2G Silver face gauges

[RidleyNoah]

Was reading a couple of posts earlier about gauge clusters and it got me thinking. My car is a 1999 GS. It came with black face gauges. Found a few silver face gauge clusters on ebay. Problem is that the odometers have high mileage (one had 137,000 miles). My car only has 39,000 original miles. I really don't want to add another 98,000 miles to my car but I get the feeling I'd be sh!t out of luck.

 

[dustyboner]

you can get the overlays and put them on your own cluster instead of buying a whole nother gauge cluster. its also pretty easy to open up the gauges and roll back the odometer.

 

[RidleyNoah]

I've seen the lighted overlays (ebay) and didn't know if I wanted to go through the trouble of wiring them up. I figured for a little more money I could just get the oem silver cluster but I've read some threads saying you can't roll back the odometer.

 

[dustyboner]

you can. i just rolled this one back

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[RidleyNoah]

Is it as easy as pulling off the cover above the numbers and then just roll them back?

 

[dustyboner]

ill pm you.

 

[spyderdrifter]

you can. i just rolled this one back

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Also HIGHLY illegal when/if you ever get caught. Just be aware.

 

[RidleyNoah]

Also HIGHLY illegal when/if you ever get caught. Just be aware.

Depends on state.
California vehicle code 28050-28053 covers this.

28053 reads- "Nothing in this article prevents the service, repair, or replacement of an odometer if the mileage indicated thereon remains the same as before the service, repair or replacement".

 

[95REGF150]

He's right there is no law against rolling back an odometer as long as your not trying to pass it off as original mileage. The law is against mileage fraud which is usually the reason people roll back odometers. In most states its serious thing as the only time mileage is recorded is at transfer of title between owners. So you can drive a car for 100,000 miles and then when your ready to sell it take 50,000 of those off and no one would be the wiser. That will land you in jail if you get caught.

Here in California we have smog every 2 years and mileage is recorded at each of those checks. That leaves a detailed record as the cars mileage increases so the DMV will flag at the time of sale if the mileage suddenly jumps below what it was at the last smog. However, if you replace the cluster with a lower mileage one that is legal all you have to do is check the box on the title at time of sale that reads "NOT ACTUAL MILEAGE/EXCEEDS ODOMETERS LIMITS"

Even the newer digital odometers are not tamper proof. The information has to be stored somewhere. Most of the time it is on a small EEPROM memory chip in the cluster. Take it out and hook it up to a reader on your PC. Pull the Hex code. Match it up with the mileage. Change it too whatever you want. Reinstall. Its that simple and don't think it isnt done all the time. I actually find it easier than messing with those finicky mechanical wheels.

That's why you always look at a cars condition and not just the mileage as well as all the paperwork closely when buying something.

 

[RidleyNoah]

Well, I ordered an OZ edition cluster but it's out of an automatic. I read an old thread on here (2007) that said it will work fine, that the only difference is the automatic tach redlines at 8000 rpm. Anyone know otherwise?

 

[YERFDOG]

I haven't seen the inside of our clusters, but is it a possibility to transfer the odometer section of your low mileage cluster to the new one you want? I found this picture on the forum for the piece I am talking about swapping over.

 

[RidleyNoah]

I haven't seen the inside of our clusters, but is it a possibility to transfer the odometer section of your low mileage cluster to the new one you want? I found this picture on the forum for the piece I am talking about swapping over.

I'm not sure, I haven't disassembled mine. I did find out though that it's pretty easy to roll back the odometer. When I receive the one I just ordered I'll dig into it and find out more about them.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Depends on state.
California vehicle code 28050-28053 covers this.

28053 reads- "Nothing in this article prevents the service, repair, or replacement of an odometer if the mileage indicated thereon remains the same as before the service, repair or replacement".

Guess this isn't bad to know since I'll be moving to CA next year.

 

[miliman13]

is there a procedure? i rolled mines back and it never moved again.

 

[RidleyNoah]

is there a procedure? i rolled mines back and it never moved again.

I'll let you know after I try doing mine next week.

 

[RidleyNoah]

I received my gauge cluster today. Temporarily installed it to make sure it worked. Worked perfect! I went ahead and took the odometer apart and got it set to the exact mileage of my old cluster. Haven't reinstalled it and driven it to make sure that it works properly. I should receive my leds tomorrow, I'll get those installed and then re-test everything.

 

[RidleyNoah]

Well, that didn't work out. Took my car for a drive today to see if the odometer worked after the reset. Didn't work. Neither does the trip meter. There must be some tamper proof electronic connection that gets broken when you pull the numbers wheel out of the slot in order to spin the wheels. That's the only thing I can think of.

Guess I'll see how my blue leds work with my black face gauges if they show up today.

 

[miliman13]

^ same issue I had!!!!

I'm wondering how others are doing it and why there not sharing this info.

 

[RidleyNoah]

Yeah, It was because of your post that made me want to test it right away. There's a speedo repair shop down the street from me, I thought about taking it there to see what they say. I'm going to wait till I get the leds because if they don't work good with the silver gauges I'm not going to throw more money into it.

 

[YERFDOG]

Well thats not good news! Hopefully someone can chime in that has made it work properly.

 

[RidleyNoah]

I could run it without the odometer but I want to keep it honest.

 

[RidleyNoah]

Here's a couple pics of the blue leds in the black face and silver face gauges. The black face came out a little brighter in the pic than it is in person, the silver face is really bright in the pic, really dim in person. Black face pic is the first pic.

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[95REGF150]

How are you guys rolling them back? They all run in a sequence you can't just grab each wheel and turn it to what you want you'll strip the teeth. Its a fairly simple process but you have to take your time and do it right for it to work afterwards. The cluster is electronic but the ODO works the same way as cars from the 60's. Just instead of a speedo cable turning it there is a small electric motor. When I have done mine I take the shaft with all the wheels out. Start from left to right (highest digit first and ending with the 10'ths) you find the number you want and rotate the locking tab for the at number to the correct orientation. Then you hold that number and locking tab and go on to the next number and locking tab until you have the reading you want. The important thing is that you let the shaft spin freely during this entire process because if you don't you will strip the plastic gear inside.

 

[RidleyNoah]

How are you guys rolling them back? They all run in a sequence you can't just grab each wheel and turn it to what you want you'll strip the teeth. Its a fairly simple process but you have to take your time and do it right for it to work afterwards. The cluster is electronic but the ODO works the same way as cars from the 60's. Just instead of a speedo cable turning it there is a small electric motor. When I have done mine I take the shaft with all the wheels out. Start from left to right (highest digit first and ending with the 10'ths) you find the number you want and rotate the locking tab for the at number to the correct orientation. Then you hold that number and locking tab and go on to the next number and locking tab until you have the reading you want. The important thing is that you let the shaft spin freely during this entire process because if you don't you will strip the plastic gear inside.

This^ You definitely need to pull the shaft with the wheels on it out of the slot.