Odometer roll back warning

["Turbo-T"]

Did any of the Regals built before 1988 have any kind of warning that alerted a potential buyer that the odometer had been tampered with?

Thanks.

 

[86 TR]

I think if the odometer was rolled back there will be silver lines in between each number.

Don't quote me on it. But I remember reading about it years ago.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

Now what about if they just rolled it forward until it turned over? Not like it would take that long given that there are only 5 digits to these things.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Well I took my new 145 speedo apart and found some silver plate looking thingys between each digit so I'm going to guess....yes.

Bummer....my old 85 mph reads 19,766 and my 145 one reads 22,106....was hoping to do the swap this afternoon. And make the new one read the old one.

Guess that's 2340 miles I need to drive this thing then...dang I'm ansy to get this new speedo in.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

I say buy a used one off of an early 80's regal (non-turbo) and find out. Or try the roll forward thing.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

Better yet...go to a local junk yard and go 'looking for parts' behind the dash and test it on one of those!

 

[GNVenom]

The odometers are easily rolled back. The white lines between the digits only tells you that the odometer has been tampered with, breaking the seal. But, you can easily remove the odometer numeric assembly, carefully take the seal off, then set the odometer to whatever you want. Replace the seal, place it back in, and you're all set to go. That's the downside to the old mechanical odometers.

Here is some info regarding the odometer movement. The article refers to the odometer in the digital dash, but the analog is very similar:

http://www.installationinstructions.com/FYI/odometer FYI.pdf

 

[86george]

speed o miles

Well I took my new 145 speedo apart and found some silver plate looking thingys between each digit so I'm going to guess....yes.

Bummer....my old 85 mph reads 19,766 and my 145 one reads 22,106....was hoping to do the swap this afternoon. And make the new one read the old one.

Guess that's 2340 miles I need to drive this thing then...dang I'm ansy to get this new speedo in.

I wouldn't be to concerned about a few miles difference on the speed o's. Mine took spells of showing speed but not recording miles.The cable must have wiggled back just enough to allow it show speed but not turn the tummblers.I dought mine car was the only one thats done this.So there's probable a lot of them around that don't show exact mileage.The over all condition of the car is more importent than the mileage shown.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

+1

 

["Turbo-T"]

Ok, I'm just one of those types that prefer to keep the odometer to the car, regardless if it's had an engine change or a trans change or rebuild....I always like to keep the odometer to the car.

John are there any tricks to removing the odometer?

 

[GNVenom]

Removing the odometer is simple, pretty straight forward and self-explanatory. The replacement odometer can be set identically to the original odometer with precision - it's just a matter of knowing what you're doing. There is a small clip that holds the clock movement center shaft into the frame of the odometer, and it slides out once the clip is removed. Be aware that the seal, which is a flimsy plastic strip, is easily damaged, so be careful with that. New ones are not available...this seal provides alignment of the numeric wheels and is the part that breaks when someone tries to force the numeric wheels to read a non-legitimate number.

The movement itself is a series of number wheels. Each wheel is designed to index the one to the left of it once for every full rotation of itself, incrementing the numeric readout. There is also a ratchet style mechanism in each wheel that prevents the number from decrementing itself, which would prevent the odometer from going lower when driven in reverse.

The design is pretty reliable, and if you have problems where the speedometer MPH indicator works when the odometer doesn't, it's usually attributed to a defective driven gear.

On the analog cars, the trip odometer frequently wears out, preventing the digits from resetting to all zeros. You can feel and hear the "rusty" sort of noise when you push the reset knob, which is an indication of wearing parts within the odometer movement.

 

["Turbo-T"]

The replacement odometer can be set identically to the original odometer with precision - it's just a matter of knowing what you're doing. There is a small clip that holds the clock movement center shaft into the frame of the odometer, and it slides out once the clip is removed. Be aware that the seal, which is a flimsy plastic strip, is easily damaged, so be careful with that. New ones are not available...this seal provides alignment of the numeric wheels and is the part that breaks when someone tries to force the numeric wheels to read a non-legitimate number.

Thanks John....do you have a pic of this clip? I don't have the speedo apart and just want/need to know what I'm doing before I do it.

 

[David65]

Thanks John....do you have a pic of this clip? I don't have the speedo apart and just want/need to know what I'm doing before I do it.

I think this is what John is talking about. This didn't come from a Regal, but it looks the same I believe. The clip should be easy to remove, but the 20+ year old plastic strip would be very brittle now. Be careful not to bend it. I'd take a fine screwdriver or scalpel and go from end to end, gently lifting under each area a bit at a time.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Thanx anyone else have any pics/tips?

 

[WH1_T-Type]

Just throwing an idea out there...but if you can completely remove the odometer...and if both of them are the same....why don't you just put your old 85mph speedo one in the new 145mph speedo? Completely swap the units I mean.....

 

["Turbo-T"]

That is another thing I was beginning to wonder....if it were possible to swap over the odometer part to the new speedo and vice versa.

 

[jd94ss]

if you didnt want to put the miles on the car, you could probably hook up the new speedo, unplug the VSS, hook it up to a drill, and let it rip until it matches your factory one. Might work. Or you could put it on a bumper jack in reverse like Ferris Bueller. JK.

 

[turbofish38]

if you didnt want to put the miles on the car, you could probably hook up the new speedo, unplug the VSS, hook it up to a drill, and let it rip until it matches your factory one. Might work. Or you could put it on a bumper jack in reverse like Ferris Bueller. JK.

If I'm not mistaken a GM odometer wont turn back. I geuss you could drive backwards and see for yourself.

Really do the math. At "X" amount of RPM. Just how long would it take anybody to roll back just 1 mile on the odometer? Even with a power drill. Not to mention all the Carbon Credits Ferris Bueller used before that kit car really rolled back.

The best way is how John Spina explained it.:wink:

 

["Turbo-T"]

Thanks.

Well I thought I'd give everyone an update.

When I pulled apart my 145 speedo and removed the odometer, I found the white seal was already broken. So I carefully removed it like you said and did not break it. (it was already broken in half)

But I had a hell of a time getting the numbers to set back to where I wanted them. It seemed a few of the silver thingys (that usually indicate a rollback) didn't want to cooperate to make a long story short. If I moved the numbers they usually moved too, but sometimes not.

So what I decided to try....was to remove the current 85 mph speedo out, and carefully transplant it's odometer tumbler into the new speedo. I also transplanted the tripometer since the numbers between the two sets of odometers and tripometers were different.

According to the guy I bought this from, the speedo was calibrated for a 3.42 rear and a 200-4R trans....for a typical GN. So I'm hoping now that the speedo will still read right and the odometer will work also.

Keep your fingers crossed, I plan to drive this later today. (I just spent all night doing this speedo swap, swapping parts, etc.) I'm going to verify that the mph on my Scanmater (which I hope is still dead nuts on...it was on my old 85 mph speedo) will correspond with wherever the needle on the new speedo is.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

hope it works out!