What does removing the speedo.....

[91grandmarquis]

Yeah, I know.. Plus we have already spoken, I told him about it and hes interested in the sway bar.. I already have one so it all works out.

[1987cp]

This may sound like a silly question, but why would you be buying new gears for the odometer? Is that the thing that breaks in instances one hears of where an odometer quits working?

[91grandmarquis]

I guess they strip out, just preventative maintenance, If I have it apart why wouldn't I is my mental.

[trwp72]

OK, here it the "sequence" of pulling the odometer in Pictures... And replacing the gears...

First, remove the outer trim pieces etc... Then remove these four screws...


Next you want to disconnect the gear shift pointer So you have to remove the bottom trim under the steering wheel to access that... it is on the right side of the column, underneath...


You want to first use a small pair of needle nose pliers to carefully unhook the wire loop from the lever... (1) Then un bolt the black bolt to remove it.. (2) Then just let it hang for now..


Put the emergency brake on, and put the car in gear, to get the gearshift out of your way....
Now to unplug the wiring harnesses going to the back of the speedo... (There is no speedo cable, it is all electric)
There is two ways of doing this... if you have enough cable you can flip it forward, and reach in and unplug the harnesses...

Or carefully reach in from the side to undo them... You have to have small hands, and watch out for the edges of the dash, they are fricken sharp!

The plugs release by "Squeezing" the two tabs... you have to squeeze really hard, and then GENTLY wiggle them out... There is some very delicate contacts inside the female part of this connector... (I used a pencil erasor to gently clean them before I reinstalled them... Optional)

Once the plugs are un plugged, carefully remove the speedo assembly from the dash....


Now, place it on a table, so you don't lose any small screws or pieces...

unscrew the screws holding the face plate on...




Then carefully pry the gauges out of the case, using a small flat blade screwdriver... The electrical connection is what holds them in place...




Then remove the gear shift indicator from the front... don't lose the piece of metal behind it, and don't forget to re-install it.. it is the ground for a couple of circuits...


Then gently pull the face off the front of the speedo assembly... like the gauges, it is held in place by two eletrical connectors... be careful tho, so you don't break the plastic. It can be quite brittle from the heat of the lamps...
Turn the face over and you will see the two odometers, and the three screws that mount them...


Here is a shot of the motor, and the new gears after I installed them... The one that goes on the motor is REALLY tight, So I used just a dab of silicone paste to get it to go on the shaft... The other gear snaps into a cradle... you will see what i mean when you get it apart...
(You can see where I had to glue the screw mounts back together... the heat has really caused this case to be REALLY brittle... That is why I need another 140 MPH fase assembly...)

After that, just reverse the order going back together... If you forget to re-install anything.. you will know eventually, and have to take it back apart! So just go slow and think it thru...

Back together ready to go back in the car...



As an added thing, since I show my car... I wanted the speedometer and gauge pointers to be bright orange again, as mine were faded... I know the pointers are lit from inside, and go thru the pointers, but I wanted them to look new... So I went to a hobby store, and got some flourescent orange paint, and painted them... I was more concerned with seeing them in the day, at car shows... As judges look for small little things like that... And you can still see them at night, maybe a little dimmer, but they still look nice, and do light up....

(the gearshift pointer has already been painted in this photo)

Another thing... I took trhe trim off of the steering column, as i was redying it... if you decide not to remove this, put some blue masking tape over the plastic on the column to keep from scratching it... it is easier to do the job with the plastic trim off, but it can be done without removing it... Of course, if you remove it, you have to pop the key switch out to remove the trim, then slide the keys switch back in place until you re-install the trim... Tom!

[trwp72]

On replacing the gears... They get brittle over the years, and fall apart... And the odometers quit working. So the solution is to buy the newer "Delron" plastic ones, that seem to last longer... The guy I bought mine from mostly sells these in the south, where they are REALLY bad about falling apart from the heat... And he has NEVER had any go bad, or break... And he has been selling them for almost 8 years now....

[hemihotrod402]

jeez, Im thankful mine is still mechanical. When I reset the odo when I put my 140 in, all had to do was to take off the back, there were no hidden screws.

[1990LTD]

Cool pics. I did everything with the cluster still inside the car.

[91grandmarquis]

Hmm ok about that little red wire loop that controls the drive selection, The wire broke when I pulled the speedo out of the interceptor, Can I use the one from my current speedo? Im hoping I can. Regardless there are pics In my RR of the new speedo, not in yet though.

[hemihotrod402]

Hmm ok about that little red wire loop that controls the drive selection, The wire broke when I pulled the speedo out of the interceptor, Can I use the one from my current speedo?

Are you talking about the one that hooks onto the needle in the gear indicator? If so, you should have no probs whatsoever with using your current one.

[91grandmarquis]

Yup thats the one I assumed I could use the one off the current speedo so I didn't fuss with it. Thank jesus thought I spent an hour in the cold for nothing... Amazing how many quarters were in the dash too. Also that car had a serious ground issue, and the cruise control was put in with duct tape and a giant ball of solder..... The previous owner must have been an "electrician".

[trwp72]

Yes you can use the one out of your present car... just unbolt it from the front of the cluster, it has two small bolts, and put it on the new one... problem solved... Also I forgot to say that the thumb wheel on that is to adjust the indicator to the right place... alot easier than the old ones!

[91grandmarquis]

Actually didn't break anything besides that rope taking this out, Pretty simple as far as interior disassembly goes, at least I think, Anyway the hardest part is the light switch being in the way. I hope the blue back light will add a little bit of pop to it and not make it look so stock. Ill make sure to take plenty of pics when I install it so that this can be used in the future as a guide.

[trwp72]

It has a back light? Mine doesn't have a backlight... Maybe I should go get e "civilian" lightswitch to make it light up... unless mine has one and doesn't work... Besides, my "auto lamp" feature is about worn out on the switch... I have been waiting for it to quit working all together.

The knob is easy to get off.. I made a little tool out of a piece of clothes hanger... just feel around the back of the knob for a small "slot" insert the hanger, push, and pull the knob off... It has a metal "tang" that you depress to release it... forgot to mention that, sorry....

[91grandmarquis]

It has numerous back lights... Just accessory bulbs, I believe there are 20 of them, Some run the blinkers and other alarms like the air bag light though. The rest just light up the gauges.

[trwp72]

I'm just talking about the headlight switch...