I recently noticed that the odometer and trip odometer did not seem to be keeping pace with the distance I was traveling (speedo is working fine). So today I went on a 22 mile trip and the odometer and trip odometer both increased by roughly 5 miles. I changed out the gears on this unit several years ago when it completely stopped working. Before I pull the unit out of the dash, I thought I would see if anyone else had a similar experience and could this problem be caused by something other than the gears. I had new tires put on the car a couple of months ago, a new battery installed, but can't imagine these things having anything to do with it. I haven't been driving the car too much this year, so I don't really know how long this has been going on.

 

Is your speed indication OK? If so then the failure is inside the odometer unit

Regards
Hans

 

Thanks for being upright and forthright- for others, would be another way to maintain overall "low mileage" queens that exponentially command higher prices.

 

Thanks for confirming my thoughts that the trouble lies within the odometer unit. Seems odd that it would fail twice, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.
The thought of running the car around town with only 25% of the miles being recorded is enticing, but that's not right, so it's an easy decision.

 

Hi Bluecab,
Maybe some dried lubricant is impeding the internal electric motor's ability to turn things in the odometer.
If you see dried lubricant consider spraying some electronic cleaner in a cup and mopping a bit up with a swab and see if you can clear some of it using the swab. Although the spray does not attack plastic I would be reluctant to spray it directly on the mechanism as it may result in unintended consequences.
Andy

 

I'm on my third odo/speedometer.
I had a pleasant experience with Palo Alto
http://www.paspeedo.com/

 

Andy, i know your intentions are good, but sometimes is your advise on using cleaning fluids/lubricants inaccurate and could cause problems.
Do not use lubricants or solvents in the speedometer, unless you know what you are doing. The most common problem in these instruments is that two plastic gears fails and disintegrates. This will stop the odometer or cause it to turn slow.
One of the reasons for the failing gears is in fact that the manufacturer used a lubricant that was incompatible with the gear plastic type. This underlines the need to use the correct type, location and amount of lubricant when repairing these instruments.
Cheers,
Tore

 

I took it apart today and all but 3 of the gears were left on the big wheel. I hate plastic parts.