[JHEIII850Turbo]

Well... I'm probably going to regret saying this... but I feel I might as well throw it out there, and see if anyone can see what is wrong.

Alright, here goes nothing... sounds dramatic doesn't it? haha, well, nothing much... just my odometer is not working. My trip odomter stays at 0000, and my regular odomter stays at 084091, it seems like it doesn't want to move. Good, and bad... good because my car won't gain miles, bad because ?WHEN DO I CHANGE MY OIL?

As for my computer, it still reads miles... the digital one. I don't know what it could be, hopefully it's a wire or something, any advice would help!

 

[Prospero]

Likely, it is time for a new cluster. If you replace it yourself using one with close mileage then you are okay. Do not let the dealer do this! Do not tell the dealer about this! If the dealer knows about this then you will get a new cluster with 0 miles on it. Also you will get a sticker on your doorframe stating that the odometer was replaced and the mileage is not true and correct. When you go to sell your car this will scare away most buyers, as the title will require the horrible designation of not having actual mileage or defective reading. Plus you cannot really ever prove the actual mileage. This kills the value of the car! I strongly suggest going to a salvage yard and picking an instrument cluster with close mileage and replace it yourself. Volvospeed bay 13 has directions on how to replace dash lights; this process will show you how to replace the cluster as well.

Sorry about the bad luck, I know the pain too. It's a difficult call but be sure and think it over. It will make a large difference in value of the car.

Also, no offence intended to the dealers, they are bound into reporting things like this. I just hate to see people loose big $$$ when selling their cars after having the cluster replaced by the dealer. My little sister lost $8k in value of her '97 Jetta because of this. And hers was simply the fuel gauge gone bad. (Whole cluster was replaced, as individual parts were not available for the repairs.) Worse part about this was…the dealer never explained the impact of the mileage being reset. In fact, they would not buy the car back when we went to sell it due to the mileage discrepancy! How's that for a slap in the face!? They were the only ones who knew the actual mileage of the car to begin with! Err. Just irritates me thinking about it!

Sorry about venting.

Prospero

 

[JHEIII850Turbo]

Thanks alot for the advice, Prospero. This is not on the top of my "to-do" list right now. Also, I do not plan on selling this car, I plan to drive it into the ground... which could take a while! Anyways, I understand what you mean, when you mention the resale of the car... I was wondering if that would have an effect on it, and you confirmed my thoughts. If I can find a cluster close to mine, without going through too much trouble, I'll do it, but if I can't, I think I'll either leave it in there, and keep counting to 3000, or just have it replaced by the dealer... who knows? maybe they can find a way to advance it about 84000 miles...

 

[Simon Linton]

Prospero is wrong about the cluster replacement - mine failed on a 850 with some 100K miles on and the dealer programmed the correct mileage into the odometer on my request.

Winding an odometer forward is easy, it's winding it back that's made hard.

I know you aren't planning to replace it, but I thought I'd correct a potential misunderstanding.

 

[JHEIII850Turbo]

Thanks Simon, I thought it would be possible... thanks for confirming the idea. If they don't slap a sticker on my car, and mess up my title... I thik I'll be fine with replacing the cluster... hopefully they'll be nice about it. simon, how much did they charge you... do you remember? Laber & Parts

 

[Simon Linton]

The job was under warranty - thank god, since the cluster is over £500 for the part alone and it requires a good 2-3 hours labour to replace.

 

[Prospero]

Simon,
Thanks for the info. As I said in my other psot...it was a VW dealer that did this. I guess maybe their gauges are not programmable like ours are. Either that or they were lazy. Anyhow, I'm glad that you did not have the same issues as my sister and I did.

Cheers!
Prospero

 

[1FASTBOX]

The cluster has the correct milage that can be read with the VST only, this makes it hard for odometer fraud due to the fact the number on you can see will not match. I have busted one car for this, the odo had been moved 100,000km back and sold as a low milage car. As far as cluster replacement 2-3hrs is on the high end, it takes 15min max to get it out, then you take it apart what you an not do is the set up with the VST.

 

[Simon Linton]

15 minutes max to get it out???
You must be able to get the top off the facia in record time - the Haynes manual makes it look a real procedure, especially since you have to remove the passenger side airbag without detonating it.

That last is what made me leave it to the pros - the last thing I want is an expensive
airbag blowing up in my face!

 

[1FASTBOX]

You do not need to take the air bag out or touch that side of the dash, but Simon you are correct when you say leave the air bags to the PRO'S. The job start to finish would take a litte over an hour at most, with the correct instruction.