Last week I sent my gauge pod to Southern Electronics in Richmond VA for odometer repair. The person I spoke with prior to sending it recommended that I send the whole pod as that would "protect the gauges" during shipment. This sounded sensible so I took his advice. Yesterday my gauge pod came back to me broken. The box showed no damage and there were no abuse marks on it. However, my gauge pod now has a big crack in it. I called Southern Electronics and got absolutely no satisfaction. Their only response was to deny responsibility and simply blame it on UPS. Based on the condition of the carton and the amount of bubble wrap that was around the pod, I don't believe UPS was responsible. If I was to make a guess, I would suspect that the bubble wrap was pulled so tight that it actually caused the crack. Next, I am going to get some good epoxy and hopefully be able to repair this myself. I don't know what other companies are out there that do this type of repair, but my experience with Southern Electronics has not been a good one. I believe I would much rather have my odometer not working than have my gauge pod broken. Should I have this type of problem again, I will only send the piece that needs to be repaired and I will definitely look for another source to make the repair.

 

good update. I've had limited experience with them- $200 to rebuild my speedo/ odo assmebly, and I can get used complete gauge clusters for $50 all day long at local junkyards. So the miles dont match up, my trucks are mileage exempt anyway.

I did buy some gears from them, and they came to me unbroken. I may have a case if the epoxy doesnt work out for you.

Daniel

 

I appreciate the offer Daniel. It looks like I had pretty good luck with the epoxy though. With the crack being new and fresh it was clean. I used some 60 grit emery cloth and scuffed the area on both sides of the crack then put the epoxy to it. From all indications it appears that it's going to hold. The speedometer work cost me $205, then I had to fix the darn thing after I got it back... that's what jerks my chain. Thanks again for the offer... I'll let you know if the epoxy fails on me.

 

i bought a speedo for an older camaro once, and was able to roll the dials to adjust the mileage to zero, since the car was a complete rebuilt and exempt also. dont see why you couldnt roll another speedo to match the original's mileage. that's a pretty honest thing to do, i would think.

 

I'd be willing to blame it on UPS, they seem able to destroy pretty much anything.

 

If the carton showed any sign of mishandling, I could look in that direction, but this time I just don't believe UPS to be the culprit. What has me concerned now is the fact that I haven't installed the gauges back in the truck yet. I don't even know if they will work properly. Nasty wet weather blowing in now so I'll probably wait a few days as the weatherman says it's going to warm up again. I'll do another post once I get the gauges in and let y'all know if they work or not.

 

The shipper has insurance automatically for $100.00 through UPS so have them file a claim for the 100.00 and buy yourself another case and put your gauges into it.

 

next time put the gears in yourself. it's only 10 screws to take the thing apart. the smaller gear just slides in. the larger gear is a little harder but definately not bad. they are proud of them, $50 to get both of them, but that's better than continuing to spend $50 a pop for a new (old) cluster from a yard. i bought that and it worked for a month then broke... and it was only showing 40ish thousand miles. mileage doesn't seem kill the gears age does.

 

The newer ones (92.5-93) have a motor driven setup that eliminates the crack-proned gears. The motor in my one is bad.

DP

 

learn something every day!

 

The weather today was sunny and 70 so I reinstalled the odometer and put the dash back together. The epoxy took well to the plastic pod and it seems as good as before it was cracked... just a cosmetic difference that is well hidden behind the bezel. While I had the bezel off I repaired a few other questionable items. All in all the job went very well and I am quite pleased with the final outcome. Everything works!

Contrary to my earlier statement, I would probably use Southern Electronics again as the work they did does appear to be of very good quality and the turn-around time was more than satisfactory. The cracked pod was the only problem encountered and I have no way of being absolutely certain that it didn't get cracked during shipment.

To anyone considering sending gauges, etc. off for repair I will suggest the following based on what I wish I had done, and what I will definitely do in the future should the need arise...

1. Regardless of what the repair service recommends, do not send anything more than the particular item to be repaired. If the odometer is broken, remove the odometer and send it... don't send the whole gauge pod.

2. Carefully pack and pad the item in a suitable box, then pack and pad that box inside another... just as a precaution. The shipping won't be that much more.

Hope this is helpful!