Tripminder issue

[ford man]

The tripminder will only display fuel economy in liters per kilometer and no amount of button pushing will change it back to miles per gallon. Am I missing something here? A lot of the buttons don't seem responsive, is it possible that it's not working properly? 1985 Crown Victoria BTW and I believe this started after I put a new fuel pump in a week ago.

[86VickyLX]

Unrelated. You need clean the contacts inside the tripminder.

[ford man]

Unrelated. You need clean the contacts inside the tripminder.

Ah ok thanks. I'll try that.

[86VickyLX]

It's quite easy, my recommendation is do it in a well lit place, away from dirt and such. Lots of little pieces in the tripminders. I've cleaned a few with excellent results. I used some wire to scuff up the contacts under the little metal tabs for the buttons. You'll see what I'm talking about when you get in there...

[ford man]

Did the trick! Thanks 86Vicky! Did just what you said... The hard part was putting that thing back together afterwards, but if you fool with it long enough you can figure out how to put those gray spacers back in there. Works like new now! Nice feature to have. I took a few photos, I'll try to post em up later...

[86VickyLX]

Did the trick! Thanks 86Vicky! Did just what you said... The hard part was putting that thing back together afterwards, but if you fool with it long enough you can figure out how to put those gray spacers back in there. Works like new now! Nice feature to have. I took a few photos, I'll try to post em up later...

I'm glad it worked out for you. Those gray spacers are kinda confusing.

[ford man]

Interestingly the computer chip in the second picture says 1981 and it's a 1985 model Crown Victoria. The last picture shows where to clean the contacts with a wire...

[miamibob]

Can you spray something like DEOXIT or something similar or do you have to "scrape it" somehow? Is it a bare, stiff wire and you just run it back and forth inder the button? Would like to know the exact proceedure. Thanks!!

[ford man]

Can you spray something like DEOXIT or something similar or do you have to "scrape it" somehow? Is it a bare, stiff wire and you just run it back and forth inder the button? Would like to know the exact proceedure. Thanks!!

Nah, spraying wouldn't do it. The contact under the metal button is VERY small and the gap between them is very small. Stick a small wire in there and go back and forth. (my forth picture shows this) I folded the wire over a couple times for more contact area. When you first open the case, There are 4 screws on the circuit board... I used a 5/32 1/4" drive socket.

[miamibob]

When I get a chance I'll try it on some of my "spares". Thanks for the VERY useful info!! Bobby