Oops

[New2me944]

Well folks, I really screwed the pooch on this one.

Working on my 87 NA. The odometer was non functional when I bought the car, so I bought the correct replacement gear and armed with youtube videos, set out to change the gear. It actually went really well. I got the new gear in and began reassembling but when I went to reattach the needle, the tiny little shaft broke off.

I guess I'll either have to send it out for repair or scrounge up a working used unit.

Is there a preferred shop that works on these speedometers for a reasonable fee? I found a few speedometers on ebay that claim to be rebuilt but come at a fairly hefty fee. I need to figure out what the most cost effective option will be.

[whalenlg]

Did the exact same thing with my tach. I was lucky to find a used one for 77 pounds on eBay from a seller called “luxury car spares” in the uk in April 2023. It’s been working just fine since.
I don’t see them on eBay any more but they had quite a few available back then.
Maybe you can track them down.
Other options to try are plyhammer and carquip in boulder co
Plyhammer will answer emails promptly.
Carquip will need a phone call and probably a follow up call before they pay attention, but since they don’t really run an online business they might have some hidden stock. I got pristine door cards there (in person) for less than very damaged ones offered on eBay.

[Tom]

Bummer. That can happen to anyone. Ask me how I know. But, you've come to the right place! Check it out... A carpokes exclusive...

viewtopic.php?t=3670#p40814

[New2me944]

Did the exact same thing with my tach. I was lucky to find a used one for 77 pounds on eBay from a seller called “luxury car spares” in the uk in April 2023. It’s been working just fine since.
I don’t see them on eBay any more but they had quite a few available back then.
Maybe you can track them down.
Other options to try are plyhammer and carquip in boulder co
Plyhammer will answer emails promptly.
Carquip will need a phone call and probably a follow up call before they pay attention, but since they don’t really run an online business they might have some hidden stock. I got pristine door cards there (in person) for less than very damaged ones offered on eBay.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I couldn't find anything online about luxury car spares and since they were in the UK, the shipping and duties would probably be cost prohibitive.

I checked plyhammers page and didn't see any speedometers listed. I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything to reach out via email and see if he has anything that isn't listed on the site.

Carquip has an ebay store but I didn't see any 944 speedometers listed there.

[New2me944]

Bummer. That can happen to anyone. Ask me how I know. But, you've come to the right place! Check it out... A carpokes exclusive...

viewtopic.php?t=3670#p40814

Thanks for linking that thread.

I looked it over and it looks like something i could probably do myself. Except, I don't have a 3d printer or access to one for printing the bushing.

I'm also curious about how to bench test a speedometer. Can you tell me more about how to go about that?

[whalenlg]

Did the exact same thing with my tach. I was lucky to find a used one for 77 pounds on eBay from a seller called “luxury car spares” in the uk in April 2023. It’s been working just fine since.
I don’t see them on eBay any more but they had quite a few available back then.
Maybe you can track them down.
Other options to try are plyhammer and carquip in boulder co
Plyhammer will answer emails promptly.
Carquip will need a phone call and probably a follow up call before they pay attention, but since they don’t really run an online business they might have some hidden stock. I got pristine door cards there (in person) for less than very damaged ones offered on eBay.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I couldn't find anything online about luxury car spares and since they were in the UK, the shipping and duties would probably be cost prohibitive.

I checked plyhammers page and didn't see any speedometers listed. I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything to reach out via email and see if he has anything that isn't listed on the site.

Carquip has an ebay store but I didn't see any 944 speedometers listed there.

One thing to note is that some of these sellers are not all that up to date on their inventory listings.

I’ve been able to get great parts that weren’t listed.

Other notes - I’m in the us and for the UK part the shipping/duty wasn’t too bad. But that’s assuming you can find the store.
Carquips website isn’t up to date, but they will pick up the phone. And as I said, plyhammer will give you a quick email response.
Used 944 parts can be a bit of a treasure hunt as others will attest.

[New2me944]

Well, I bought a used cluster on ebay. The seller told me that everything worked on the cluster including the odometer.

I received it the other day and when I pulled the cluster out of the box it was shipped in, I could hear what sounded like small pieces of plastic rattling around inside. I took it apart and pieces of odometer gear started falling out. Great.

I took the speedometer apart and replaced the odometer gear. More carefully this time. I put the replacement speedometer in my original cluster and took it out to the garage and plugged everything in.

Since it's winter in Michigan, the only way I could think to test it was to get the car on stands with the rear wheels off the floor, start the car and put it in drive. I did that and the speedometer did not move. Neither did the odometer.

Do the wheels have to be on the ground with the car moving to register on the speedometer or did I just spend too much money on a used speedometer?

On the plus side, I did the foil tape trick on the light tunnels and replaced the three incandescent bulbs with dimmable leds. I can see the dash lights now for what that's worth.

[Tom]

Well, I bought a used cluster on ebay. The seller told me that everything worked on the cluster including the odometer.

I received it the other day and when I pulled the cluster out of the box it was shipped in, I could hear what sounded like small pieces of plastic rattling around inside. I took it apart and pieces of odometer gear started falling out. Great.

I took the speedometer apart and replaced the odometer gear. More carefully this time. I put the replacement speedometer in my original cluster and took it out to the garage and plugged everything in.

Since it's winter in Michigan, the only way I could think to test it was to get the car on stands with the rear wheels off the floor, start the car and put it in drive. I did that and the speedometer did not move. Neither did the odometer.

Do the wheels have to be on the ground with the car moving to register on the speedometer or did I just spend too much money on a used speedometer?

On the plus side, I did the foil tape trick on the light tunnels and replaced the three incandescent bulbs with dimmable leds. I can see the dash lights now for what that's worth.

From memory when I did my calibrator, the speedometer works if the wheels are spinning on jack stands. You might try the other cluster or a new sender. Sorry it's being a pain!

[New2me944]

Well, shoot. I figured that was the case but I was hoping that I was wrong.

One more possible trick up my sleeve before I admit defeat. My original speedometer worked but the odometer did not. I broke the needle shaft after installing a new odometer gear.

I have a replacement that does not work but has an intact needle shaft. Can this unit be swapped to the working speedometer?

speedometer-problems-v0-nnll1k81b5ce1.jpg (87.36 KiB) Viewed 237 times

If I were to de-solder the wires attached, could I swap the entire unit to the other speedometer and simply re-solder the wires?

[Tom]

There are circuit boards on the cluster that are needed for the speedometer to work. I'd try your original cluster with the new speedometer before doing surgery on the speedometer....