85 odometer not working
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 403
Likes: 87
From: Cincinnati OH
85 odometer not working
I have an 85 Z51 with an LQ9/4L60E swap being controlled by the Holley Terminator X Max system. Last week I was able to get the speedometer working with the assistance of a Dakota Digital convertor box. But the odometer is not working. The speedo and trip odometer work fine and logging miles/mph correctly. Does anyone know of a method of testing the odometer motor to see if it is functioning? Is it a matter of applying low voltage to the motor to see if it spins? I've searched on here and at batee's website and couldn't find anything. Thanks in advance for any tips!
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 403
Likes: 87
From: Cincinnati OH
Ok well I went ahead and pulled the odometer and applied 9 volts from a 9 volt battery. Nothing. So i dug deeper and pulled the front of the motor apart. Theres several small gears inside. The motor felt stuck and wasnt moving at all. So I turned it with a small pair of pliars and got it unstuck. Now the motor moves a little but still doesnt spin. I dont know if the cluster sends it a different type of signal or what. But i put it back together and will try it out tomorrow.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 403
Likes: 87
From: Cincinnati OH
So taking the electric motor apart and getting it to spin solved the problem. I used my phone with the Dakota Digital app to send a pulse signal to the cluster and the odometer rotated and advanced several tenths as I resent the test pulse. Problem solved! Hope this helps anyone with the odometer issue. Seems like the motor gets stuck with 35 years of grease drying up on it.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2024
Posts: 126
Likes: 14
I tried doing the same thing to my motor but whenever I applied voltage it always spun back to the same spot regardless of which way I set the polarity. I'm assuming there's something amiss deeper inside the motor itself so I guess I'll just be ordering another one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2024
Posts: 126
Likes: 14
I tried doing the same thing to my motor but whenever I applied voltage it always spun back to the same spot regardless of which way I set the polarity. I'm assuming there's something amiss deeper inside the motor itself so I guess I'll just be ordering another one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So it turns out this is just how stepper motors work and it actually works fine! This thread was super helpful! Thanks!
1st Gear
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
This thread is the best, had the same problem, opened up the motor, wiggled the main axle a bit, but it still got stuck, sprayed it with some electronics anti oxide. then it started working. And thanx to the picture earlier in the thread I managed to put it back together.
Many thanx for the great info.
Many thanx for the great info.