Hi All,

the odometer of my volvo 850 (95 model) stopped working. I took it to my mechanic, turns out the small gear is broken, but he also tells me that the motor doesn't work.

Is there a way to do a test for the motor at home? From what I can see, it's a simple motor, but I'm not sure if it takes AC or DC current, and if it's DC what is the voltage I can apply...

I'd appreciate any help

Thanks!

 

The gear being broken is common, I'd replace the gear and see if it works before replacing the motor. I have just ordered the gear myself for my cluster too.

 

it is a common problem indeed... i dont know why Volvo manufactured those gears to be weak...

i need to know if the motor is broken too before i buy the gears... if it turns out the motor is broken, i guess i'd rather buy a whole new odometer at once...

 

12V DC. That being said. I think your mechanic is wrong. But then again, look at it from his perspective. If he replaces just the gear, and something goes wrong in a few weeks, he has to deal with the headache. VS if he replaces the whole assembly. Not saying it "couldn't happen" just saying a have never seem it happen, and find it hard to believe.

 

I was about 200km into a 2 week holiday when mine stopped......it took me about 50km to realise that is had stopped clicking over. I have a touch of OCD and it annoys me because the first three numbers are all lined up, but the last three are only halfway. I have to have it fixed!

 

There is a test that can be run on the cluster from the OBD-I port under the hood.

You put the jumper wire in #3 hole.
Turn the car on but don't start it.
The push the test button 3 time briefly. A 3 count will likely work. Push, Push, Push, then let it go.
Go inside the car and watch the cluster. You should see the following:
- Fuel gauge needle should indicate 1/2 full.
- Temp gauge should go to the edge of the red.
- Speedometer should go to vertical (like 70 mph).
- Trip meter should add a 1/2 mile to it. You should be able to watch it move (and maybe hear it click several time as it moves a little each click).
- The tach should point straight up.

Chances are the gear is broken. You can change it yourself with the instructions on the site.

 

When I put the new gear in the motor housing separated from the circuit board. Did that break the motor? I'm sure that I did everything else correctly

 

actually i repaired my gear and plugged the odometer again in the dashboard circuit, and it's back to operation!

im not sure what michael is talking about, but if you tried to run the motor separately from the circuit, then it won't run simply because (I discovered that later on) the motor is activated by AC power, and it runs on pulses of current... it's a bit complicated so better plug it into your dashboard circuit and test it for real

 

Have this image in mind when you view a dashboard photo of a Volvo that "has only 150k miles," or "the odometer just broke." Some sellers will not be upfront with that information.

 

Yeah I was lucky the electronic trip meter still worked so when I was able to get the gear I could determine how many kms was on it, and adjusted it to match.

 

Huh? The only reason they say anything is that you'll see it sooner or later and they don't want it to blow up in their face. "Just broke"... Who will believe that? A better thing to do would be to pull the thing out, change it with a lower mileage one, and then put the car up for sale. That's what happened to the S70 we purchased. The dash said 83,500 but the last warranty repair was done at 122,000 three years prior.

I had mine out the other day and installed one with 98,000 less miles on it. I was testing the system and swapped it back out. But who would know, unless they checked the OBD-I port. It read 207,800.

I once test drove an 850 that had a broken odo. The dash read 124,500 and the computer read 225,400. Bamb!!!