Odometer Failure

[RAW]

Hi all,

Long time since i posted on here! anyway, about 6 months ago i got bored of the dashboard lights not working, so decided to remove the instrument cluster and attempt to get them to work for a bit longer til i could find a replacement rehostat. i did this and the lights have continued to work most of the time untill recently, when they gave up compleetly again.

so, this morning, i removed the instrument cluster again, and did as i did last time to try to get the lights to wark again. replaced the cluster and the lights seemed to be working!, job done i thought.

we set off from near daventry to go to birmingham, and after filling up in warwick, reset the tripmeter. got back from birmingham to notice that neither the Odometer nor the Tripmeter had worked since leaving warwick 50 miles earlier!

what i need to know is - 1) have i caused the problem, ie, is it the wiring connectors on the back of the clocks (bear in mind that the odometer worked fine till it was reset at warwick)

or 2) has the odometer jammed or worse failed (as i have since read they can) when it was reset at warwick?

either way, i could also do with possible methods of repair outlining as i dont really know what to do!

Richard

PS: the car is an '89 740 GL with the square cluster.

[OldBlueVolvo]

Pressing the reset button on the trip is known to cause the odometer to fail. They can also fail with time anyway - just like mine did a few years ago. As it isn't working, you'll have to take the cluster out again to have a look. You can have a look for anything obvious like a loose connection (or not so obvious), but you'll probably find that one of the gears has a tooth missing inside the speedo. Wait and see if anyone on here has any other ideas, but you'll probably need to remove the speedo from the cluster. Once you have the speedo off, separate the PCB from the gauge and you'll be able to see the gears. This is also a good time to resolder the joints were the motor wires connect to the PCB. They are known to go 'dry'.

William

[RAW]

lovely! thanks william, sounds like a "fun" job for tomorow.

just realised that i forgot to mention something that probably narrows it down to only this possibility, the speedo is still working correctly.

Richard

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by RAW

lovely! thanks william, sounds like a "fun" job for tomorow.

just realised that i forgot to mention something that probably narrows it down to only this possibility, the speedo is still working correctly.

Richard

Hi first check that the reset odo button has not just cought the side of the housing [ long post about the prob ]can often be the prob it bends over the years.
Regards
Mike B

[supertramp]

Originally Posted by Mike B

Hi first check that the reset odo button has not just cought the side of the housing [ long post about the prob ]can often be the prob it bends over the years.
Regards
Mike B

I'll second that. My 740 odometer (both of them in fact) became intermittent. I took the cluster out, removed the speedo, and removed the reset stalk. Looking at the holes in the clear plastic and the speedo face, they were not in line. I didn't really (sorry!) believe the post that making the holes bigger would help. So I just removed the stalk altogether and stuck the speedo and cluster back. They have both worked faultlessly ever since! OK, unless I make the holes bigger and stick the stalk back I've got no odometer reset but I can live without that especially as I'd rather not risk the possibility of pushing it in while the car is moving. I use a wax crayon and a piece of white plastic to tell me when to fill up. (Did I mention the fuel gauge?) In the 1950s in his Ford Pop my father used a knitting stitch counter, a little drum thing for the same purpose....

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

I stripped a speedo recently in a 940 for mileage not working and replaced the motor that turns the mileage, its actually the circuit board that gets replaced c/w motor, easy enough fix. And I have a working speedo from a 940 if required.

[imperialaird]

Originally Posted by supertramp

I'll second that. My 740 odometer (both of them in fact) became intermittent. I took the cluster out, removed the speedo, and removed the reset stalk. Looking at the holes in the clear plastic and the speedo face, they were not in line. I didn't really (sorry!) believe the post that making the holes bigger would help. So I just removed the stalk altogether and stuck the speedo and cluster back. They have both worked faultlessly ever since! OK, unless I make the holes bigger and stick the stalk back I've got no odometer reset but I can live without that especially as I'd rather not risk the possibility of pushing it in while the car is moving. I use a wax crayon and a piece of white plastic to tell me when to fill up. (Did I mention the fuel gauge?) In the 1950s in his Ford Pop my father used a knitting stitch counter, a little drum thing for the same purpose....

I have the same problem with my 740, the odometer is intermittent, as indeed is the fuel guage. How, might I ask, do you use a crayon and piece of plastic to tell you when to fill up?

I'm going to fix the instruments but for now I could use something to tell me when to fill up. I'm hoping the fuel guage is just the fuel sender unit needing cleaned and that the odometer will be fixed by increasing the size of the holes that I read above.