3Sigma

Hi gang,

This is my first post to the board....so be kind.

I have a 1990 D250 2WD truck. A funny thing happened at 187k miles. For a couple of moinths before hitting the big 187k the speedo would act flakey. Then after hitting 187k, the speedo got back to working like normal, but the odomoter, and the trip odometer both stopped recording miles. All this, while the speedometer works like a champ.

Any ideas???


ps. my newest baby is a 1997 2500 cc, long box with 85K miles. Just picked it up a coupel of weeks back. Working on a Cummins repower of my 1988 Ford E-250 Club Wagon.

-3Sigma

Micaiahfied

welcome to the site. here is the basics on the odometer. there are 2 little gears that the teeth get brittle and brake off... they are not cheap. since i track mileage for work i needed to fix them in both my trucks... they were like $32 a piece. if i were to do it over again i'd probably just use it as and excuse to custom make a dash and buy an aftermarket speedo, lol. i can get you a link to the place that sells the gears if you want.

Platinum_Racing

I have a similar issue, but my speedo doesn't work at all! I was wondering where the speed sensor is inside the truck... I have the Getrag tranny. Once this persons issues are cleared up, I'd appreciate some help figuring out my problem too, but take care of 3sigma first. I just want to know where the speed sensor is, how it can brake, if it's a wire issue, or if it's the guage cluster.

flashgordon

If you have a speedo sensor instead of a cable, it just a little adapter that ataches the gear on top of the ransfer case.....2wire come out of it and go to the speedo
if it work interminanly it cold be the speedo generator(speedo sensor) or a bad wire some were inbtween!

Micaiahfied

platinum, i've heard that the wires can wear through it may be worth the time to trace them up into the cab. may also want to check into the speedo floating thread, they may have some things you can check in there too.

Platinum_Racing

That sounds good, I'll do that.

The speedo doesn't work at all. It's been inspected twice and the mileage on the recipt only registered a 2 mile difference in a 1 year period, so I don't think that's considered intermittently. I'll look at the transfer case and see if I can get the wires out into the open so I can follow them into the cab. Thanks again!

flashgordon

Ha Micaiahfied! just re reading your post, the gears you are talking about, are in the speedo is self, and you can actully by them new still? from the dealer?

Micaiahfied

there is a place online.... http://www.carradio.com/gears.html service was great, prices didn't make me happy, but need to track the mileage.

flashgordon

wow a speedo shop that not only will rebuild you speedo but sell you the parts to do it your self!!!

thanks for the link.

gcliburn

I have a 92 w350 that did the same thing, my adapter on my transfer case broke a shaft that drives it. It is easy to take off and check, however the parts can be hard to find. Let me know if you need more info.

Mike S.

I've got a '92 and at 132,000 (or there-abouts) my odometer/tripmeter did the same thing. Try pushing in on the reset stem and letting it snap back out. Fixed mine a couple of times doing that. It might be broken gears, but it doesn't cost anything to push the button.

TexasHardcore

I had speedo issues on my old '92 CTD with a Getrag 360 trans.
It had a small adapter on the side of the transmission. I replaced the VSS with no change. I went to a truck shop and we tried to rebuild the little adapter several times and it would never work properly. It turned out to be the adapter itself was just junk. $90 from the Dodge dealer, but instead I took the speedo out as well as the adapter and sent it to United Speedometer Service (www.speedometershop.com) and they got everything in working order for $85. They also calibrated it according to my axle ratio (3.54:1) and my rear tire size (285/75/16) so my speedo was dead on after I reinstalled everything.

You might give them a try, we use them for all our speedometer issues here at the hot rod shop.