I asked my mechanic friend to reset the "Service Engine" light (which he's done before - I should have watched), but he was in a hurry or smoking crack or something and just pulled out the bulb.

Not long after that, I noticed that neither my odometer or trip meter were working. I thought it might be related to the missing bulb, because I know the light comes on after so many miles, so I put the bulb back, but that didn't fix it.

Any advice - is this just coincidence?
--
Michelle -'89 244 GL auto 225K / '91 244 DL auto 185K / '79 242 M45 (The Green Monster)

If the speedo still works, I have to agree that it's likely the gear broke. If the speedo also doesn't work, the 3-wire plug to the back of it has probably been dislodged.

There is also the possibility that the mechanism for the service light has somehow jammed the odometer drive. This thing is a separate, gear driven switch hanging off the far end of the shaft that runs the main odometer. There's a worm gear drive for it that eventually makes enough counts and turns the (stupid) service light on. I haven't had one seize up but you know weird things can happen.

The "reset" for the light involves releasing tension on the gears and letting the switch snap back to the off position. I would say it's possible for this little drive arrangement to be mishandled so that it's now jammed up. This whole thing can be safely removed from your speedometer head.

It does require pulling the cluster, pulling the speedo out and disassembling. You'll find a 2-wire ribbon cable thing stretched across the top of the speedo reels- that's the service light switch. You can clip the wires next to the speedo drive motor circuit board and remove that whole thing. Then you can remove the speedo drive (silver motor STAYS WITH THE CIRCUIT BOARD! Do not pull it off the circuit board!) and inspect the gears underneath.

Good luck with it!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244-M47-207K ::: 90 745GL-M47-268K ::: 88 245DL-AW70-230K ::: 88 244 SOLD! 87 244 SOLD! Still looking for a bright red or black 244 with sunroof...

Hi Michelle,

I'll go with coincidence. Odd, though, just the opposite happened to Mrs. B's '89 a few weeks ago. The odometer quit (after a reset) and then, after I replaced the gear, the Service Light now comes on each time it is driven.

I know better than to ask why, it just means I have to reach up and grab that light bulb same as your guy did. It was my own fault for playing with it.

If you go to the bottom of this page http://cleanflametrap.com and select the link "replacing odometer gear" you'll see my story and another view of the task at hand.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money. - Henny Youngman

Just curious if the trip meter was just reset to zero? Oftentimes a recent reset will be the one that breaks a tooth or two off the little gear shown in the photo. It's fixable for $26 and less than an hour of your labor. Check the archives for where to buy and what to do.

The usual reason the odometer/trip meter stop working is a bad odometer gear inside the speedometer head. They are available for about $25 from www.odometergears.com

Once the speedometer is out the gear is replaced after seperating the speedometer head. The small gear is the one that normally breaks.

Randy