I finally got around to taking the advice of some of the brickers that the 92 VDO Odo PCB soldering was CRAP.
I meticulously sucked the old solder off and put some new stuff on. Some connections that were originally doused with solder I skipped. After I reinstalled the whole sha'bang no roll. I did notice that there is a smaller PCB attached to the Odo PCB with MUCH smaller parts. Is that one ever a problem or is the shoddy work just on the Odo PCB?
I'm now open for ideas...

Tim
--
'92 244 w/ M47 (Hydra, ipd bars and springs, bilstein, urethane bushings)

Today the odometer ROLLLLED - I've never seen it do this!

anyway, excitement is over...
Tim
--
'92 244 w/ M47 (Hydra, ipd bars and springs, bilstein, urethane bushings)

Was it the result of "divine intervention" or did you do a deliberate fix?

For the fun of Volvos,
Mike
--
'83 245 GLT, '92 245DL, '90 760 GLT

I have finally figured out after taking my speedo apart 20 times and replacing the gear etc etc that my problem is actually the connection from the harness to the speedo - that sideways 3 connection one that attaches to the little piece of circuit board sticking out at the back. It's a flakey connection so I would monkey around inside the speedo, put it back together and it would work for awhile (speedo always worked but not odometer), so I would figure it was my monkeying that fixed it, but I just wasn't thorough enough. Anyway, not being an electrical whiz I finally troubleshot it by driving with the instrument panel loose and wiggling the connection until it worked (this can be a stupid and dangerous practise when the instrument panel jams the steering wheel, I probably should have used a helper and rerouted the wire). So now, when the odometer doesn't work in the future at least I don't have to open the odometer up again.

Ron

93 245
93 944

So, this is what you're saying. The speedo works, ie, indicates mph, but the odometer doesn't. Your diagnosis isolated the problem to the harness connection, that is, the three wire "L" shaped connector to the circuit board on the back of the speedo. So, what was your permanent fix?

For the fun of Volvos,
Mike
--
'83 245 GLT, '92 245DL, '90 760 GLT

This is recent history so I haven't done the fix yet. Right now the odometer is working so I will probably leave it until it fails again. The connection on the odometer side looks good and I checked continuity with a multimeter last time it was out so I guess I'll just see if I can find a break in the wire or a bad connection from wire to the little prongs.

Ron

I've always suspected that this 3-pin connection would become an issue with continuity.
Evidently Volvo did as well: they devised a securing cover for that connection (Part # 1322025). I discovered this item when trying to remove a cluster from a 1990 model that had not been touched. The cover did come off, but it was a "one time use" item as they were careful to make the clips unexposed to prying off. And despite how skilled you may be with removing this type of clipped cover, the plastic is of the brittle white stuff Volvo used for every type of electrical connection boxes. Nevertheless, the cover made a VERY tight binding of the 3-pin Odo connection.
I'll devise a way to fasten this cover on even if it requires a "hair band" to wrap around the PCB+motor.
2¢
Tim
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'92 244 w/ M47 (Hydra, ipd bars and springs, bilstein, urethane bushings)

Tim, I recall success in replacing the retention function of the tamper-evident seal with a small piece of vacuum hose wedged in. But it is one of the few fixes I did not photograph, so telling you exactly how, I'd have to start from scratch. Anyway, I too thought it needed better mechanical security.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

I had the same problem with my 93. I have 3 92/ 93 speedos and the odometer would not work on any of them. It was not the gear, not the stepper motor, and I tried resoldering all 3 with no luck. I researched sending one away to be rebuilt and the place I looked at charged more to fix 92-93 speedos, indicating the failure is different.

I did get one working finally by changing the main speedometer chip on one of the boards. I got the chip out of an older speedo (they all use the same chip). It was a real pain to desolder, and resolder, but it fixed the problem.

Where is what you call "the main speedometer chip"? Is it the one that the harness (the "L" shaped connector with three wires) attaches to?

For the fun of Volvos,
Mike
--
'83 245 GLT, '92 245DL, '90 760 GLT

Hi Tim,

Sorry, but I don't find that advice much better than a last resort before chucking it. I used to know folks in electronic repair who had very little care to understand the workings of what they were paid to work on, but loved to change parts. When an intermittent problem arose, they loved to reheat every solder joint. Sometimes it worked, but it's either a shortcut past analysis (diagnosis) or desperation when analysis fails.

Edit: About the smaller board on the 92 -- I believe this is a prescaler for the ABS cars, dividing the signal frequency by 4. Bottom line is, if the prescaler does not function, the speedometer won't either, not just the odo.

I hope it wasn't my advice that set you to doing that. I believe we may be our worst enemies sometimes, and in replacing the gears, we break something else, and my suspicion is, what we break, is one of the three connections to the two-pole step motor that drives the odometer. It is an obvious guess because of its weight, the way its windings are terminated, and the stress of its mounting and support of the PCB. Also, there's little else to fail in the circuit that is not also in use by the speedometer.

If you know how to troubleshoot electrical stuff, my notes should get you way ahead of just reflowing the circuit board. If fixing circuits is not your thing, there's got to be some nerdy kid in your neck of the woods who can help you.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.