is there a cable for the odometer?? The needle on my speedometer broke, and the odometer just doesn't work. Thanks

______________
|IMG|http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid142/p29edeeda980a8aa16c5a61f6cbacf25e/f6a6be42.jpg|/IMG|

The odometer and speedometer cable are the same cable.

______________
Tom
71 454/365 Mulsanne Blue Convertible

So if the speedo works and the odometer doesn't what does that mean? Mucho buckos...???

______________

Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!

Norsky said: So if the speedo works and the odometer doesn't what does that mean? Mucho buckos...???

Maybe not Jim. I would suggest contacting someone who performs instrument service to find out. This is the guy (Jason)I have used: vetteinstruments@aol.com

The speedometer and odometer are in the same unit, the speedometer head. THe cable drives both of them. The cable goes directly into the back of the head and spins a rotating drum type unit that in turns through magnetic field rotates the speedo needle. The faster it spinsn the further the speedo needle moves. A spring returns it to zero and provides the resistance to the spinning magnetic field. This must be calibrated to be correct.

The odometer is gear driven. There is series of gears. The first gear is turned by the cable. The final gear is part of a drum that has all of the odometer numbers. This drum in held in with a clip at one end, and all of the gears are not difficult to replace.

Pull the head and look at the back and it's fairly easy to see. There is no calibration for the odometer. Just the speedometer. Any adjustment to the odometer calibration is done at the transmission by selecting the correct drive and driven gears. This means you can work on the odometer without messing up the readings.

Turn the cable input and see what turns. You can follow the rotation in the gear path and see where it fails. Sometimes it's as simple as lubricating the gears and numbers drum. Try not to get lube on the numbers themselves. The lube can remove the printed numbers in some cases. If the gears are stripped or damaged you can replace them.

There are places that specialize in speedo repair, and they will have the parts. We have a parts house locally that does this. There is also Electrosound on Brookpark Rd in Cleveland OH. They are a GM, Ford, Chrysler, warrenty repair center for dash components, gagues, radios, etc. There may be such companies closer to you.

BBB - a little add-on to ZenMaster Ken's info.

I had the same problem with my odo: speedo works/odo doesn't.

The weak link in the odometer design is (what I call) the drive shaft. It is at the back of the speedo/odo internal mechanism and is oriented side-to-side. The right-hand end of it meshes with a driven shaft (oriented front-to-back) that engages the odometer wheels shaft (which is also oriented side-to-side). The weakness of the drive shaft is that it is plastic, while all other shafts and gears are metal. If the odo wheels ever "lock up" with the vehicle in motion, the speedo/odo cable will contimue to to turn that plastic odo drive shaft against a metal gear that can't turn. The result is a stripped shaft - very much like what can happen to the tachometer drive wormgear on a distributor shaft.

Rebuilds usually start around $150 (Corvette Central). I kept an eye on E-Bay for several months for '68-'76 speedo with a guaranteed working odometer. Bought one for $75 that had some minor cosmetic flaws. Installed the guts of it into my cosmetically flawless speedo and "presto-change-o" I have a fully functional gauge once again!

Hope this helps you.

John

|UPDATED|5/23/2004 5:53:20 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Thanks guys...!!! Something to tackle when I get back from vacation.
____________________________________

Jim O.
Save the Wave...!!!

______________

Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!