Dave's Volvo Page - Volvo 240 Odometer Repair

P R A N C I N G M O O S E . C O M
D A V E ' S V O L V O P A G E

Volvo 240
Odometer Repair

UPDATED: January 20, 2024 CONTACT SHIPPING

D O M A I N S

This Page is in TWO Main Sections CLICK A LINK BELOW TO NAVIGATE DIRECTLY
Section 1:	1975-85 240
Section 2:	1986-93 240
Other Pages: 740 Odometer Gears
850 Odometer Gears

Repair RESOURCES Parts	Cable Type Speedo Instructions
Late 240 Troubleshooting	Electronic Type Speedo Instructions

What about a 140 or early (pre-1981) 240 Speedometer?
Earlier models use very similar speedometerd to those used from 1981 to 1985. The internal parts are generally the same and you may use these same gears.
1973 144 Speedometer Shown Below.
(17 tooth gear and 1/8 inch lead gear pictured)

INTRODUCTION

Broken odometers in Volvo 240s are pretty common. Luckily, for most of us, there are now easy fixes for little nuisances like this. And there are even a few good webpages covering such repairs.
So... why did I go to all trouble of writing this page then? A couple reasons... When I experienced a problem with the odometer in my '84 242 Turbo, I found it to be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from any repair I've seen before, resulting in no new parts needed (at first).

Then I started getting emails from people who found this repair page. Often they had bought and tried to install a new gear from an on-line seller. A LOT of people were getting badly confused by the two very different installation methods between cable-driven and electronic speedometers and the lack of accurate guidance they were finding on-line. And I found that lots of 240 owners even had no clue if their speedometer was cable-driven or electronic. And they were frustrated by poor advice they were getting from people who sold them odometer gears.
So I put together some very detailed instructions below on BOTH types of repairs for 240s.

If you can help improve this page, please email me: CONTACT
Thank you, Dave

>>> For VOLVO 700/900 Model ODOMETER REPAIR <<<
(CLICK HERE)

OTHER RESOURCES FOR REPAIRS, PARTS AND INFO

Cleanflametrap.com/speedo: Here you'll find some good diagnostic notes for later 240 electric speedometers. Also: cleanflametrap.com/speedo5/
Wagonmeister.com offers repair services for 240 instrument clusters and rebuilt 240 clusters among many other cool parts and services like LED bulbs for your gauges. Located in Southern California.
Jack Ashcraft (Medford, Oregon) offer high-quality reconditioning of VDO cable driven speedometers for Volvo, Saab, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, VW and more. Phone: 541-499-0246, Email: jacksonashcraft [at] gmail [dot] com

Section 1: General Odometer Surgery & Repair.
1981-1985 240 CABLE-DRIVEN (mechanical) Speedometers.
ALL Types; MPH and km/h.

These instructions ALSO generally apply to 140 and early (1975-80) 240/260 models.

(NOT for 1986 and later electronic speedometers. That's further down)

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com
MADE IN U.S.A.

I offer the following (mechanical) cable type 240 gears for sale.

Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

New Nylon Gear: $16.00 each -- 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 tooth - for 240 Mechanical Speedo (please verify your tooth count). This gear replaces your broken "outside gear" as shown in the above instructions.

At this time I keep on hand the 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 tooth gears, since these are the most common.

1973-74 140:	The 17 tooth gear and 1/8 inch "lead" gear have been found in North American 140s with auto transmission.
1975-80 240:	The 18 tooth is most often found in these early 240s in USA, however the 16 tooth gear has also been found. And so far one 17 tooth gear has been found in a 1975 model in the U.K.
1981-85 240:	A 14 tooth is the most common so far found in USA 240 models 1981-85. A 15 tooth gear has been found in an '83 240 Turbo believed to have been from Canada. A 16 tooth has been found in USA 1983-84 240s with manual transmission. An 18 tooth has been found in a Canadian market 1983 240 (2.1 liter with carburetor and manual transmission). An 11 tooth is very common in European cars and has been found also in Australia (1978 240 M45 trans) and some Canadian 240s.

TOOTH COUNT VERSUS ODOMETER CALIBRATION:
A larger tooth gear will slightly slow the odometer and a smaller tooth gear will slightly speed it up.
Note that changing these gears to a different count will not alter the speedometer indicated speed.

If needed, I can also get any other size gear you might need if you can wait a few extra days. If you find a gear in your 240/260 other than an 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 tooth, please let me know. If other gears are commonly found, I will begin stocking more tooth counts.

(ALL tooth count range available: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 29)

New "Lead" Gear: $16.00 each. Replacement for the gray metal gear.
"1/8 inch" size offered below will fit 99% of 240s.

Three sizes exist:
1/8 inch or 3.175 mm at outer edge (about 4 mm overall width at center).
3/16 inch or 4.76 mm.
1/4 inch or 6.35 mm.

At this time I currently stock the 1/8 inch and 3/16 gears. 99% of 240s will have the 1/8 inch.
I can get any other gear if needed. If you find this gear in another thickness, please let me know.

SHIPPING OPTIONS BELOW

Click HERE if you're interested in learning about the new PRE-PAID Duty program for CANADA Shipping.

For Shipping to SWEDEN CLICK HERE

Click View Cart to Check Out.

1981-1985 240
CABLE-DRIVEN (mechanical) Repair Instructions

For these instructions below, I will not go into detail about removing the 240 instrument cluster from the dash. For detailed instructions on that part, you may refer to my 240 gauge face installation instructions at https://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240faceinstall81-93.pdf.

