The Outside Line

Jul 2, 2008 - Odometer oddity

On Friday, June 20, 2008, an odd thing happened to my car's odometer.  Its backlight (see the lower right corner of the photo above) stopped working!  My thoughts ranged from, "<sarcasm>Great</sarcasm>.  Now I'll have to spend more money on the car.  Replacing this will be a pain, too, because the replacement instrument cluster will have to be turned to my car's current mileage," to "Upgrade time! :o)" after thinking a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi instrument cluster (seen below) retrofit could work.  The problem with retrofitting a STi instrument cluster is that my car doesn't have the driver-controlled center differential (DCCD) or an outside temperature sensor.  Retrofitting the STi cluster would require modifying the cluster itself to make it work well with my car and getting it turned to my car's mileage.

I don't know what caused the odometer backlight to go out.  My car's left side headlight bulb went out the previous night.  Perhaps that had something to do with it.  I replaced both headlight bulbs with European-spec Philips Vision Plus +50 H1 headlight bulbs (which are amazing by the way - I'd say their light output is better than the Euro-spec Osram Silverstar bulbs) on Saturday morning.  I took the car for a quick spin to Wal-Mart and back on Saturday afternoon, but didn't notice if the odometer backlight was on or not (it should be on anytime the ignition is in the on position).  It wasn't until I was leaving church on Sunday afternoon that I noticed the odometer backlight was fully functional again.  Seeing it illuminated again was a relief! :o)

For kicks, here's a shot of my car's instrument cluster using my camera's nightvision mode and flash.  That's right, folks!  With it, I can see you, but you might not be able to see me! j/k

6:56 am | Categories: subaru, impreza, wrx, sti Permalink | Alert Administrator

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