# Odometer

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** ford, ranger\
**Created:** [August 10, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832 "2009-08-10T15:07:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![budman71655](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@budman71655](https://community.cartalk.com/u/budman71655)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/1 "2009-08-10T15:07:02Z")

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I recently had body work done on my truck and noticed the odometer no longer worked. The speedometer still registers mph. Is it possible the body shop could disconnect the odometer? I saw evidence that indicated something had been in the bed.

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/2 "2009-08-10T15:51:12Z")

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There’s no way to disconnect the odometer. Only if you remove the speedometer head, take it apart and remove the gear that links the odometer to the speedometer. Try resetting the trip odometer a couple of times to see if that gets the odometer working again. if it doesn’t, then the speedometer head requires replacing.

Tester

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**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/3 "2009-08-10T15:55:14Z")

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The body work and the odometer failure are not related…

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**Author:** ![budman71655](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@budman71655](https://community.cartalk.com/u/budman71655)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/4 "2009-08-17T03:02:22Z")

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Is this something I can do??

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**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/5 "2009-08-17T10:25:40Z")

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Resetting the trip odometer is usually just pushing a button.

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**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/6 "2009-08-17T14:57:55Z")

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It’s not likely at all that anyone would go the trouble of not only some dash disassembly but also diassembly of the instrument cluster to sabotage the odometer to gain a few joyriding miles.

Odometers are driven off the speedometer gears inside the cluster and they’re a bit delicate and cantankerous anyway.

So you have a truck that has never had anything in the bed? Both before and during the collision that led to the truck going to the body shop in the first place?  
It’s more likely that the reason behind the truck going to the body shop is also the reason why the odometer quit. Impact.

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**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/7 "2009-08-17T15:33:05Z")

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If his ranger is from the 90s or newer, then the odometer is not driven by gears from the speedometer, even if it is mechanical in appearance. The mechanical type are/were driven directly by a small computer controlled stepper motor.

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**Author:** ![budman71655](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@budman71655](https://community.cartalk.com/u/budman71655)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/odometer/34832/8 "2009-08-19T14:06:53Z")

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What do I have to do to get the odometer working. It is a 2001 Ford ranger.