For a less detailed PRINTABLE PDF version of these instructions below, click here:
www.davebarton.com/pdf/240odo-repair-cable.pdf (450 kb)

Factory Anti-Tamper Device and Cable Locking Collar

When you're removing your instrument cluster, you may find this ANTI-TAMPER DEVICE next to the speedometer cable locking collar. It was placed on ALL cable speedo cars by Volvo. These days MOST of them are already missing, which means it has already been removed by someone. It must be removed to access the speedo cable collar, so that it can disconnected. It can only be removed by breaking it or by prying it off. Once broken, it cannot be placed back on, so it may be discarded. Then you may twist the cable locking collar 90 degrees to the LEFT to unlock the cable from the speedo. The cable and collar then pulls straight out.
The above RIGHT photo shows a broken locking collar. This can happen if the cable is pulled or bent without first unlocking the collar. This is not the correct way to disconnect a speedo cable, since the cable collar can no longer hold the cable in place. This speedometer above would require a new cable assembly.

Here's the back of your typical 1981-1985 240 instrument cluster. This one has a CLOCK.
Locate and remove the 7 Phillips head screws around the outer edge.

If you have a TACHOMETER, your instrument cluster will look like this.

If you have CRUISE CONTROL, your speedometer will have this extra device on the back.

Remove these two slotted screws on the back of speedometer.

If you have CRUISE CONTROL, also remove these other two smaller slotted screws.

After all needed screws are out, next lift out the circuit board from the back of instrument cluster housing.

After lifting out the circuit board, here's what you will now see BELOW. This is the speedometer sitting in the housing.
Now carefully lift out the speedometer and have a look at it closely if you've never seen one up close.

If your cluster has a tachometer, you'll see this little item indicated by the arrow below.
Don't lose it. It will fall out if you turn the box over.

Speedometer Needle Removal
(Locking the Speed Cup)
On the 1981-'85 240, the speedometer needle needs to be removed. This is a delicate operation.

Here is the back side of your speedo. Look for two rectangular slotted holes. One on each side. One is indicated by the screwdriver in this photo.

Insert a tool, such as a small slotted screwdriver, into one of the holes.

This will lock the speed cup and the mechanism inside the speedometer will not be able to spin. This way the needle indicator shaft cannot turn.

In the next step you'll be removing the needle, but first you will be gently lifting the end of the needle up and over the ZERO stop pin.
When you do that, you might take note of the little mark shown in this photo. It's a resting position mark that the VDO factory used when assembling this speedometer.

After you have gently lifted the needle over the ZERO stop pin, release it and take note of its resting position. It will likely be pointing at the little mark in the above photo. When you reinstall the needle later, you should use the same position. This way your speedo needle will be in the same place as before after you're done.

NEEDLE REMOVAL:
To remove the needle, grip the center plastic hub of the speedo needle and turn the needle counter-clockwise (turn the tip toward the "MPH" or km/h text).
Be careful to NOT put PRESSURE on the thin orange plastic needle pointer. It can snap off in a very unpleasant way if you do.

The factory used a liquid glue (similar to Locktite) to glue the needle hub onto the shaft. Since the internal mechanism inside the speedometer has already been locked by you, you may now begin turning the hub and forcing it in a counter-clockwise direction until you feel it come loose and get easier to turn. You may feel the glue break loose and "pop". Once that happens, it will be easy to turn and you may then continue to turn it further, while at the same time gently pulling it toward you. It'll soon come off in your hand without any fuss.

Once the needle is off, remove these 2 tiny screws.
Be careful if they're tight. The factory liked to put thread-locker compound on them. These screws are soft metal (brass) and are easy to damage. Find a small screwdriver that fits these small slots well.

Here's the naked speedometer after removing the face plate.

See those 3 slotted screws? Enlarge the pic and you can see better. Remove them. They hold the two halves of the speedo together.
Once the screws are removed, be gentle when pulling it apart. The parts inside are delicate, but it won't explode in a shower of parts... trust me.
You'll see one piece (below photo) that can fall out at this point. Not to worry, just put it back like shown in the photo.

Here's the back half of the speedo BELOW.
The long white gear indicated by the arrow is what I was talking about. It will fall out easily. Just be sure to put it back before you reassemble.

Here's the front half of the speedometer BELOW, viewed from the back side.
See these two gears indicated by arrows? In this photo BELOW, one gear is BLUE and one is a BLACK. To avoid confusion, I'll call these "outside gears" since they're on the outside of the odometer frame assembly. All speedometers will have a gear like that blue gear, but not all speedometers will have that black spiral gear. It's only found in cars with an interval engine service light in the dash cluster.

This BLUE gear (yours may be a different color) is most often the culprit for a failed cable odometer ( . . . . but not always).
I now offer replacements for this gear if you need one. The outside gears I have for sale in this section will replace this one.

NOTE: You may notice in this photo ABOVE the odometer reset button is missing from the bottom of the speedometer. I removed it so it wouldn't get in my way. It pops off quite easily. They also tend to break after years of getting pushed and pushed. Replacements can usually be found for sale online, but I don't offer them.

NOTE: Here's something that's a little different. This particular speedo is from a 1984 240 Turbo in Europe. When compared to the speedometer shown above, this speedo only has ONE outside gear and no black spiral gear. It is because this car was not equipped with an interval engine service light in the dash. This outside gear looks to be yellow or white in this photo and it has 11 teeth. So far I have heard of this 11 tooth gear only being found in Europe, Australia and Canada.
Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

Here's another speedometer that is a bit different. This is a 1975 240 speedometer found in the U.K.
It has a 17 tooth gear that has split from age.

