Thanks James I will try this.

 

on my car, the speedo goes to 0 when i hit a bump and the odometer and trip odometer do not work. and the check engine and other warning lights do not light up at all, not even on start up... and the tach reads way off... am i better off just getting a new cluster?

 

Thanks for the advice and the pictures I wish I had read this 7 years ago when I bought the car with a bad trip odometer. I've been keepin' one in my cell phone for years to check my mileage. This should be way easier.

 

Another Trip Odometer fixed!

I did however have to drop the steering column in order to put the cluster back in. This is on an 89 RS, 115mph speedo.

The 21 year old lights SUCK now; I can barely see the gas gauge late at night, lucky i have aftermarket water temp/volt/oil pressure on the A-pillar, so i'm not really worried about it.

Hopefully I will find a job soon so I can get the LEDs in there.

Thanks JamesC

 

i just bought a great odometer that the trip actually works on it. Is there some kind of preventative maintenance I can do to it to keep it from breaking in the future?

Or just use a really soft touch when pushing the rest button from now on?

 

The soft touch can't hurt. The "J" hooks are plastic, however, and eventually become brittle--and frankly, the design wasn't the best.

JamesC

 

I bet lubing them would help. Maybe something like powdered graphite, not just a liquid lube.

 

GM recommends that only the lower 2/3's of the cable be lubricated (I assume to prevent leakage into the speedo head. The "J" hooks retain the odometer roll, so there would be no cause to lube. At any rate, I'd personally avoid it.

JamesC

 

well... crap

even though that Speedometer worked fine when I bench tested it, the trip odometer doesn't work after all

oh well, I cleaned and greased the cable when I had it out, and it doesn't squeak and jump anymore. That's more important than having a working trip odometer


Another bit of good news. The speedometer cable wasn't half as hard to get clipped back up as I thought it would be. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get it hooked up again because I've heard horror stories. I grabbed the cable as it comes through the firewall, pushed/pulled it toward the back of the car as much as I could, and then pushed on teh face plate of the cluster until it all snapped into place

I'll try the wire trick next time I have it apart

 

Great article, worked awesome, I used aviation saftey wire and the spinner tool.
quick easy fix. sometimes only one side is broke, make sure to wire both anyway,
beacause it will break eventually.

 

Any Ideas on 1995 Firebird 3.4L ? In 4 days i have driven the car approx 45 miles but according to the trip im at 9 tenths of a mile lol. I realize it may be electronic as i havent checked yet, just thought id see if anyone has fixed this before on new year models. Thank you

 

Hey, Allan,

Since TGO is a thirdgen site, 82-92, you won't find the specific info you need. I suggest you try the following site:

http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/

Good luck with your project,

JamesC

 

Thank you sir

 

genius. great easy fix. i just used a twisty tie and bam! its working again. at any rate thanks for the info. i thought it was gonna to be buy a new cluster or look at the broken one.

 

i just did mine.gm should have their but kicked for making the cable release so hard to get to.i used the nail and tie strap method.now i have a trip odometer for the first time since i got this car.thanks.

 

Hi, just used your fix to repair my 87 IROC gauge. Works just like it did when new. Thanks for the information and pictures.

 

aha! my 86 iroc has a failed trip meter,the guy at "autoinstruments.com" said he could fix it ,but that itd fail again.and all for $175

 

I'm also having trouble unhooking the speedo cable, there's a huge bundle of wires in the way and they are too solid to move. I can't even get the screwdriver in there to trip the cable clip : /

 

i pulled the dash out as far as it would go and took a long screwdriver to push the clip toward the back of the car while laying on my back.

 

Question:

I'll admit I haven't read this whole thread yet.

I need to know if the odometer in the mechanical speedo will swap to an electric cluster (namely Camaro to Bird cluster). I'm buying a Camaro that's basically been stripped of everything but the body panels. The instrument cluster is one of 2 parts of the dash left (and the second one is the metal bar running across the lower part of the dash housing), and it's mechanical (Camaro is an 88). I have a complete dash from my Bird that I'm going to put in (even if I have to drill holes in the cowl lip to put screws in). I'd like to retain the original odometer to the Camaro (supposedly has less than 100K), but the Bird cluster (and all associated parts) is electronic. Anyone know if they swap? I have SOME of the parts to convert the T-5 over to a mechanical speedo (adaptor and shaft), but I don't think I have a speedo cable or any of the clips or stuff to retain it, nor do I have any idea where they would mount. I have a spare cluster I can guinea pig on, but I'm just curious if I should even attempt it...

 

hey man, this is very helpful. im going to pull my gauge and see if mine has the same problem. my question is: neither my odometer or my odometer trip works....but my speedometer does work. will the tips in this thread help me fix both problems?

 

I do not think it will fix all your problems. Try a search on odometers not working.

 

jamesC, i found the problem why my odometer and trip wasnt working. when i took things loose, i saw 3 teeth broken off of a gear, which is why my numbers wont move....please let me know where to get this gear or any possible fix that you know of....thanks

 

Sorry, no experience with Birds, which have some electrically driven parts, IIRC.

JamesC

 

if anyone knows where to buy this gear. let me know. thanks

 

Got a question for you guys. Everyone seems to have Trip odometer issues, but both my trip and regular odometer are sticky. Sometimes they don't roll at all, sometimes they roll REALLY slowly, and sometimes they roll like they should. Generally, they both roll in concert with each other. Is this the same issue?

