I used mulitple internet links to do this starting with the one tech put on this forum on how to remove the dash pad:

https://volvoforums.com/m_17710/tm.htm

I also went to this one that gives some pictures which I found very helpful:

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...amp;hl=dashpad

I found many places where they did not take the passenger side of the dash lose and just lifted the drivers side up and pulled the control unit out. I went with taking the entire top of the dash. I did not want to mess up the dash pad, and I'm gald I did it this way.

From there I used the intructions provided by fcpgroton on how to remove the entire unit from the dash and how to take it apart to get the oddometer gear:

07/11/2010 - New FCP Groton website:
http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exe.../Odometer_Gear


When I put everything back together the oddometer worked fine. But here are things I screwed up which will cause me to do the whole thing over again.

1. When pulling the cluster unit out of the dash I broke the tabs where the unit clips onto. Now the unit rattles like crazy inside the dash. I am going to figure out some makeshift way to secure the unit. I will follow up with what I did.

2. Markor take a picture of where you gauges are set before taking the unit apart. The directions do not tell you that you need to take the needles off all your gauges. When I started prying it apart like taking the lid off a can of paint the needle from the turbo gauge flew off. When I put it back on, I set it way to the left, well it should have been set in the middle. So now my turbo guauge is weird. I also got the tach off a little along with the gas guage. Speedometer looks to be right.

3. I had trouble getting the screws that go into the window pilar back in on the side of the dash pad. Ijust could not get the holes to line up. I probably spent more than an hour with just those two screws.

Hope this helps somebody do this job. It was really not that bad. It took me about four to five hours, and I work very slow and it was cold out, so I had to come inside a couple times. Once the unit is out of the dash, you get to work insidethe warm house.

Good Luck!

 

Good post! Hopefully, ours never stops working.

I installed some aftermarket guage faces in my Typhoon a few years ago, which required removing the whole cluster. Not a fun job, and I definitely agree, take your time and go slow! Luckily in my project, I didn't have to mess with removing the needles.

 

Great post Jim Thanks!!!

 

Good deal, the odometer's been broken on mine for 2 and a half years which brings up a question. Would the computer possibly keep track of the mileage after the odometer breaks or would it not?

 

Yes the computer keeps track of it.
I had mine pulled then reset the digital trip in my info center.
Then drove it home and added the trip home to what was pulled out of the computer then changed the milage when I replaced the gear.

 

Cool...today i removed mu cluster unit out of the dash to repair my broke odometer, and after one hour of work i discovered that my little gear was not broken ![:@] Someone before me (the previous owner maybe) made a mistake: there is a white little plug with 4 pins,near the motor - two pins was accidentaly put (bended) in ONE hole ! Maybe this plug wasn`t plugged corectly when the dial face was put back in place...I`m waiting to put back my cluster and drive a little - maybe all will be fine. What a stupid person...[>:]

 

Also sometimes the bigger gear will break as well.

 

hmm. my old one would constantly dim. i just knocked on it a few times. saved me some money. lol.

 

why would you remove the needles on the cluster? i do this all the time, there is no need to remove the needles.

 

My Odometer and Tachomter (tells you how many miles you have driven) both STOPPED at the same time 2 weeks ago. I didn't notice it right away.

Seriously, how difficult from 1-10 is it for someone who is not a true machanic OR a husband with low patience when things don't go back together as easy as they come out when we are working on the dash to pull it out? OR...coul something else be wrong since both stopped at the exact same time. I can push the one back to zero and it looks like it will start rolling, but then stops.

Thanks everyone!

 

Sounds like the gear for the odometer. The tach might be something different.

 

Hey tmixdorf,

When you say - My Odometer and Tachomter (tells you how many miles you have driven) - did you mean the trip counter (tells you how many miles you have driven) or did you mean the thing that shows your RPM (needle gauge to the right of your display)?

If you mean the odometer then I believe that it is the gear that moves the counter.

If you do, in fact, mean the tach, then that may be thewhatchamadohickybobthingamajigramalamadingdong [sm=icon_rofl.gif]- sorry bud. Busting my brain but can not thinkof what would cause that.