Here's a closer BELOW of that BLUE GEAR shown above. Your gear may be a different color or a different tooth count.
This one has 14 teeth.
Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

This gear is a very common failure point.
It can have a tendency to crack or become stripped on the shaft. It might also lose some teeth after years of use. There is a long metal shaft going through both of these two outside gears. In order for the odometer to function correctly, these gears need to grip the shaft... so slipping on the shaft is NOT allowed.

NOTE: When I was working on MY speedometer, I found nothing obviously wrong with either of these outside gears. There were no cracks and no missing teeth. And they appeared to be gripping the shaft from what I could see. This was a mystery, since my odometer clearly was not working.
So I gave up. It's not my fault Volvo owners give up so easily.

NO! 240 owners DO NOT give up!
I hope you didn't fall for that.

Instead, I found a way to test the odometer to see where my problem was.
As I mentioned, that blue gear could be cracked, missing teeth or just plain slipping on the shaft, although I could find no problem with that in MY speedo.
Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

I needed to see for certain if my odo gear was gripping or slipping on the shaft. To test this, pick up the assembly like ABOVE and grip the wide black inside gear (like I am in this photo) so it can't turn. Now see if you can turn the two outside gears on the end of the shaft. Don't force them.... be gentle. You should NOT be able to turn the two outside gears without the wide black inside gear turning also. If you can spin the outer gears without the inside gear turning, you know something is slipping somewhere. MINE WAS SLIPPING SOMEWHERE. It's important to find out exactly what is slipping before you pull anything apart.

If you find the blue (or whatever color) plastic outside gear is slipping, your best solution is to replace it. Some have been was successful in gluing them back together, but that was before new replacements were available.

If your outside gears seem tight on the shaft as they should be (like mine were) and you're still not sure what's wrong, then keep reading . . . .

See this brass collar BELOW?
It's pressed onto the shaft (opposite end from those outside gears). This shaft goes through the odometer number wheels and through the two outside gears on the other side. When you try to spin the outside gears (while holding the wide black inside gear steady), have a look at this collar to see if it is spinning along with the gears.

If the shaft/collar is NOT spinning, then one or both outside gears are loose (that is bad).
If the shaft/collar IS spinning and it still appears the outside gears are gripping the shaft, then something else is slipping.
Don't worry. I'll cover this situation a little further below, so don't be a cheater and skip ahead.

REMOVING THE OUTSIDE GEARS: If you find you need to remove the outside gears, gently pry them with a small flat screwdriver. I don't know if it matters, but for now pay close attention to which direction they face, so you can put them back on the same way.

For those of you who don't read directions very well, here's a close up of these gears.
NOTE: The tops of these gears in the photo were facing away from the speedo body. Maybe that will help those of you who weren't paying attention to the positions of your outside gears (assuming it matters).

I found this blue gear to have 14 teeth and it's pretty typical of most U.S. 1981-85 240 Turbos like mine.
I offer new replacements for this gear in several different tooth counts if you need one. Please scroll down to the bottom of this section.
If you need a new gear, you should replace yours with the same tooth count to match.

If you found that one or both of your outside gears were spinning on the shaft, and the gear is not otherwise broken, you could try roughing up the shaft with some sandpaper, although I have not tried this and cannot say if it will help. It's also possible to use a small punch or screwdriver to tap small dents around the gear center hole. This might help close up the hole slightly. Be careful, since beating on your old plastic gear may destroy it. You will have to decide on the risk. Remember? You're a decisive 240 owner! However, if a new gear is available, I would stop screwing around and just buy a new one.

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND THAT WAS DIFFERENT WITH MY ODOMETER FAILURE:
When I tested my outside gears to see if they were gripping or spinning on the shaft, I found they were gripping quite well, but they were spinning the shaft when I turned them while I held the wide black inside gear steady. That was not the way it needed to be. As it turned out, my outside gears were just fine. What I discovered was that the GRAY METAL GEAR you see in this photo BELOW was slipping on the shaft. It's supposed to GRIP the shaft. Slipping is bad.

Removing this gray metal gear is a bit trickier. You can see there's a shaft going through the gear.
Remember, this shaft goes through all the odometer number wheels too? If you remove this shaft, the odometer will explode and a lot of little parts will fall out and bounce everywhere. Not good.

I found a way. The shaft needs to be pulled out just enough to release that metal gear. The last thing I wanted to see was all those little number wheels falling out and scattering on the floor, or even moving in the slightest amount. So look closely at this photo. I placed a piece of packing tape across the number wheels to keep them snugly together. No moving. Much, much better.
Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

Then I used a felt marker and marked both the gray metal gear and the thin white plastic one next to it. When I replaced that gray metal gear, I wanted it to go back in at the exact same position, just in case it made a difference.

Here we go. First, remove those two outside gears. Pry them off the shaft. This was discussed a few steps up.

Then, to slide the shaft out, use a small screwdriver to pry under this brass collar. The collar and shaft are pressed together as one piece. Let them stay that way. The shaft and collar should begin coming out slowly from the side shown here.
Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

Work slowly. DO NOT pry the shaft out too far at once.
Pry the shaft out just enough so the gray metal gear is free. Then carefully lift the gear out. Try not to disturb the odometer number wheels.

