Odometer Problems! Please help!

[JungleRR]

My Range Rover’s odometer is stuck at 140,000. It’s been that way since I bought it. I was wondering if anyone had any advice to get it going again. Well… on the other hand I have no idea what kind of gas mileage I get. I would rather not know sometimes! But seriously… I would love to know if anyone else has this problem and what you did about it! Thanks!

[Greg M]

Dumb question, but is the speedo working? My speedometer works but the odometer doesn't. They were both broken when i bought it. The speedo cable attaches first to a set a gears. These gears rotate a shaft which through more little gears rolls the mileage. In my case, the end cap to the gear housing where the cable attaches had fallen off, so the gears wouldn't mesh. so all i needed to do was pop it back it back on. Its a royal PITA to get to for sure. This cured the speedo, HOWEVER my odometer is still not working. So i guess the moral to the story is it could be something simple like a broken speedo cable or gears, or could be something in the odometer gearing itself, which will probably be easier to just buy a new one. Hope this somehow helps!

[OkieRover]

There is no speedo cable in the dash on my 93.
I'd say if all the hookups are good. Take the instrument cluster off and take it to a speedo shop. They can get it back running for you.
If you are going to have it there in the shop remember to fuel up every couple of days or so. I had my cluster off for the heater core project and nearly ran out of gas when one day on the way home it hit me I hadn't filled up all week.

[JungleRR]

Originally Posted by Greg M

Dumb question, but is the speedo working?

Well sort of. When I pull alway from a stop it it jerks around until I hit 25-30 miles per hour. Then after that it's fine!

[Funrover]

Sounds like a speedo cable......... I ahd a problem in a different no rover rig..it was the gear in the transmission...But I am not totally sure how the rovers operate from there!!

[Greg M]

Originally Posted by JungleRR

Well sort of. When I pull alway from a stop it it jerks around until I hit 25-30 miles per hour. Then after that it's fine!

you have kink in the cable. go to schucks or autozone or some place like that and buy a universal speedo cable. shouldn't cost more than $10 - $15. take off the back of the covering, undo the speedo, pull the old cable out and slide the new one in. If you're lucky it will go in w/ no problems, if not, you may have unscrew it from the transfer case and make sure it is in the slot all the way. If the odometer is broken it won't fix it, but your cable is definetly screwed.

[JungleRR]

Originally Posted by Greg M

you have kink in the cable. take off the back of the covering, undo the speedo, pull the old cable out and slide the new one in. .

hmm... how hard is it to do that??

[TerryS]

I doubt seriously that it is your cable. Early Range Rovers used a cable driven head, but, Okie, the later ones are electronic.
The speedo in your car, JungleRR, is the old, rotating magnet type, and as they age, the pivots wear, and so when the magnet spins by, there is a little resistance from the needle, not enough to keep it from resgistering, just enough to cause it to lag, then when the magnetice force overcomes the mechanical resistance, the needle jumps.
The issue with the non function Odometer, is unrelated to the cable, and is a VERY common fault with early US speedometers. Both my sisters bought RRs when they came in in '87, and both put at least 2 speedo heads in before they sold them.
I'm pretty sure the heads have come down in price, and can be gotten from Povers North (US supplier for Land Rover Classic Parts div.) Also, I have never seen a 'generic' speedo cable with either end the same as LR. RR speedo cables have the old Series 3 style head end, and the end attaching to the LT230 is flanged, held in with a fork.

[Greg M]

Yeah, i would agree with your assessment Terry. I just never figured that a rover would have that type of set up. My 75 Scout had the spinning magnet. It gave me fits the entire time i owned it. Hard to believe they would still use that crappy set up 12 years later. I was able to fix mine on the Scout, but only temporarily. Jungle RR, looks like you'll have to bite the bullet or live with it!

[Geoffrey F Miller]

The speedo drive is in three sections: a cable drives out of the left hand side of the transfer box, up though the floor pan; this joins to a second cable inside the vehicle up to the binacle; inside the binacle is a right-angle drive onto the speedo head. A problem with any one of these can cause a jerky speedo.

When I had a problem, the heat from the front section of the exhaust had melted the plastic outer of the bottom cable, shortly after it comes out of the transfer box. Water had got into the cable and corroded the inner, which then frayed and picked up inside the outer tubular part, causing the jerking.

I have now wrapped that section of the replacement cable in cooking foil and underseal, to try and prevent it happening again.

Hope this helps.