my '93 odometer isnt working either

dear to whoever reads and replies to this: hi i have a '93 sl2 and my
odometer quit working the other day and i see what your saying about
getting the drive gear but how do you put it in the dashboard panel?


Thanks

 

>,
says...

See http://saturnfans.com/
May have pics...

 

My brother replaced the odo gear on our '93 SL1, worked for awhile, then
intermittently fails, oh well. They are tough to get to and tougher to keep
reliable, it was a "feature" of 1st gen Saturns. There are a few places
online to buy this gear cheap too.

 

Just out of curiosity, is the gear that is failing in the
speedometer/odometer or transmission? I am trying to understand what is
failing and possible causes. Is there something that is binding that causes
the gear theeth to strip? Is there a worn bushing that is causing the gears
to not mesh properly?
In other (old school) speedos, there was a plastic gear in the transaxle
that drove the speedo flex cable and in turn screwed into the speedo
indicator on the instrument panel. I saw a few flex cables over the years
that were either worn or needed lube to keep them from making noise and
eventually binding that chewed up the plastic gear in the transaxle. Saw a
few speedometer units also in the instrument panel that the input shaft
started to stick and needed to be re-lubed. I never had to open up a speedo
unit to fix anything inside. If you do open one - be careful not to get any
iron debris inside. there is a very tight clearance between the iron bell
driven by the speedo cable and the driven magnet. Iron filings or any
ferromagnetic debris will get sucked into the magnet and mess things up.
I use automatic transmission fluid for all oiling. It doesn't gum up like
motor oil does.
Oppie

 

Hey Oppie. The gear in question is a tiny plastic gear inside the dash
behind the guages. Its a be-yach to get to and the tiny gear is no fun
either. once replaced, there is a 50/50 chance that it'll remain working
forever. The gear is actuated by the reset button for the odometer. One
major cause is old age but also pressing the reset button will further cause
the tiny plastic gear to break as well.

 

Thanks for the clarification.
Does this gear drive both the trip odometer AND the main odometer?
If pushing the trip odometer reset exacerbates the problem, it's possible
that the reset pawls from the button are not retracting all the way when the
button is released. This might cause jamming of the odometer advance
mechanism and a broken drive gear.
I had a car that had such a problem and it was easier to use a gps to keep
track of speed and distance. The readings were, of course, volitile and
distance readings were lost on power off. I changed oil based on color
rather than mileage...
Oppie