Odometer gear and speedo lights

[94_marquis]

Hey,
So maybe this has been talked about a lot but i searched the forums for an answer and didnt find one for either. My vehicle is a 94 GM with the analog speedo/odometer.
My first question is how do you get the worm gear off of the trip and odometer motors? I didnt want to break the little motors that turn the worm gears so didnt want to pull to hard on them, but i want to swap them since i am swapping the other gears(picture attached of why i need to replace them).

Anyways, if anyone knows the easy way of getting the worm gears off the spindle of those little electric motors on both the odometer and tripmeter that would be great.
My next question, i plan on replacing the bulbs behind the speedo while its out. I want to put in led's but dont know what is required. What i mean by that is what led should i use and do i need load resistors, etc. If led's are not an easy or viable option, what bulbs should i use to replace these ones?
Thanks for any answers, tips or links that might be shared. And once again, sorry if this has been talked about a lot but i am not the best when it comes to searching for stuff on forums.

[VicCrownVic]

The worm gear is press fit onto the shaft, it should pull off.

As far as LEDs go nothing special needed other than knowing that they are Diodes and will only Emit Light if the current is flowing in the proper direction. If you plug one in backwards it won't light up, you should be able to simply turn it around without any damage caused by being plugged in backwards. Knowing where your +and-/Anode and Cathode are can help eliminate that guess work though.

[sly]

removing the odometer motor screws is the hard part... once those are out, just pry up on the motor to get it loose from the mount points that the screws were in and then it should be able to be moved some. Mind the wires going to it and don't expect a lot of clearance. Those units are a PITA to fix which is why I said screw it and put a digital Autometer Speedo/Odometer in it's place in my 93.



I have to admit that this was more spendy and actually more work than replacing said gears, but I also wanted to know when I was approaching the speed limit of my tires. since some roads here in Texas have 85mph limits, speeds can get high quick. Need to be sure not to exceed my tires' limits since I have the PI swap and this car really likes to GO now.

[HiFiMerc]

Every LED bulb I've seen has a rectifier in it. No need to worry about polarity.

[SVT98t]

Worm gear? I used a fork. Seriously. As long as you pull straight up, you'll be fine.
Also, replace with the white gears.
I bought mine here:

http://www.transmissioncenter.org/Odometer_Gears.htm

-ryan s.

[VicCrownVic]

Every LED bulb I've seen has a rectifier in it. No need to worry about polarity.

Not the cheap stuff I buy

Worm gear? I used a fork. Seriously. As long as you pull straight up, you'll be fine.
Also, replace with the white gears.
I bought mine here:

http://www.transmissioncenter.org/Odometer_Gears.htm

-ryan s.

A fork, now that's a really good idea. Mine took very little pulling an prying, I think I just used a small screwdriver.

[HiFiMerc]

I found a junkyard cluster from a Vic (it's all black, looks better to me) to rebuild. I didn't have to take the gears off the motor shafts. They fell off on their own.

[94_marquis]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all the info. Yeah, i think i was just being too careful with the worm gears. I gave them a little harder tug and they actually disintegrated in my fingers, so i got those off.
SVT, thanks for the link. I was kinda confused on which gears when to get when i searched for them so i just bought them from the site you linked me to.
As far as the led's go, i decided just to buy some cheap ones from ebay. They are polarity sensitive so i hope i get them in the right way the first time. Is it possible to test if they are in right before everything is put back in?
Once again thanks for the help.

[VicCrownVic]

Just don't bolt the cluster down, and leave all trim off, so you can see which lights light up and which don't, then easily take it back out if needed.

In my 91 I actually was able to roll the cluster so that it was sitting on top of the dash, upside down, backside toward me, while still being connected electrically. Then I put each bulb in one at a time and could see through the gaps on the back of the cluster if the bulb lit up or not. What ever you do don't be touching the back of the cluster with anything metal, you'll at least blow fuses. After an incident, I ended up covering the shifter on the column with a coat sleeve.

[SVT98t]

A fork, now that's a really good idea. Mine took very little pulling an prying, I think I just used a small screwdriver.

I have disassembled my entire cluster with a 5.5mm socket, a T-10? Torx bit and a fork(for the gauge needles and gears).
;-)


-ryan s.