I bought a 1996 Legacy Auto AWD and the odometer/trip odometer do not work. The speedometer(and all other gauges) works fine.

What do I need to do to get the odometer working again?

i don't ever remember hearing about a non working odo whit the speedo working. i think you need to replace it.

 

i guess it could maybe be a bad connection.

I assume it is cable driven in the 1996? Seperate cables for speedo and odometer? or?

not cable driven.

 

the vss, speed sensor, is located on the trans and sends a signal , by wire , to the speedo. the speedo shows the sped. the circuit board takes the signal, reduces it by a factor of 4, i think, and sends it to the ECU. which uses it in several ways.

 

somewhere in that process the info is sent to the odo.

 

did the car come this way? i guess there is a chance that some one tried ''adjusting'' the odo and messed it up, jambed it so it will not rotate. but you can get a used instrument cluster and install it yourself. not hard. stick with one from the same type of car as yours and one that looks the same.

 

others may work, but they may not be accurate even though they look the same.

 

someone here will probably have one. i may have one, i'll have to look. is yours an outback? how many miles on your car / odo? if i have onme i can set the miles to match your car. or at least get it within a few thousand miles.

Edited May 8, 201213 yr by johnceggleston

It is a 1996 Legacy L (not Outback) last known mileage was 145000ish.

Let me know if one is available or if I need to go to the junk yard.

Are they hard to replace?

replacing the entire instrument cluster is pretty easy, a few screws and several electrical connections. the speedo only is a little more involved but not impossible.

 

but if you get one from a yard you are likely going to get the entire cluster.

Whole instrument cluster from the junkyard is the most direct solution. You could harvest just the speedometer and switch just that part or the odometer module.

 

Besides, if you get the replacement cluster, you can then play around with the old one. The odometer most likely got screwed up by someone messing around with the mileage. That said, the damage could be from a spun gear on the mainscrew of the odometer - sometimes the plastic gears (or even the metal ones) can spin on their shafts.

 

The example below is from my VW Cabriolet, but the same principle applies. The metal gear (on the left side of the odometer assembly) kept spinning on the shaft and would not turn the numbers. I staked the inner part of the gear to prevent it from spinning on the shaft. It has worked for 6 years since.

 

And if the things still can be fixed, then get a bunch of LEDs and use the extra cluster for upgrading the look of the lights!

What year instrument clusters are the same as the 1996 Legacy Wagon. (and/or what other models?)

Thanks!

search for a replacement at http://www.car-part.com . the interchange software will only return years/ models that match.

 

you don't have to buy from them if you don't want, but you can at least use them to see what years fit.

have some extra clusters and some extra mph speedos i change them for kph ones

it's all about plastic gears... some debris may be jammed into those gears keeping them from spinning. It is directly linked to the speedometer. If that works... well, the odometer works too (except if it doesn't)....

it's not too tough to remove the cluster but becareful of the dash itself while doing the R&R.