Here's the original gray metal gear after I removed it from my speedometer. This one is 1/8th inch thick (3.175 mm).
If you need a new one, a new gear is shown at right. New gears are made of plastic and are more durable.
Take note that this gear may be found in three different thicknesses: 1/8 inch (3.175 mm), 3/16 inch (4.76 mm), or 1/4 inch (6.35 mm).

The most common one so far in nearly ALL speedometers is this 1/8 inch gear. This original gear is made of metal, with the appearance of "lead," so it's commonly called a "lead gear." If you look very closely, the hole in the center has some very faint splines. ON MY GEAR these splines were worn down smooth, so this caused it to slip on the shaft.

My first solution was to tighten up this original metal gear on the shaft. I used a pointed tool (a nail punch or small screwdriver would work) and I gave the area around the hole a few taps to slightly deform or expand the metal and tighten the grip on the shaft. Three taps on mine worked. The gear went back on and was nice and tight, but after a while it began slipping again. Since a new plastic replacement gear was available, I went back in and replaced it with a new one.

These gears are available below if needed.
Please scroll down to the bottom of this section.

After you re-insert the gray metal gear, push the shaft back through and test the odometer function again before installing the outside gears. This way you can be sure that metal gear is gripping the shaft BEFORE final reassembly.

Pay attention to the alignment of the TOP odometer numbers. The first time I re-installed the gray metal gear, I found the far right number wheel was no longer aligned (see above photo).
This means I allowed that number wheel to slip a little.
I pulled the shaft back out again and realigned that odometer wheel. Now I have a perfect odometer again.

Here's something NEW I discovered later while repairing one of my 240s. This may come up on your car some day.

After re-tightening these three screws (shown by white arrows) and after placing the speedo needle back on, I found that the speed cup mechanism was somehow binding or jamming inside when I would spin the rear cable collar with my fingers. This jamming would only occur when these three screws were all tight. I found that if I loosened these screws slightly, the needle and shaft would rotate nicely with no binding. So it appears it is possible to over-tighten things and make the mechanism bind.
This is probably a rare occurrence, but just keep it in mind.

I didn't think it would be a good idea to run it with loose screws, so my solution was 3 very, very thin washers placed between the two halves. Then I could tighten the three screws and it all worked perfectly. Another solution could have been to use some thread-lock compound on the threads and then NOT tighten them down very much.

Now re-install the face and speedo needle.

NEEDLE INSTALLATION POSITION:
When re-installing the speedo needle, make sure you gently push down evenly on the center hub of the needle. Once it is on firmly enough, if adjustment is needed, you may adjust it to its former position by using the small screwdriver trick to lock the speed cup as discussed earlier.

If you forgot to check its former position, you should know that most mechanical speedometer faces will have a small mark on the edge, just below the ZERO. Point the needle at that mark if you can see it. That will be where the speedometer factory set the position.

WIRING
When re-installing your instrument cluster, the wire connections needed are shown below.
The YELLOW wire is for auto transmission cars only. It connects to the OD OFF lamp on the front far right side.
If you have a LARGE CLOCK, there are no connections to make for that. If you have the large CLOCK and see a Red/White wire, ignore it until you decide to retrofit a tachometer.

The total installation time after removing the instrument cluster from the car will normally be less than an hour.

PROBLEMS AFTER COMPLETING REPAIRS
It's rare that a mechanical speedo continues to have mysterious problems after successful gear surgery, but strange things can happen to 30-plus year old speedometers. The below situation was shared by Justin S. after his odometer stopped intermittently after replacing a bad gear.

"On looking a little closer the binding seemed to come when the inside metal "lead" gear reached the two inside teeth that turn over a new mile with the grey plastic gear on top. I could not see any visual
defects with either gear. It would just lightly bind when the tooth on the top grey plastic gear reached the two inside teeth on the metal "lead" gear. I thought that I would pass this along if it helps you
at all."

"After taking a break to clear my head, I went back and spent some time observing the odometer while I spinned the gears to see if I could discern where the problem was. After a while I figured it out.

I noticed that the last odometer digit was slightly binding on the top gray plastic gear and the metal inside gear when it went to turn over a new mile. Then, I checked the shaft that the outside gears are on that runs through all of the odometer numbers and out the other side. It had quite a bit of play to where you could move it back and forth slightly. I noticed that it needed to tighten up just a fraction to prevent the binding. So, I pushed the outside gears down on the shaft just a tad and it tightened up the play on the shaft a fraction. This was enough to allow the odometer to run smoothly every time it went to turn over a new mile. I was able to put it all back together and reinstall the instrument cluster back in my car. I went for a 20 mile test drive and the odometer ran perfectly smoothly. I am not sure how the shaft became so loose, but maybe what I found will be helpful to you or someone else one day. It could be that it just loosened up over time as my 240 is 28 years old and has 386,000 miles."

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com
MADE IN U.S.A.

I offer the following (mechanical) cable type 240 gears for sale.

1973-74 140:	The 17 tooth gear and 1/8 inch "lead" gear have been found in North American 140s with auto transmission.
1975-80 240:	The 18 tooth is most often found in these early 240s in USA, however the 16 tooth gear has also been found. And so far one 17 tooth gear has been found in a 1975 model in the U.K.
1981-85 240:	A 14 tooth is the most common so far found in USA 240 models 1981-85. A 15 tooth gear has been found in an '83 240 Turbo believed to have been from Canada. A 16 tooth has been found in USA 1983-84 240s with manual transmission. An 18 tooth has been found in a Canadian market 1983 240 (2.1 liter with carburetor and manual transmission). An 11 tooth is very common in European cars and has been found also in Australia (1978 240 M45 trans) and some Canadian 240s.

