I have just inherited this truck from a relative. This is a 1997 Ford F150 with less than 20000 miles. I drove the truck last year and the odometer was working fine. It is not a digital odometer as well as the trip odometer. It seems to start working for a while and then quits. Then a few miles later it starts up again. Ford has told me I need a new gauge cluster but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what did they do. $375 for a cluster and about $100 to install is a bit much for a thirteen year old truck.

 

It's a common problem for 97. A small plastic worm gear is worn out. It sits behind the dash board. Once you get the instrument cluster out, you will see the gear right underneath the trip meter. It cost me less than $10 for a replacement gear and probably one or two hours of labor. A DIY by all means.

 

Heh, I wondered about that. My 97 is notorious for not clocking mileage correctly. How would I find this part on ebay? not even sure where to begin the search!

 

As far as I remember, I started calling places and was told to call an auto ac shop. They had a plastic gear fabricator. I told them what I needed and they knew what I was talking about. I would have never found the place by myself. My suggestion is to get the phone book out and start calling. You may find a kind soul who knows where to send you to.

 

im having the same problem!