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Broken Odometer 88-91 Blazer, Suburban, and R/V series truck

1-ton

1-ton

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I am bringing this post back from the dead.

The odometer and tripometer is not working on my truck, but the speedometer is. My truck is a 1991 V3500 with a 350/4L80E/205 and TBI injection.
 
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You would need to find a speedometer shop to look at it.
 
Is there anywhere to get these old things worked on????
I would assume that there may only be a few places left.

@1-ton I have a speedometer out of a '90 here, but I can't remember if it worked 100%. Too much stuff for my memory....
 
Thanks for the replies. I have found places that sell replacement odometer gears, but I do not know how hard it would be to fix it on my own. I will keep some of the links and parts offers in mind.
 
1-ton said:
The odometer and tripometer is not working on my truck, but the speedometer is. My truck is a 1991 V3500 with a 350/4L80E/205 and TBI injection. Does the sensor on the tail housing control the odometer as well as the speedometer, or should I look to the speedometer/odometer gauge as the culprit for the odometer not working?
Click to expand...

Do the numbers roll with the "reset" shaft?

I got one that the trip odometer was frozen up for some reason. I just oiled it with 3 in 1 and it started working. Began to give me problems again, but it went years without issue.
 
dyeager535 said:
Do the numbers roll with the "reset" shaft?

I got one that the trip odometer was frozen up for some reason. I just oiled it with 3 in 1 and it started working. Began to give me problems again, but it went years without issue.
Click to expand...

Yes, all the trip odometer numbers do roll, but they are stiff. Like Frankin5 said, it is most likely the odometer gear for the reason my odometer is not working. I have found a couple of articles on the two piece plastic odometer gears on the older GM's splitting in half as a common problem. There is a steel gear that can be bought to replace the factory GM plastic gear.
 
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dyeager535 said:
Do the numbers roll with the "reset" shaft?

I got one that the trip odometer was frozen up for some reason. I just oiled it with 3 in 1 and it started working. Began to give me problems again, but it went years without issue.
Click to expand...

@dyeager535 I am thinking that I may need to the do the same on my '89 K5. is this pretty easy to do? I've never gotten in there before.
 
For me it is, I have no dash pad. :)

Not sure you could do it with the cluster housing in place, I think getting oil to penetrate to the shaft mechanism would work better if the cluster was facing upwards.

FWIW, my trip odometer is still not 100%, every once in awhile after reset it won't start rolling unless I fiddle with the reset shaft. Better than it was, but I think these are a pretty weak setup. The shaft itself may be part of the problem, if it doesn't push in/pull out or rotate easily, it may be part of the problem.
 
These 88-91 gauge clusters on Blazers, Suburbans, and my V series crew cab are something very different from any other GM truck. After doing some research these odometers have a step motor on them that is known for going bad. It is possible to replace the step motors on these 88-91 gauge clusters, but most of the time when you disconnect the stepper motor data/power ribbon (which is part of the printed circuit board) it damages the old dry rotted circuit board data ribbon. Then the odometer and tripometer are not repairable at that point, unless you buy a new printed circuit board which appear not to be available for the 88-91 V/R series trucks.

1990_suburban_how_to_remove_the_odometer_2_t.jpg


1990_suburban_printed_circuit_instrument_cluster_t.jpg


1990_suburban_printed_circuit_board_t.jpg
 
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One thing to note on the electric speedo clusters. Make sure the little clip is on the end of the shaft that holds the dials for the odometer. Mine was working for a couple years after I completely tore my cluster down, cleaned it and reassembled it (and rolled the odometer back to 0- key point). The speedo worked but no odometer.

I pulled the cluster and couldn't see anything wrong. That was until I compared to my spare 91 cluster. That's when I saw the clip on the little groove to the end of that shaft. With the clip missing the shaft can shift away from the drive gear that turns the dials. Pulled the clip off my spare and put on mine and it worked just like always.

I'm thinking mine either was missing the clip originally or I neglected to put it back in on the rebuild.

However my trip meter has never worked and I've given up on it. As long as main one works I'm good.
 
1-ton said:
These 88-91 gauge clusters on Blazers, Suburbans, and my V series crew cab are something very different from any other GM truck. After doing some research these odometers have a step motor on them that is known for going bad. It is possible to replace the step motors on these 88-91 gauge clusters, but most of the time when you disconnect the stepper motor data/power ribbon (which is part of the printed circuit board) it damages the old dry rotted circuit board data ribbon. Then the odometer and tripometer are not repairable at that point, unless you buy a new printed circuit board which appear not to be available for the 88-91 V/R series trucks.
Click to expand...

FWIW, it's 90-91 only. Same as the VSS 241
 
ZooMad75 said:
One thing to note on the electric speedo clusters. Make sure the little clip is on the end of the shaft that holds the dials for the odometer. Mine was working for a couple years after I completely tore my cluster down, cleaned it and reassembled it (and rolled the odometer back to 0- key point). The speedo worked but no odometer.

I pulled the cluster and couldn't see anything wrong. That was until I compared to my spare 91 cluster. That's when I saw the clip on the little groove to the end of that shaft. With the clip missing the shaft can shift away from the drive gear that turns the dials. Pulled the clip off my spare and put on mine and it worked just like always.

I'm thinking mine either was missing the clip originally or I neglected to put it back in on the rebuild.

However my trip meter has never worked and I've given up on it. As long as main one works I'm good.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on that clip. I tried to get my speedo/odometer gauge out once, but it the terminal end that plugs into the odometer stepper motor circuit board would not come out. One of the images I posted shows how to get the terminal disconnected. I have to push in this little tab with a small screw driver as I am pulling the terminal out.
 
Correct. The cluster housing/printed circuit is completely different than earlier because of that, and also the "deletion" of the old clock/tach gas gauge location. (It's there, but set up for three idiot lights...no mounting tabs for a gauge, and to even fit a gauge, you'd have to dremel a bunch of the internal ribbing out that separated each area for the various lights they could have used there.)

Your comment about the ribbon cable connection is one of many reasons I removed the printed circuit and hardwired the whole cluster.
 
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