'94 Thunderbird Speedo Issue...

1994 Ford Thunderbird LX 2dr sedan w/ V6 EFI. (bought it off my friends elderly dad who got it for his wife who had passed years ago, and it sat in the garage) The car only has 45k original miles. Yes, no kidding.
The other day the odometer, including the trip meter, stopped working. I've taken the dash apart to check connections and found that the dash is put together with modules. Meaning the speedo simply plugs in as a single electrical unit, as does the tach, and the other gauges.

Anyway, I couldn't see anything obvious and the speedometer portion itself still works fine so it's getting power, it's only the odometer that's not. There's no fuses i'm aware of, and itthe unit iutself looked clean.

Is there hope or a trick to fixing it? Or if I want a working odometer (which I do) I need to forget it and install a new one? If my only hope is replacement, where do i get one besides a used parts vendor? Online somewhere?

The car is in otherwise beautiful condition with many years of use yet to be had.

 

i'm assuning here that it's electronic...i don't think anything was still using cables by 94...the most likely thing is a speed sensor which is located in the tail end of the transmission. pretty common item on fords. test it with a volt meter or a lab scope. as far as replacement of the cluster goes, with the mileage on that car, you don't want to replace it with junkyard stuff. find a service center (search online) that is an authorized ford place and send it to them for repair...but check that speed sensor first...dollars to donuts says it's the sensor

 

Speed sensor huh? Now would that affect only the odometer like is the case on mine? My speedometer works fine. Again it is only the odometer.

You're right, with original extremely low miles a junkyard replacement would throw doubt in any future buyers mind as to my truthfulness of actual mileage.

 

If you're adventurous enough to remove the cluster and investigate it may be only a bad drive gear for the odo since the speedo is working.

Here's some info & parts:

http://www.speedometergears.com/

Did this repair on an older Saturn project car a while back with their parts. They're even in your neighborhood - Richmond.

 

as it happens, i was just discussing that with a mechanic friend and he was telling me about a odometer that started turning when the key was turned on. (yeah, really) after many hours of doing what you are doing, he found that the GROUND on the speedo and odo. was at the thermostat housing. the steel wire end and the alum. housing caused a corosion to build thus negating the ground. take the (usually 2) black ground wires off, clean entire area and re-apply. maybe yours has the same problem. let us know!

 

Just think of the gas mileage you would get!!!

 

Thanks guys. I have emailed the place in Richmond with a few questions. I will take a look at or check for the ground wire/s near the thermostat when I get home.

 

Decided to just pull it out and send it into the Richmond location to have it benched checked and most likely some new heavy-duty plastic gears put in to increase the longevity. I use the trip meter a lot to track business miles etc., so it gets a lot of wear and tear from the constant clearing. They said their gear sets are much better for this constant abuse.

 

if it's southern autotronics, they do good work and are the factory authorized service center for many manufacturers...good call, boatman

 

Yep that's who it is. It'll go in the mail tomorrow, or Monday at the latest.