(ALL tooth count range available: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 29)

New "Lead" Gear: $16.00 each. Replacement for the gray metal gear.
"1/8 inch" size offered below will be found in 99% of 240s.

Three sizes exist:
1/8 inch or 3.175 mm at outer edge (about 4 mm overall width at center).
3/16 inch or 4.76 mm.
1/4 inch or 6.35 mm.

At this time I currently stock the 1/8 inch and 3/16 gears. 99% of 240s will have the 1/8 inch.
I can get any other gear if needed. If you find this gear in another thickness, please let me know.

SHIPPING OPTIONS BELOW

Click HERE if you're interested in learning about the new PRE-PAID Duty program for CANADA Shipping.

For Shipping to SWEDEN CLICK HERE

Click View Cart to Check Out.

Section 2: General Odometer Surgery & Repair.
1986-1993 240 ELECTRONIC Speedometers.
ALL Types; MPH and km/h.
(NOT for 1985 and older mechanical units)

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com
MADE IN U.S.A.

I offer the following (electronic) 240 odometer gears for sale.

New 25 Tooth Gear: $16.00 each. (240 1986-91 ALL, and MOST 1992-93 models).
New 26 Tooth Gear: $16.00 each. (240 some 1992-93 models only).

NOTE: CLICK HERE for special information regarding different gears found in 1992-93 240s.

New 15 Tooth GEAR POD for ALL 1986-93 240: $16.00 each.

The original Volvo gear pod was made in two pieces (the pod disc and a 15 tooth gear were separate pieces).
This new gear pod is made as one piece which ensures a stronger part.

SHIPPING OPTIONS HERE

Click HERE if you're interested in learning about the new PRE-PAID Duty program for CANADA Shipping.

For Shipping to SWEDEN CLICK HERE

Click View Cart to Check Out.

Special Info Regarding a 25 or 26 Tooth Gear in a 1992-93 240
There are two different possible tooth count gears for the '92-'93 240. Most have a 25 tooth gear, although some have been found with a 26 tooth. So far as I know, the only way to tell for sure which one is in your '92-'93 240 is to open it up and count the teeth. If you don't want to go to the trouble, you may just install a 25 tooth gear. It will fit ALL units. Even if it turns out to be the wrong one, everything will still work just fine, but the odometer will be off by about 3%.
A larger gear will slow down the odometer while a smaller gear will speed it up.

CUSTOMER COMMENTS:
"Before discovering your website with its expert advice and instructions to make such a repair myself, I ordered the 25T replacement gear (without the instruction DVD) from an online source from which I have frequently bought other parts. Because of previous experience with earlier models of Volvos that I have owned, I thought I could “figure” it out with this electronic one. NOT! All proceeded very well as far removal of the instrument cluster and all that, and even the removal of the speedo module itself. It was at that point that I started my search for instructions online and landed after a brief search on your website. Everything from that point worked flawlessly. I was able to make the repair without having to remove the speedo face and needle. It took actually less than 10 minutes total time to replace the gear and reassemble the whole unit. What a sense of accomplishment I felt after doing that. So in less than an hour’s time, I had the whole job done with the instrument cluster reinstalled. I credit your instructions with making that possible for me. Thank you , thank you." D.W., Surprise, AZ

"The 15-tooth gear pod broke 27k miles after the 25-tooth gear was replaced. Thank you, Dave, for your highly informative site. It helped me service my odometer the first time and I return to fix it again." W.H., Columbia, SC

"The part (the gear) was waiting for me when I got home from work today. I really wasn't expecting it so soon. As soon as diner was finished I went out and started tearing my dashboard apart (I couldn't wait). The gear dropped in perfectly and that was a good tip to pick out the old pieces, as there were pieces (old gear teeth) all over the larger inner gear. I got it all wrapped up and the instrument panel is back in the dash about half an hour ago. I took it for a test spin to see if it would work. I drove exactly 2.5 miles, according to the now working odometer. The last time I saw that mileage dial spin was in 2003 when I gave the car to my mother. I got the car back in 2006 but by then the odometer wasn't working, but it finally is now. I guess you can tell I am excited. Thanks!" P. K., Cherry Hill, NJ (1989 244)

1986-1993 240 ELECTRONIC Speedo Instructions
For this set of instructions below, I will not go into detail on removing the 240 instrument cluster from the dash. For detailed instructions on this part, please refer to my 240 gauge face installation instructions at https://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240faceinstall81-93.pdf.

Or have a look at the below videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j1__NVM5fk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_cAK3NT_HM

Locate and remove the 7 Phillips head screws around the outer edge of the gauge box.

Here's the back of the electronic speedometer.

Remove the 4 Slotted Screws noted by the red arrows. Lift the gauge and circuit board assembly out of the box and the speedo will easily separate from the rest of the assembly.

If your cluster has a tachometer, you'll see this little item. Don't lose it. It will fall out if you turn the box over.

Here's the speedo after separating it from the housing.
Turn it over and you'll see the next image below . . . .

There's a small electric motor attached to a circuit board. Behind the circuit board is the small plastic gear that breaks so often in 1986-93 240s.

You will be removing these two Phillips screws soon. But before you do that, you have a decision.

