Step by step guide on how an automotive odometer works, this information pertains to all motor vehicles.
Step 1 - A vehicle's odometer is a measuring device used to inform the driver on the number of miles a particular vehicle has been driving, this meter is directly related to the speedometer.
Step 2 - Collectively the speedometer and odometer
gather data from the vehicle BCM which produces a signal that is then recorded by
the odometer. A vehicle speed sensor or VSS is located inside or bolted to the transmission
and senses the speed of rotation of the final drive gear.
Helpful Information The odometer is equipped with a trip meter call a trip odometer that allows the
user to check the mileage of any particular distance separate from the main odometer.
The odometer can also be reset. Odometer Fraud One of the most common automotive scams involves the odometer. By rolling back the mileage a buyer can be tricked into thinking there
are fewer miles on the vehicle than actually are, the following are some tips when
dealing with a car that might have the odometer rolled back: History The odometer has invented around 27 BC. by Vitruvius, a Roman writer and architect.
This first odometer was a chariot wheel four feet in diameter, turning 400 times
for one Roman mile using a 400 tooth cogwheel that turned once each mile. This cogwheel
engaged another wheel that dropped pebbles one by one into a box. The distance traveled
would be measured by counting the pebbles at the end of the trip. Odometers have
also been used by the ancient Chinese, Alexander the Great and even Benjamin Franklin.
Modern inventors like William Clayton created modern-day odometers that used separate
gears which control each digit.