My tach dropped to zero a couple of weeks ago a couple of times but has not done it since. (see pic sorry about the size though - must have had the camera set for high quality low pic count - just custom reduce the size using the magnifying thingy in the bottom right of the window that opens)

As I picked up more speed the needle rose a little bit but read way too low for that speed.

Not trying to hijack just trying to help, with a smile of course


[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

Quick Brick!

Thank you for your response LOL...too funny I meant the mile counter for how many miles you drive. I know the Tach is for something completely different!! Sorry for the confusion to everyone out there!

Both went out the same time and yet, once in awhile, I'll see my odometer try to move (the tenths #'s). Then it stops.

With gas going up, I really relied on it to tell me if I need to adjust my driving, or if I was doing good!

My husband is not a mechanic by any sense of the word and just the mention of taking the dash out sent him running for the hills!

So is there anyone on this message board who lives in Iowa who uses a mechanic they can recommend that charges honest prices?

 

Here is the updated link from fcpGroton (the earlier one in this post does not work) on how to remove the center cluster.
http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exe...ategory_id/161

 

I cant help but laugh since i have been trying for 3 years to fix my odo! i can take that dash pad off in 15 min now!!! (probably been off a dozen times!) replaced gear, replaced motor, replaced odo, still doesnt work. of course there were a number of screw ups in the process...ANY thing that can be done wrong i have done, i am sure. So, NO ONE should feel defeated if they dont succeed the first time...and if you DO get it fixed the first time, it is ONLY because the stars are in conjunction and God smiled on you, NOT because of your great skill!!!!
a few observations....
1. dont feel guilty if some tab breaks. Volvo has some of the most brittle, over time, plastic i have ever seen in 30 years of taking apart plastic parts of all nationalities. My 94 850 Turbo never ceases to amaze me with the number or amount of little plastic crumbs that fall out when i take off a lower dash trim panel!
2. early 850s appear to have been designed by a team of swedes on an acid trip... the old logical layouts and right angle turns of wires, tubing, etc. on 200s, 700s, etc were all thrown out the window and replaced by a mentality of stuffing anything they could, anywhere they could.
3. sometimes there is no logical connection between Haynes manuals and a volvo 850.
4. always begin an 850 task when there is a store open where Torx drivers are sold....there WILL be a Torx bit needed that you dont have yet, whether as a driver or a 1/4" drive bit.
5. if the repair is called for by a warning light coming on or an error code coming up, there WILL be another NEW error code for something else IF you actually succeed in fixing the first problem.
6. lastly, if the 850 in question is your WIFE's daily driver, DO NOT ATTEMPT a repair at home! the time and complexity of the repair will ALWAYS increase and the chance of success decrease in direct proportion to how soon your wife needs or wants the car done. Remember it is the mans job to swear mightily at the cost of getting something fixed (but NEVER to the point of saying "I could have done that myself for only $x in half the time!!!"....) On the other hand, if it is YOUR project car, dive in!..... half the fun is working on it, not the success of the repair or improvement!!!

 

I just did this again to another car and only the Turbo gauge needle needs to come off. I took them all off, but didn't need to.

 

To replace the odometer gear, which includes the dash pad, is this a 3 hour job?

Also, should I get some kind of clips or something from the stealer, that I am guarenteed to break?

 

I did my odometer gear replacement in about 45 minutes, and I had never taken the dash off before. It really isn't all that complex...

And, when i put it back together, everything worked.

Oh, and Rich nc? You are spot on on your observation #3. Sometimes i look at what is shown in the manual, then look under my hood at the same thing, and I think to myself "lolwhat?"

 

Does anyone turn the ODO to the correct mileage on the OBD-I computer? If so, do you need a drill or just turn the numbers with your fingers?

 

IF... I was to replace the entire instrument cluster that already had a new gear installed (would do this to upgrade to having the trip computer) could I set the odo on the "new" cluster to match the computer milage EASILY? Or would I have to take the thing apart? THANKS!