Conference turris::mechanix_3

    I was reading through my owners manual the other day (96 voyager) and
    came to the part on the odometer (electronic). Besides the speal on
    Federal law and all that, it mentioned that if the odometer reading was
    changed through replacement "or maintenance", you need to report actual
    mileage etc, etc, etc.
    
    My question is, what "maintenace" can be performed that can alter the
    mileage on the odometer. Are electronic odometers somehow changable, or
    can they be electronically disconnected or some such thing so that the
    reading wouldn't be actual.
    
    I'd hate to pick my van up from service and have the guy say "oh by the
    way, from now on, you'll have to keep records of your mileage because
    the odometer reading got changed".

    
        Sure...."maintenence" can cause all sorts of weird things to happen
    to electronic speedometers. Pull the wires from the back and everytime
    you fire a 5 millisecond pulse with a 3V amplitude, you get the numbers
    rolling. A simple 555 timer circuit can completly flip a 100K speedo
    in less than 20 minutes. It looks like a slot machine at warp speed.
    A million mile speedo can be flipped in about 2 hours.
        Of course...No reputable used car salesman would ever do this. ;^/
    
    -john

    Thanks, but I guess I kind of figured you could disconnect it and feed
    it your own special signal. Am I to understand that the wireing
    connection is not tamper proof (such as it was) like the analog
    odometers?
    
    Steve

    
    
      Federal Law makes them tamper proof ;-)
    
    
    
      Actually Federal and state law (in MA) says that if maintenance or
    replacement of the odometer changes the mileage reading, then a label
    must be placed on the drivers side door jam, which documents the
    mileage difference. The dealers all keep records of previous mileage
    when they replace a speedo, to protect themselves when the label
    "disappears".
    
    Jim