4 Steps to Truck Odometer Repair

Truck odometers sometimes require odometer repair, but it's rarely necessary to replace the entire unit. You can easily repair your odometer yourself, and this is much cheaper than paying for a new part and fitting costs. Work needs to be done carefully in order to avoid damaging the pieces. Also, there's no need to worry about illegally changing the mileage as this isn't possible during repair. The general cause of a broken truck odometer is the odometer planetary, and replacement makes up the entire odometer repair.

Step 1 - Removing the Odometer

Before you start doing any work on the truck odometer repair, you’ll need to disconnect the negative battery cable to stop any electricity from flowing through the truck.

Now, insert a thin flat head screwdriver under the gasket between your speedometer and the dashboard (the odometer is actually part of the speedometer). Gently pry the gauge out of the dashboard, but do this without disconnecting the wiring to the speedometer.

Once you have the speedometer out, look at the wiring clip to see how it attaches then gently loosen and remove it, leaving the harness hanging for later reconnection.

Step 2 - Accessing the Odometer

Put the speedometer on a bench or table, face down. Take out the screws on the back of the unit and remove the gauge from the casing.

Pull the post for the trip odometer gently and remove it from the motor casing. Next, you have to remove the speedometer needle. Do this by pinching the needle’s base and turning the needle clockwise as far as you can. Pull up slowly as you rock the needle, being careful not to break or bend it.

You’ll now be able to access 2 tiny screws on the front of the gauge. You’ll need one of the computer screwdrivers in order to remove them. When these have been removed, you can pull out the motor casing from behind the speedometer dial.

Step 3 - Odometer Planetary

Remove the gear pod from the top of the motor casing. It should come off very easily and expose the interior of the motor, which includes the planetary gear. To effect the odometer repair, use a tiny screwdriver to pry the gear out and replace it with a new one, using the screwdriver to press it back into place.

Step 4 - Reassembly

Go back through the steps in reverse order to reassemble the speedometer. Make sure you have the wiring harness in the correct way before snapping it back into the speedometer.

Ease the speedometer back into the dashboard then re-connect the negative battery terminal to the cable. Start the car and test drive for a few miles to test that both the speedometer and the truck odometer are working properly and that your odometer repair has worked.

If there’s a problem, you’ll need to disassemble the unit again and check the truck odometer planetary in case it’s not seated properly. However, if you’ve put it in correctly, there should be no problem. When reassembling, use just as much care as you did when taking everything apart.