Gas tanks curing in the sun

BARNEY’S JOURNAL

March 3, 2007: Another diversion, how to take apart a speedometer

This is dedicated to Andrew at USED MOTORCYCLE JETSKI PWC PARTS at eBay. He asked how do you get an S90 speedometer apart?

Since I needed a gasket between the glass and trim on Barney (see 3rd from the bottom picture on 2/9/2007 page), I bought this really beat up one on eBay to "experiment on". Maybe I can get the gasket out of it and use it in mine?

The dirt is on the inside. The outside is clean!

This is the speedometer as I received it. I cleaned the glass, so the dirt is inside the speedometer. I wonder how that happened?

Lever the flange in with a straight slot screwdriver.

This is how you get the outer trim off. Just hold the flange in with a screwdriver so that the trim can pass over it.

Slowly and patiently unwrap the final trim from behind. Concentrate across the top and just around the sides to 3 and 9 o'clock as it were, but loosen all the way around.

When the lip is almost parallel to the body, the trim can clear it.

So this is what is inside

We see the unit finally. Rusted up gears. Don't think this odometer will work again. But you never know? The speedometer part is OK, but I don't think the input where the cable goes in can turn, because the gears are so rusted.

two gaskets, one on each side of the glass - inside metal combination

There are two gaskets (at least), one on each side of the glass-metal outline combination. The inside gasket is petrified, cracked, and was all over the face of the speedometer. There is another gasket in between, that I can't get to yet. I still can't move the glass up and down the trim. That is the gasket I am trying to examine, since it is what I need for my speedometer.

This is what the speedometer sees! Not much of interest here. Except, how did the moisture, dirt, etc. get inside?

A bottom view. The first worm and roller look pretty rusted stuck. I can't turn the input at all.

Can't see too much in this shot from above.

a closer view, note the rust on the digits!

Now how do you get rust on those digits?

finally we see the face

A lot of sand on the face! Also we see the final numbers finally, it last moved at 5100.05 miles!

You can't see it, but there are two screws holding the face on. One has to get the needle off, first.

So this is the result so far. Next step is to try and separate the glass from the inside metal plate. Remove face plate and try to free up the odometer gears. To be continued...