Peugeot mileometer repair

The mileometer (odometer for US readers) on my Peugeot stopped working, or at least that is how it appeared. Normally when the ignition is turned on, the thing lights up showing how many miles to go until the next service. Then the display changes to give you either total miles covered by the car or the trip mileage. In front of me the display was blank.

OK, you say, it's an old (10 years) car so you expect stuff to break. Live with it and shut up.

Well it's the youngest car I've ever owned and the MOT man expects to look at the total mileage later in the year, so it's not like this thing is a luxury. Besides, it's a fault and right in my face every time I drive. That makes me want to fix it.

Time spent on Peugeot forums revealed that the LCD display doesn't work quite how I expected. The LCD bit acts like a mask and behind this is a bulb to show the display. If all is dark, shining a bright torch at an oblique angle reveals the numbers, just don't try this while driving !

So my guess (hope) wast that all I had was a duff bulb. A trip to Halfords later I had two internal bulbs which looked a bit big but according to the chart in the shop, would do. Back on the drive, I opened up Haynes and started work.

First job, prize off the plastic cover above the steering column. A flat bladed screwdriver inserted into the gap at the bottom left and right seems to work well. If you don't have a gap, push the plastic pod up a bit and you'll get enough space for the tool. A gentle tweak was enough to release it for me. If you struggle then something is wrong. I was surprised how easy it was to remove quite a big chunk of interior.

The book tells you to undo the negative side of the battery. I did and regretted it as the radio lost it's code and I'm now trying to work out what it is. A biro note in the manual isn't right so I'm searching the web for help on this. I think you will be OK because although you need to release the instruments for access, they can stay plugged in.

Anyway, to get access to the back of the instruments, you unto the single star bolt at the top. T20 screwdriver I think for this. Then a little wiggle and it unclips.

Crane your neck (a mirror is handy but not essential) around the back and the rear of the bulbs are revealed. Each can be removed by rotating 90 degrees with your fingers. The bulb and plastic casing will just fall out. At this point I discovered I had the wrong bulbs and had to put it all back together to go and get more.

From the Halfords range, code number 509T will work. It's not perfect, the gap between the contacts on each side benefit from a tiny amount of squashing to close it up. This means the unit locks back positively onto the instruments. Without this they wobble - probably OK but it might flicker as you drive.

Reassembly is the reverse of the above. Clip the instruments in at the bottom and then the top. Do the bolt and test the car. Turn the ignition key to A and the mileometer should, if it's behaving like mine, light up. If that is OK, clip the pod back on and go and have a cup of tea. If not, twiddle the bulb in case you have a lose contact.

Good luck.

Legal note: This is an accurate description of what I did. If you chose to follow these instructions and things don't work, it's not my fault. Sorry.