PROCEDURE WITH SPEEDO NEEDLE IN PLACE
The front metal face-plate on the front of the speedo can get in the way of this operation. This procedure CAN be done WITHOUT removing the speedo needle and metal face plate, but it may be a bit harder and a bit more tight to work in there behind that motor and circuit board. The advantage of NOT removing the speedo needle is that it eliminates the chance of breaking it.

Have a look here. Not a lot of room, but it can be done.
Decision time now . . . .

Customer Recommendation: "Don't remove the needle. Remove only the two screws holding the faceplate. Then by rotating the face-plate counter-clockwise 90 degrees, the bottom (flat part) of the plate tucks in enough to work as if it were off. With the seasonal climate changes, these cars now 25 plus years old, the speedo needle can crumble if disturbed."

Here's a suggestion from James Gresham in Australia.
He cut a slot into a piece of polystyrene so the face (with needle installed) could be supported on a surface. This allowed a stable place for the speedometer to rest while he worked on it.

PROCEDURE WITH SPEEDO NEEDLE REMOVED
If you have decided to remove the needle and face-plate first, this step will tell you what to do.
Removing the Needle: Grip the center plastic hub of the speedo needle and turn it counter-clockwise (toward the "MPH"). Be careful not to put pressure on the orange needle pointer. It's brittle plastic and will snap off if you do.
Volvo 240 odometer repair. Dave's Volvo Page.

There is an INTERNAL STOP inside this speedometer that makes the needle stop are zero. You will be rotating it counter-clockwise and then CAREFULLY FORCING IT PAST ZERO. The needle shaft has a bit of glue holding it from the factory. After you feel the glue break free, the needle will turn past zero and it will get easier to turn. Continue turning it counter-clockwise, while at the same time gently pulling it toward you. It'll soon come off in your hand without any fuss.

CAUTION: Do not put any sideways pressure on the thin metal speedo shaft that the needle is attached to as you twist. That shaft has been known to snap inside the speedometer in rare cases. If that happens, you may be looking for another speedometer. If this worries you too much, then go back to the previous step and do this without removing the needle.
Click HERE to see how a customer repaired his speedo after he broke a speedo shaft.

If you have removed the needle, now remove the face plate screws.
Using a small slotted screwdriver (it's important to use one that fits well in the slots), unscrew and remove the two small faceplate screws. These screws are a soft metal (brass) and will be gouged easily and distorted if you use the wrong size tool or too much force or if you slip.

Remember those two Phillips screws a few steps back? Remove them now if you haven't yet.

These photos show how it will look if the needle and faceplate are removed first.

After the two Phillips screws are removed, pull back the circuit board assembly.

When you pull back this circuit board, you will find one of two different possibilities. That gray gear contraption is the GEAR POD. The smaller gear on the gear pod is a 25 tooth gear. When you pull the circuit board away, the pod and gear might stay inside the speedo case (like this photo) or it might stay attached to the circuit board and motor (as in the next photo below) . . . it doesn't matter. Either way is good.

Noted by the red arrow: That small 25 tooth gear on the GEAR POD is the part that fails most often. If you look closely, the 25 tooth gear in this photo has a tooth missing.

On the back side of the original GEAR POD you will see a black 15 tooth gear. Examine it for damage also. This original gear pod was made in two pieces. A new replacement gear pod comes as one piece with that 15 tooth gear molded into the pod. It's a stronger part that way and it will never fail again.

The small gear shown here (the white one) is the new 25 tooth gear that will take the place of the original 25 tooth gear that failed after years of driving. Finding a broken tooth as shown on that old 25 tooth gear is common for this gear failure.

After removing your original GEAR POD, examine it closely. The gear pod is known to fail, although not quite as often as the small gear. Usually, if the gear pod fails, you will find visible damage. If it looks undamaged, replacing it is optional, although I have been told by experts that If you want to better ensure a working odometer for years to come, you might consider replacing the gear pod at the same time.

The GEAR POD has a 15 tooth gear attached to the back. This failure here is typical of and old gear pod. The resin material used to create the original gear decays and eventually begins to crumble.

I offer new Small Gears (25 or 26 tooth) and new Gear Pods.
CLICK HERE or scroll down to the bottom of this section to find these gears for sale.

After assembly is complete you can use a sharp pick to carefully rotate the motor to verify the gears are moving freely.

When reassembling your instrument cluster, pay special attention to places where your speedometer ELECTRICAL CONTACTS plug or insert into this receptacle. If you miss something like this and the contacts miss their mark, you'll be wondering why your speedometer won't work after reassembling.

Now you may finish re-assembling everything. Total time for this operation can be around an hour or less.

CAUTION: Avoid Accidental Circuit Board Damage.
A common cause of accidental speedometer board damage is when the tachometer RED/WHITE wire is mistakenly connected to the WRONG tab (cruise control tab or other unused tab) on the back of the instrument cluster. This happens most often when an inexperienced person finds that lonely RED/WHITE wire and there is no tachometer to connect it to.
If your instrument cluster does not have a tachometer, leave the RED/WHITE wire unconnected.

WIRING
When re-installing your instrument cluster, the wire connections needed are shown below.
The YELLOW-RED wire is for auto transmission cars only. It connects to the OD OFF lamp (arrow) on the front far right side.
If you have a TACHOMETER, the Red/White wire connects to the bottom spade. If you see two spades, chose either one.

If you have a LARGE CLOCK, there are no connections to make for that.
If you have the large CLOCK and see a Red/White wire, ignore it until you decide to fit a tachometer.

