Tripmeter broken

How-to's and repair secrets for your 4WD can be found here. Have a question? Ask it in here!
Post Reply
TominMO
Top Notch Member
Posts: 136
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:21 am
My tercel:: 1986 SR5
Location: St. Louis, MO

Tripmeter broken

Post by TominMO »

Searched in vain for any guidance on repairing my tripmeter. Speedo and odo work fine, but tripmeter does not budge. When I bought the car I noticed it not moving. I then reset it to 0 miles, and it never moved off that. Thoughts?
1986 4WD Tercel, formerly gold, now camo
1995 Ford Aspire SE, MPG development car, shooting for 65 MPG hwy
1990 Ford Festiva, mild motor swap, HP development car
The other Tom M. in STL w/a gold 1986 SR5--from the universe where Spock has a goatee
User avatar
Mark
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 904
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:49 pm
My tercel:: 1984 Automatic, 1981 sedan
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: Tripmeter broken

Post by Mark »

That happened to me on my '83 hatchback. When I took the gauge cluster apart I found a small piece of plastic from the trip counter assembly broken off. I tried gluing it back on, but it wouldn't stay stuck. I then tried using some JB weld to re-create the broken-off piece of plastic. This sort-of worked, but the trip counter was unreliable and wouldn't match the odometer. It often gets stuck. I just left it for now. If it happened on my wagon I might look into repairing it further or try replacing it with one from a yard.
User avatar
Petros
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 11941
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Tripmeter broken

Post by Petros »

easiest to just replace the cluster assembly. as the tiny plastic parts age, they become brittle and tend to break off. No way to fix it after that happens.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
TominMO
Top Notch Member
Posts: 136
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:21 am
My tercel:: 1986 SR5
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Tripmeter broken

Post by TominMO »

Thanks for the insights; kinda what I expected. I do have a spare cluster that came with the car, so I'll try it out.
1986 4WD Tercel, formerly gold, now camo
1995 Ford Aspire SE, MPG development car, shooting for 65 MPG hwy
1990 Ford Festiva, mild motor swap, HP development car
The other Tom M. in STL w/a gold 1986 SR5--from the universe where Spock has a goatee
Post Reply