[s-cars] Can dealer chage mileage on a used instrument cluster?

[Lee Levitt]

Back when I was driving Volvos, I got my hands on a Canadian 
speedo head that read only in KM. As my car was gradually taking 
on the appearance of a European car (big euro lamps, wiper 
washers, etc), I figured this would be a good addition.

I took the speedo to a gauge shop and had them roll the mileage 
(kilometerage?) forward to match the miles that were on the speedo 
coming out of the car.

I watched the guy do the work...a quick poke of a screwdriver to 
separate the wheels and an application of thumb to select the 
digits.

I asked if I was the only one rolling an odometer *forward*. He 
mentioned that he had a regular base of customers coming in every 
month for the same process - mostly outside sales people with 
mileage quotas.

When I sold that car, an '85 740 turbo, and replaced it with an 
'88 740 turbo, I put the original speedo back in, after adjusting 
the odometer to match the correct mileage, and then adjusting the 
Canadian speedo head before installing it in the new car.

Things were a lot simpler then :)

Lee


On Mon Jul 25 08:54:42 PDT 2005, Bruce Mendel 
<brucem105 at comcast.net> wrote:

> forwards, backwards, whatever you want. you type in on a numeric 
> keypad what
> you want the mileage to say, and it programs the EPROM in the 
> cluster to
> read out that mileage.
> 
> that's why i check my used cars that i buy VERY 
> carefully...looking at
> carfax, dealer service history, DMV, pedal covers, etc. it's a 
> hundred times
> easier to rollback a digital cluster than a mechanical one.
> 
> i have witnessed someone loosen the steering column on a ferrari 
> 360 modena,
> remove the cluster, desolder the PROM, attach it to a chip 
> reader, roll it
> back, and reassemble. VERY scary. They only it back 5 miles, just 
> to prove
> the concept, but it can be done easily enough.
> 
> B
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "northrup" 
> <northrup at crazybug.com>
> To: "Bruce Mendel" <brucem105 at comcast.net>
> Cc: "Dave Ellis" <UrS4 at sympatico.ca>; "Tony Curran"
> <tony.curran at sympatico.ca>; "S-Car-List at Audifans.Com"
> <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 11:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Can dealer chage mileage on a used 
> instrument cluster?
> 
> 
>> have you seen one that allows a rewind?  VAG com etc, will allow 
>> you to
>> forward the odometer.  I belive it can also only do this once, 
>> but that
>> may not be true.   I never tried it.
>> 
>> -- On Mon, 25 Jul 2005, Bruce Mendel wrote:
>> 
>> > It may be true from the dealer, but there are tools that can 
>> set a
> digital
>> > odometer to any mileage you desire. I've seen one in use...it's
>> > jaw-dropping, takes less time than setting the clock.
>> >
>> > Bruce
>> > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dave Ellis" 
>> <UrS4 at sympatico.ca>
>> > To: "Tony Curran" <tony.curran at sympatico.ca>
>> > Cc: "S-Car-List at Audifans.Com" <s-car-list at audifans.com>
>> > Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 10:52 AM
>> > Subject: Re: [s-cars] Can dealer chage mileage on a used 
>> instrument
> cluster?
>> >
>> >
>> > >
>> > > Hey Tony!
>> > >
>> > > If I recall correctly the only time an adjustment can be 
>> made to the
>> > > odometer is with a brand new cluster with electronic 
>> odometer with
> less
>> > > than 100kms on it, in which case the odometer may be rolled 
>> forward
> once
>> > > and only once using a VAG-COM or like tool.
>> > >
>> > > I don't know about the clusters that use a mechanical 
>> odometer, but I
>> > > suspect they may not be easily adjustable.
>> > >
>> > > Which do you have in your S6 - mechanical or electronic 
>> odometer?
>> > > -Dave
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Tony Curran wrote:
>> > >
>> > > >My dealer is telling me they can not change the mileage on 
>> a used
>> > instrument
>> > > >cluster. Once mileage is in it is burned.
>> > > >
>> > > >Is this true?
>> > > >
>> > > >TIA.
>> > > >
>> > > >Tony
>> > > >96 S6
>> > > >
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
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>> > > S-CAR-List at audifans.com
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>> > >
>> >
>> >
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>> 
>> 
> 
> 
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