A few extra words of advice:
Look hard for small broken pieces of old gears that could be left inside.
I received an email from a late model 240 owner who replaced a broken gear and couldn't get the odometer to move more than 1/10 mile after several re-assemblies. He finally discovered that a piece of the broken gear was lodged in the works. Here's how things went:

"It was maddening. I agree, however, 7 times is simply a testament to my stubbornness, or so my wife would say! By the third evolution I could remove the instrument cluster in about 60 seconds and I had the rear wheel jacked up to facilitate a test drive!"

"The giveaway was the trip 1/10 numbers would move a bit, then the upper main odometer would look like it was trying to turn, the numbers would move slightly, then it would all stop. It was behaving like a jam was somewhere in there. Your description of not giving up on your mechanical odometer gear troubleshoot was inspirational, I went back and re-read it after the fifth removal."

"The broken gear piece was miniscule and the only way I found it was by rotating the gear mechanism with my finger while I had the gear case cracked open. I kept getting to one spot that had noticeable resistance but could see nothing. I ran the tip of a tweezers in between the gear teeth and on one pass a small piece of plastic came out, and that was it." S.D., Wake, VA

STILL NOT WORKING?
While I have not directly experienced this myself, I was told by a speedo repair professional that on a number of occasions they had experienced a "dead" odometer after replacing a broken gear in one of these VDO electronic speedos. The speedo function worked, but the odometer just wouldn't turn. On each of these occasions, the odometer would mysteriously start working after a period of driving . . . sometimes after an hour. Sometimes after a week. So far, no one has been able to say precisely why this happens, but it's possible this is related by an intermittent cracked solder joint in the circuit board. You'll find more info about this further below.
After I posted this information here, I received more identical reports from a number of customers who had installed new gears in electronic speedometers. So if this happens to you, you might give it some time and see if it comes back to life or take it apart again and read the section below on CRACKED SOLDER JOINTS.

"Sure enough it started working after about an hour or so of driving. Specifically, I drove for about an hour without any action from the odometer, then shut it down for about 5-6 hours, then started another drive and it was working immediately upon starting out." C.S., Raynham, MA

Martin Uden of Australia submitted the below info:
"Read your page regarding odo repairs and I have good experience in repairing most electronic VDO units of this type that use the 25t gear. They are found on Nissan Ford and Holden (GM) cars here in Australia and I also get the situation occasionally where the odo won’t work after changing the gear. What I do to fix it (99% of the time this works) is to reassemble the instruments into the car without putting on the plastic front so that I can get to the odo digits. I have a 3/16th inch thick length of plastic (so as not to harm the dials) that I have sharpened as you would a pencil and whilst the vehicle is moving, I physically “attack” the odo 1st number on its gear cog (odo, not the trip), gently pushing it back and forth until it begins working. Then of course you can remove the instrument housing and put it back together properly. Usual disclaimer of course regarding fiddling whilst you drive is not legal!! Hoping that may help the more impatient Volvo owner."

And one customer found his odometer suddenly began working again 15,000 miles after his gear replacement!

Another mystery fix email:
"Speedo now works after advice from others on making sure the 4-prong connector on the upper right was seated properly with the pins going into the 4 little boxes. I then followed your tip and physically pushed the odometer numbers with a nylon bolt sharpened at the end while running it and after about 6 tries of wiggling the digits back and forth the odo and trip sprang to life! You should really add the info on the 4 prong connector. Thanks."

Sebastian from Germany wrote about finding a damaged sprocket in the odometer numbers:
"As my odometer was not working for at least 5 years I recently attempted to repair it. I suggested the gear was broken, so I got a new one. On closer look, the original gear was still in a good shape with no broken teeth at all. I swapped it anyway but the odometer was still not working. By turning the gears with my finger I then discovered that the upper odometer was getting repeatedly stuck at exactly the same position. I found that the first (far right) gear on the upper line which engages the (in my case) 100 meters counter wheel was worn out and blocked the whole odometer from moving further. I had no idea how to dismantle the mechanism and was afraid to break more stuff. So I tried to sharpen the tooth with a small nail file, which worked fine. The gear now grips perfectly again."

Here's a customer who replaced his Speedometer Motor after experiencing a
Broken Speedo Needle Shaft
"It CAN be done! I just replaced my speedometer motor and needle shaft independently of the odometer."

"I'm the guy who had the metal shaft of the speedometer needle motor shear while trying to turn it backwards like the write up says to. Unable to repair it, I ordered the cheapest matching cluster I could find on eBay. The replacement cluster I bought "as is" arrived and had a bad speedometer and odometer. I was pretty sad until I remembered the only thing wrong with mine was the speedometer needle shaft. Other than that, mine worked great."

"So I removed the speedometer from the "as is" unit, pulled straight up on the center round part of the needle (seemed the least likely way to break it) and it popped off without a fuss. Proceeded to break it down with gauge face off and side odometer motor off. Stared closely at it until I noticed 2 screws opposite the odometer motor side. Loosened them up."

"If you look closely, there are four clear press tabs in the clear plastic housing for the speedometer motor. I used a small standard screwdriver and pressed them in and the motor was released (this motor was bad on my new gauge cluster - weird). This enabled me to swap the good parts from the bad unit to replace the bad parts on my good unit! Took it for a test drive and it works."

