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Speedometer & Odometer Not Spinning


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Just as the title says. Both stopped spinning about a month ago. Haven't been able to make heads or tales of what the cause is. Started with the odometer first. Travel odo went out at the same time so it isn't spinning either. Speedo went out near the end of the month.

 

Anybody ever had to deal with an issue like this before? Should I consider replacing the gears inside the cluster? My '88 is running near 200k on it so I wouldn't put it past the idea that those gears are busted/ready to bust.

 

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The cluster itself isn't too difficult to get to, just some Phillips screws around the surround and then IIRC four around the cluster (surround comes out first, then the cluster). Pull the cluster and make sure that the speedo cable is still clipped into the dash behind the speedo and the square drive end is intact and turns when the truck moves. I haven't had an '88 dash apart, but on my '93, each instrument is pretty easy to unscrew from the rest of the cluster for inspection. The mechanism's pretty simple. The cable spins a gear and a magnet. The gear spins other gears that spin the odometers. The magnet drags at the cup around it, pushing it against its spring, and that's what makes the needle move. There's also a little reed switch next to the magnet on mine (not sure if '88 had that yet) that sends a speed sensor signal to the computer.

I don't think just the gears are available. If the assembly is buggered, I'd look for another cluster of similar vintage to either swap in or rob the required parts from. Also, if you find that the cable's damaged, check the odometer and its gears before replacing the cable. If it was just the cable that went, it should've all gone at once. One then the other makes me suspect that the odometer or its gearing bound up somewhere, overloading the cable and causing it to fail soon after.

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I've got to make some time to crack open that cluster and see what's going on inside. I'll be heading over to the junkyard tomorrow morning with my buddy to pick some parts he needs for his car, so I should have some time to do it then. I'm hoping I get lucky that there's a first gen Pathy somewhere in the yard that has an intact cluster that I can salvage from.

 

 

have both, odometer is reading 257.000

I'm up in North Valley. I'll send you a PM so we can work out the details in case I dont end up stumbling on any Pathys tomorrow. 

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