Odometer Rolling for a 140 Speedo

[Tiggie]

I need to set the odometer for my new 140 Speedometer. It's 55K miles off so the idea of a drill running for four weeks to get it right is not really something I want to do.

I took the speedometer out of the cluster. I really don't want to mess this one up since it a '88-'89 version I've been looking for forever. The gears look sensitive. Anyway I can set the odometer without messing with them?

Or should I just leave it?

I had bad experience setting an odometer on a newer Ranger. One of the electric turned ones. Set it an it worked for about 50 miles and quit. Alignment of the gears got off.

[mrltd]

I've never had any issues just popping the shaft out, setting the milage and re-assembling.

I've also found that lining it all up perfect and putting some tape on the numbers before shoving the shaft back in keeps everything aligned.


Or you can just leave it and make sure the milages are written down somewhere safe.

[87gtVIC]

I'd leave it. Just keep track of the difference between the two now and always add that difference to your 140 speedo to get the total mileage.

I had three speedometers in my car. The stock 85 and two 140's. Strangely enough now with the third speedometer the mileage on it is just over a 1000 more than what i have on the car.

[Tiggie]

Planning to open it up tonight.

mrltd, are you talking about the odometer shaft? The ones the numbers ride on? I haven't looked at it in detail yet, but are there any tricks to popping it out?

[87gtVIC]

Good luck Ben. I was too scared to try this.

[Tiggie]

OK so I'm weary. I got this thing open and there are two shafts. See attachments.

mrltd - would it be possible for you to identify which shaft to move and tell me which way to go with it? Just a small punch will get it?

It looks like someone has been in this speedo before judging by the second picture. Looks like some kind of sealant/plug was removed.

[Tiggie]

Still struggling.

I have heard from mcninetyone to remove the upper shaft and the odometer should be able to be set. I can't figure how to get the upper shaft out. I tried pliers on the non-splined end and pulled but didn't have any luck. I really don't want to hammer on this thing for fear of losing the calibration and cracking the all important faceplate. Is a small punch the only way to get the shaft out?

[Tiggie]

Success Pending...

Got it installed last night. Removed the needle and faceplate. Set the odometer per mcninetyone's directions to tap out the upper shaft from the pointed end. Reinstalled the needle and faceplate. The calibration seems fine.

Only hang up is that this speedometer is missing a retainer for one of the gears that turn the odometer. You can see the hole on the second picture attached a few posts ago. A metal cap goes in that hole. Planning to rig it tonight with some cardboard and electrical tape if I can't get the retainer out of my original speedo.

PS: I hate the shift indicators on these things. My original got slaughtered before I bought the car. It was beyond zip-tie repair. Adding insult to injury, the black peg on the shift lever was broken too. This speedo came with a good collar and I already had another peg from a junkyard run. I installed it and the collar decided to snap while tightening it up. It wasn't even starting to get tight. The screw still hadn't seated. Oh well. I guess the specs manual should have said tighten to 0.000001 ft-lb whether the screw is seated or not. At least I can zip tie this one.

[87gtVIC]

Was it cold out? I find heating up the plastic collar really helps remove a lot of tension.

[Tiggie]

Pretty cold. I ended up with a zip tie fix. I actually had to break the tab that goes into the steering tube off. It wasn't allowing for enough adjustment to get a correct reading on my shift indicator. But all seems well now.

The speedo is installed and functioning along with a correct odometer. It's really not that hard at all with a little direction as to where to start.

Speedo is about 3mph slow according to the rapidly reset tripminder AVG speed reading. It seems slow too just by feel of the car. I'm guess the paint I put on the needle is weighing it down or the needle got back on a little to the left. I may try to fix it later or just live with it. The odometer is correct though.

[sly]

if it's 3 across the board... it's leaning a little liberal... err... left.