Odometer or Fuel Gauge...

[Itskyle]

Which one is easier to fix? My speedometer works fine.

[Blue Baron]

Which is easier to fix is a loaded question. First you have to take them apart and determine what broke.

[Itskyle]

I fixed the fuel gauge!

Biggest challenge of the job was getting the cover off of the thing without damaging the vehicle, the cover, or myself. Don't let me get started about the perils of auto repair at 3:00 a.m., even in the comforts and confines of your own garage with plenty of light.

For those of you who want to do this, I heartily recommend using a flat bladed screwdriver to prise this cap off. Even though the five bolts underneath are phillips, keep the flathead screwdriver at the ready. If the sending unit had never been replaced or removed (more than likely like mine) then expect some resistance even if all 5 screws have been removed. Oh yeah, don't forget to remove the line with the bb or fishing weight at the end of it first, one of those 5 phillips machine screws is uncomfortably close to that end of it.

Thankfully, my gasket didn't fall apart, nor did any of the 5 screws fall into the tank. I didn't have a replacement gasket handy, so I just cleaned off the area with a wipe as best as possible before putting everything back together. These are all just words to the wise for others who may want to check out their fuel gauge sending unit.

As it turns out, the fuel sender unit got bound up in the empty position somehow. I had removed the sender unit, and discovered that it did NOT want to move freely up and down on the lever's pivot point.

I kept working at it with my fingers, never wanting to hazard a guess as to what kind of lubricant would be safe to use with this, and eventually freed it up!

Has anybody fixed their ODO here before? The speedo part works just fine.

Kyle

[erallommakr]

I fixed the fuel gauge!

Biggest challenge of the job was getting the cover off of the thing without damaging the vehicle, the cover, or myself. Don't let me get started about the perils of auto repair at 3:00 a.m., even in the comforts and confines of your own garage with plenty of light.

For those of you who want to do this, I heartily recommend using a flat bladed screwdriver to prise this cap off. Even though the five bolts underneath are phillips, keep the flathead screwdriver at the ready. If the sending unit had never been replaced or removed (more than likely like mine) then expect some resistance even if all 5 screws have been removed. Oh yeah, don't forget to remove the line with the bb or fishing weight at the end of it first, one of those 5 phillips machine screws is uncomfortably close to that end of it.

Thankfully, my gasket didn't fall apart, nor did any of the 5 screws fall into the tank. I didn't have a replacement gasket handy, so I just cleaned off the area with a wipe as best as possible before putting everything back together. These are all just words to the wise for others who may want to check out their fuel gauge sending unit.

As it turns out, the fuel sender unit got bound up in the empty position somehow. I had removed the sender unit, and discovered that it did NOT want to move freely up and down on the lever's pivot point.

I kept working at it with my fingers, never wanting to hazard a guess as to what kind of lubricant would be safe to use with this, and eventually freed it up!

Has anybody fixed their ODO here before? The speedo part works just fine.

Kyle

It sounds like you had quite the adventure with that fuel gauge repair! It’s great to hear you got it fixed, even with all the challenges you faced. I can definitely relate to the struggle of working on a vehicle at 3:00 a.m.—it’s like everything becomes 10 times harder when you're tired and racing against the clock. Thanks for the tips on using the flathead screwdriver and the advice about the fishing weight line and screw placement—those little details can make all the difference. I’m glad the gasket didn’t fall apart or anything else go wrong, and that you were able to free up the sender unit. As for the ODO, I haven’t tackled that myself yet, but I’d be curious to hear if anyone here has done it. Great job on the repair, though—it sounds like you really took the time to figure it out!

[Seibert66]

I was told that a special tool is required to open up the odometer without damaging the unit, but I also found this tutorial on youtube and it seems like no special tools are required...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKBTGaTupRo