it turned out to be a bit easier than I had anticipated. The tiny little broken gear looks a little different, and is in a different place, than the broken odometer gears in the 944 youtube videos, but I figured it out. Ordered the tiny little 15 tooth gear and the 16 tooth gear it sits on (these come in 15, 16, and 17 gear versions - you have to crack open the speedo and count the teeth to figure out which one came with the car). A couple of teeth on my tiny gear were broken/melted. I decided to replace both gears as long as I’m in there. $25 each.
While I have the cluster out, I am also replacing the three cluster bulbs with one of these LED conversion strips I found on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324685633286
Now I’m waiting for the gears to arrive. The plan is to put it all back together next weekend.
Bill
'93 Horizon Blue Metallic Cab
'58 Triumph TR3A (sold)
'06 Lexus RX400h Hybrid
Lots of guitars
(This post was last modified: 09-08-2024, 02:36 PM by
lbpesq.)
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Looking good, Roboman!
Bill
'93 Horizon Blue Metallic Cab
'58 Triumph TR3A (sold)
'06 Lexus RX400h Hybrid
Lots of guitars
Posts: 1,348
Threads: 65
Joined: Aug 2010
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The new odometer gears arrived. I put the speedometer back together. I then discovered that the wires on the LED array were about 1/2” too sort, which necessitated some soldering and splicing. Got the cluster back together and coaxed the it back behind the wheel. I’ll finish the job tomorrow. Here’s a pic of the old gear that turned yellow and lost a tooth.
Bill
'93 Horizon Blue Metallic Cab
'58 Triumph TR3A (sold)
'06 Lexus RX400h Hybrid
Lots of guitars
Posts: 1,348
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Joined: Aug 2010
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Got the dash put back together and took it for a test run. Everything works! The odometer, the trip meter, even the little hidden button the zeros out the trip meter. (I remember the first day I had the car, I went crazy trying to figure out how to zero out the trip meter). By the way, according to several sources I found while researching the broken odometer issue, the claim I’ve heard for years that “depressing the reset button while the car is in motion will break it” is an old wive’s tale. OTOH, I haven’t tried it.
Bill
'93 Horizon Blue Metallic Cab
'58 Triumph TR3A (sold)
'06 Lexus RX400h Hybrid
Lots of guitars
Posts: 1,348
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I ordered mine from odometergears.com. (Pelican Parts also has the gears, but charged more for shipping and charged tax which odometergears.com didn’t charge). I counted the teeth myself. The gears arrived from cross country in under a week and worked perfectly. I viewed removing the cluster without removing the steering wheel as the lesser of two evils. As it turned out, it was far easier than I anticipated. And I really like the new LED cluster lighting.
Bill
'93 Horizon Blue Metallic Cab
'58 Triumph TR3A (sold)
'06 Lexus RX400h Hybrid
Lots of guitars