"Although I essentially paid 130 bucks for just a speedometer motor and needle, I still feel great knowing I can still watch my slug climb closer and closer to the million mile mark every day. This info can be added to the knowledge base in your site if you want. I'm sure someone would benefit from knowing your whole cluster isn't junk from a broken speedometer shaft and it can be disassembled completely fairly easy."

Looking for a replacement speedometer?
If you are seeking to buy another gauge cluster or speedometer, here's a good discussion on what years may be compatible with your 240.
https;//forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=338891

240 Electronic Speedometer Confusion Decoding

1986-1990 North America 240 without-ABS:	K 10042 120 MPH. Gauges before 1989 have a smooth black satin finish on the gauge faces and inside surfaces of the cluster housing. These cars will have a 12 tooth tone ring in the rear end. The switch to a later matte black "velvet" style finish on the gauge faces and inside the cluster housing supposedly occurred in the start of the 1989 production year, however some 1989 240s have been found with the earlier finish gauges.
240 before 1989 Great Britain	K 9800 or K 10042 120 MPH. Further info unknown.
1989-91 240 Canada	Some will have K 6091 200 km/h or K 6241 200 km/h (possibly for other years also). Further info unknown.
1991-1992 North America 240 without-ABS:	K 9800 or K 10042 120 MPH. Non-ABS cars will have a 12 tooth tone ring in the rear end.
1991 North America 240 with ABS:	May have K 9800 or K 10042 120 MPH. A 1991 ABS car will have a 48 tooth tone ring in the rear end. A 1991 ABS car using a K 10042 speedo will be equipped with a signal converter which alters the tone ring signal so the 48 tooth tone ring works correctly with that earlier speedometer, which was originally designed for a 12 tooth tone ring.
1992-1993 North America 240 with ABS:	K 39200 120 MPH (wagon) or K 40168 120 MPH (sedan). 48 tooth tone ring in the rear end.

The speedometer 'K' number represents the number of pulses per kilometer that the speedometer was calibrated for when designed. In some cases, installing a different 'K' number speedometer may be ok, except that it will be less accurate. For example, using a K 40168 in place of a K 39200 in your 1993 245 would read 97.6% of the correct speed (assuming tire size is still factory).

If you can help add to this info, please email.

Sure enough, there are occasionally some odometers that just don't seem to come back to life as one would hope after replacing a gear.
Some of these might be a result of bad electronics, such as a bad motor, bad circuit board or other component on the board. I know of a few that were found to be caused by a loose connection of the small electrical contacts inside the plug on the back of the speedometer. After tweaking the contacts to get a better grip, things can begin working again.

CRACKED SOLDER JOINTS

It is also common to find small cracks in solder joints where the odometer motor is mounted on the circuit board (there are three joints holding the motor). There's some more info on this subject below, so If you suspect a cracked solder joint, you might try re-soldering those joints if you have some soldering tools.

Here are some useful discussion threads on this subject:
https;//forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=299341
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=350828

The below photo was shared by Kris in Belgium. It shows a cracked solder joint in this board which can be repaired by re-flowing the solder.
The solder joint shown by the arrow is ONE of THREE joints where the odometer motor is attached to the board.
Check all three joints for cracks.
These 240s are getting quite old and solder can crack from vibration. A close look at your circuit board may reveal a similar failure that can be repaired.

Here's a good basic video on soldering on a circuit board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJH7VLGJ4fs

Replacing a Speedometer Circuit Board
(1986-93 240)

Chris A. suggested there may be a need in some circumstances to replace a speedometer circuit board if you cannot otherwise find the fault.
For example, as detailed above, some circuit boards have been damaged or destroyed by inexperienced installers who mistakenly plug in a tach signal wire to the cruise control spade (or other speedometer contact).
Replacing a circuit board is not difficult. The below information should be helpful if you need to take this route.
If you see something that can be added to or improved, please email.

Tools suggested: Soldering iron, solder removal tool (wick, solder pump, or both), and some solder.
Known circuit board numbers:
VDO 992645 145 (240 without cruise control).
VDO 992645 734 (240 with cruise control connections).

Circuit Board Removal:
The procedure to access the speedometer board is the same as replacing the odometer gears, but with the addition of removing the board by disconnecting two wires. In this photo below you can see TWO WIRES (Blue and Black). Using your soldering iron, de-solder these two wires from the board, keeping careful note which side is blue and which is black. It's always a good idea to take a few pics with your phone or mark wire locations with a marker or tape.

If you're car has CRUISE CONTROL, your board will also have these two brown wires. De-solder them from the board also.
NOTE that one BROWN wire has a RED STRIPE. That is the positive lead. Be sure to note or mark this wire so you can see it.

Once all wires are removed, install the new board and re-solder the wires. The best method to do this is to put the wire conductor through the hole in the board first, then add solder. If you find the holes in the board are filled with solder (BELOW PHOTOS), you can use a very small drill bit to drill through the solder so then your wire conductor can be slipped inside the hole before soldering.

CAUTION: Make sure to NOT hold the soldering iron too long in any location, which could create too much heat on the board. Too much heat has the potential to damage fragile circuits.
Try to create good, clean solder joints. There are good online tutorials on YouTube about proper circuit board soldering techniques.
Here's a good basic video on soldering on a circuit board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJH7VLGJ4fs

Many suggestions in this page were sent in by other Volvo enthusiasts.
If you see something that can be added to or improved, please email.
Thank you, Dave

Authorized Dealer - OdometerGears.com
MADE IN U.S.A.

I offer the following (electronic) 240 odometer gears for sale.

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