 

Sorry to post in an older topic but i have a small problem i need help with. I have my cluster out and i replaced all the lights with leds and i had to replace my headlight switch. Now im going to put it all back in place and the speedo cable does not want to snap back into place. Any tricks to help with this? It might help if i can get some slack on the speedo cable to pull it out enough to snap it back in place with my hands. I just cant find where to get slack from, i looked under the hood and fed in some cable but it didnt help. Thanks guys!

 

Follow the cable from the firewall down to the subframe, there is a clip with a single bolt, remove the bolt and rotate the clip upward, it has a locating tab that hooks into a hole above the mounting bolt. Tape the clip to the cable before letting go or it will slide down the cable to the underside of the trans. Unless you like chasing things!

 

Hi, I own a 1989 Camaro RS 5.0 V8

My question is can you install the instrument cluster from an IROC Camaro onto my car. Considering that my speedo only goes up to 110 and the IROC goes as high up as 145M MPH. Is there any kind of calibration needed on ANYTHING in order to make this swap work? any help appreciated

 

To avoid any possible electrical issues, I'd recommend swapping only the speedo head, not the entire cluster. No calibration is required.

JamesC

 

This is an excellent sticky, great job. I ended up using your method with the wire but also added two rubber bands (the 2nd one is a backup). I tested everything before reinstalling and it worked great. The rubber bands are out of my little girls hair band drawer.. Stone

 

I pulled my needle from the front.. and now i have to superglue it back on... seriously regret doing it that way... do yourselves all a favor.. do it the way in the instructions listed on this page

 

First of all, you shouldve included more photos of the afterproduct... I'm very lost and this isnt working for me... How can this work if the reset button cant be depressed if this wire is stretched around so tight... if you give the wire slack, the gears dont touch the roll... someone please help me or post more pics

 

I used rubber bands just now, ill keep you informed.. theyre working awesome!!!

 

Wire is a permanent fix. I suspect the rubber will dry out and/or rot at some point and you'll be back to square one. The info and pic in post #5 should point you in the right direction.

JamesC

 

Yeah but wire isnt elastic, so i dont understand how this works.... i tried the way you depicted, and it didnt work... the axle didnt seat itself high enough to touch the roll. So I made it very tight, but it wasnt able to reset. The picture you show doesnt show too much really, a front shot would be better. i feel like im doing this wrong.

 

The "J" clips that originally held the piece in place aren't elastic either. The hard plastic of the "J" clips hold axle roll securely in place. If everything is aligned properly, wiring up as I've detailed will cure the issue. A front shot wouldn't show what you need to see.

BTW, how the mechanism functions is detailed early on in this thread. Perhaps a reread is in order.

Best of luck with your project,

JamesC

 

Will check again, thankyou

 

You have to release the Speedo cable from the cluster before pulling the 2 10mm tin "nuts" its easy once you find it, I do it by hand but you could use a long screwdriver or something

 

I have an 85 Firebird, and the fix described here are a bit different (No J Clips)..
The problem I have is that the reset gear on the trip meter has split, and the gear just spins on the shaft if you try to reset.
I managed to glue the gear to the reset shaft, but found that the trip meters digit rolls get stuck when trying to turn the 3rd roll, and that caused the gear to break.
Does anyone sell a replacement roll for these?
Thanks..
PS - photos can be loaded if needed

 

can u post a picture

 

Keep searching on Third Gen there are some great pictures.

 

UPDATE - trip odometer still working great.. stone

 

A requested...
I found that my trip meter reset button was not working as the gear on the head is broken (small crack) that the reset shaft would only spin within the gear.






Taking it apart, gluing the gear and replacing, the reset seemed to work, until it needed to turn the 2nd dial in.
In other words on turning the trip meter to zeros...the 1's wheel turned, then the 10's wheel, and when it came time to turn the 100's wheel. the sucker jammed.
I kept trying it, but brute force broke the gear head again....
So I am wondering if there is a replacement available for these, or should I place it all in the trash and buy another?

 

ttt

 

Thanks for the info JamesC...it appears your speedo setup is mechanical (cable driven) where mine is electrical..just curious, would you know if the internal setup is the same on the electrical as the mechanical? Thx again..

 

Great Instructions JamesC! Fixed mine today with the wire method. Trip odometer was just flopping around in there and jumping all over the place but now everything is lined up and the reset functions perfectly.

I think the confusion is there are actually 2 axles attached to each other. The wire holds one axle in a fixed position. There is another axle that engages the trip odometer and the wired axle acts as a pivot point. The reset button clips to the assembly and the spring behind the reset button holds the gears onto the trip odometer until you push the button, forcing it to disengage. The 4 little points sticking out from the pivoting gears engage the trip odometer gears to push them all back to zero when you push the button all the way in.

I was going to mention that a rubber band will only last a few months in a car but since those posts were from more than a year ago, they must have already figured that out. Thanks again for the detailed post.

 

Another trip odometer fixed... I did mine the same way as Al Hasse did using zip ties except instead of using a finish nail I cut a heavy coat hanger and bent the ends over the side of the gauge to keep it from possibly sliding side to side. Trip odometer works great now!!!

 

Am I the only one with this type of Speedo?

 

Is there ANYBODY in the New Jersey area (Central) who is skilled enough to repair the Odometers in my 1991 Formula? I dread having NO IDEA even where to start on this project and worst all, screw it up by pulling or breaking something that is now 25 years old! I would pay you for your time if you are successful with the cure!