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What To Do After a Cluster Swap...?


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I want to do a cluster swap, due to the fact that the below image, isn't doing it for me anymore.

 

 

 

What I want to do, is instead get myself one of these

 

 

 

And what I want to know is, if I can somehow wrangle an AMC Cluster w/ Gauges, and say for example the Odometer is 30k miles off from my current 164,xxx miles; what would I have to do to legally have the odometer changed to match my old one?

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IE: If I can get a new cluster swapped in that's different in mileage than my own by several thousand, where and what do I do to have this legally changed? And is it even possible for it to be legally changed to what the previous ACTUAL mileage was, or would I have to tinker with the odometer myself, and how would I go about doing this exactly? Keep in mind I have no intention to sell this car at all (for those thinking that this is for the intent of deceiving another person into buying my truck.)

 

Thanks all. :bowdown:

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In my state nobody has to "do" anything. If I ever sell the vehicle, I just state on the title that the odometer mileage shown is not correct because the odometer was replaced.

 

However ... the odometer can be adjusted, and I'm pretty certain there are instructions on this forum somewhere. Dunno if it's legal to do it yourself -- probably depends on your state's laws.

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I've messed with the one in my '86 when I was too young to know what I was doing. I did a full cluster swap. Between the old and new was some decent miles, so I had the bright idea to just use my fingers to roll the odo to where it should have been.

 

Bad idea.

 

I heard a little snap, and then the odo just free-rolled. Turns out, there are little washers between the odo numbers, and each tab into a small wafer that will break if you try to force the numbers back. Once I got everything apart, I rolled the odo to where it needed to be in my hand, then made up a replacement wafer. I cut up a rectangle of plastic out of a q-tip box, put slits into it for the tabs with an exacto, and installed it.

 

It was years ago, but its not that hard once you get into it.

 

Rob

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In the Purple People Eater (which has just 80,000 actual miles) I turned the odometer on the new cluster back to match the old one. The AMC clusters don't have a seal of any sort to prevent this. And then when I installed the new new cluster (which added a tachometer) I just unscrewed the odometer from the old new cluster and moved it over to the new new one.

 

But you can't swap them from a dummy light one to a gauges one due to there not being a trip gauge.

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But you can't swap them from a dummy light one to a gauges one due to there not being a trip gauge

 

If you use the clear faceplate from the idiot light cluster you can swap the speedo assembly and not have a hole. Your new cluster won't have a trip gauge but I don't know if that's important to you.

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FL is really finicky, and I can't seem to find any "Legal" information other than 1 online website (not gov't owned or operated) saying that it's Illegal to tamper with the odometer. Hopefully I can find out some info in the near future from the DMV, or possibly the dealership where my dad works. In the meantime, thanks for the info guys, especially automan. I've heard stories from a lot of people that had that happen to them, lol. Still, it's always useful to know different things ;)

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In the 'old' days we could alter the odometer 2 ways. Hook it up to an electric drill, or small motor and let it run. Time it for one minute to see what the rate of change was and then go do something else while it ran. Or disassemble it and set the numbers where you wanted them. Every state in the union and the federal government has laws against odometer tampering. Generally there is a line in there that says "with intent to defraud" so if your not going to sell it OK. The thing to do is just go ahead and reset by whatever means you choose and then just keep your mouth shut. Frankly I'm surprised the odometer isn't tied into the computer keeping a record of the mileage. It will be.

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In the 'old' days we could alter the odometer 2 ways. Hook it up to an electric drill, or small motor and let it run. Time it for one minute to see what the rate of change was and then go do something else while it ran. Or disassemble it and set the numbers where you wanted them. Every state in the union and the federal government has laws against odometer tampering. Generally there is a line in there that says "with intent to defraud" so if your not going to sell it OK. The thing to do is just go ahead and reset by whatever means you choose and then just keep your mouth shut. Frankly I'm surprised the odometer isn't tied into the computer keeping a record of the mileage. It will be.

 

Good point, and well made. This is probably what I'll end up doing if I get another gauge cluster... :hmm:

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if you get a cluster with the gauges you want (i went from the the bottom pic to one with a tach) that match your current style. just swap the speedometer.. check out my build thread to see what i did.

 

saturday i am goin to pick up another comanche.. if it has the cluster i want you can have my old one.. it has everything BUT a Tach.

 

just swapped speedometer

new

184854_1862582764828_1248744812_2247834_3259761_n.jpg

old cluster

223019_2009374154521_1248744812_2450540_1806211_n.jpg

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In my state nobody has to "do" anything. If I ever sell the vehicle, I just state on the title that the odometer mileage shown is not correct because the odometer was replaced.

 

However ... the odometer can be adjusted, and I'm pretty certain there are instructions on this forum somewhere. Dunno if it's legal to do it yourself -- probably depends on your state's laws.

 

Here's the link to adjust the odometer. I just did it so my new cluster would match the original. Its easy to do.

 

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205

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if you get a cluster with the gauges you want (i went from the the bottom pic to one with a tach) that match your current style. just swap the speedometer.. check out my build thread to see what i did.

 

saturday i am goin to pick up another comanche.. if it has the cluster i want you can have my old one.. it has everything BUT a Tach.

 

just swapped speedometer

new

184854_1862582764828_1248744812_2247834_3259761_n.jpg

old cluster

223019_2009374154521_1248744812_2450540_1806211_n.jpg

 

I would love you forever blue88 if you were to sell me that cluster; as long as it was in decent shape. :eek:

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if you get a cluster with the gauges you want (i went from the the bottom pic to one with a tach) that match your current style. just swap the speedometer.. check out my build thread to see what i did.

 

saturday i am goin to pick up another comanche.. if it has the cluster i want you can have my old one.. it has everything BUT a Tach.

 

I would love you forever blue88 if you were to sell me that cluster; as long as it was in decent shape. :eek:

 

It should be in good shape.. all the gauges worked when it was in the MJ.

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Frankly I'm surprised the odometer isn't tied into the computer keeping a record of the mileage. It will be.

 

Just about any vehicle with an electronic odometer is done this way. On the 97+ XJs, the mileage is actually stored on a chip in the cluster itself. On ZJs with an electronic odometer (96+, I think), the mileage is supposedly stored in the computer and transmitted to the cluster via the CCD bus network. Speaking of, I need to test this theory with the 5.9L engine/trans/PCM I picked up out of a '98ZJ - should be able to swap the PCM into my running ZJ and see what mileage is stored on the PCM. PO said it was 116K....so I guess we'll see :D

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when I was playing the swap the interior game on Onyx the cluster was swaped out many times. The 97+ XJ custers kept their mileage and so did both the TJ clusters I used.

 

Yep - only way you can get in there and access the register that holds the odometer reading is with the DRBIII Chrysler scan tool. I need to find me one of those...

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