Resetting New Hour Meter

[CEC W4]

I am replacing the instrument cluster on my BX 25. Is there a way to bring the zero hours up to the current hours? Dealer will not discuss for liability reasons. I want the meter to show the honest hours of 1000.

Ron

 

[Shawn T. W]

Just a guess ... But, I'd think it just runs on 12 volts ... I believe if that's right, just leave your key on, but engine not running ...

Plug in your battery tender, check back in a month or so ...

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Just a guess ... But, I'd think it just runs on 12 volts ... I believe if that's right, just leave your key on, but engine not running ...

Plug in your battery tender, check back in a month or so ...

good idea would love to know if keeping the cluster powered up qould work.

Kubota kinda makes them tamper resistant unless you own the dealer software. At auctions sometimes I see labels on gauge packages listing date and time it was replaced

 

[TheOldHokie]

I dont know thar there is any legal issue here. For over the road vehicles falsifying mileage is a crime and the law requires:

1. If possible the new meter should be set to actual mileage
2. If not possible the new meter should be set to zero and a sticker showing mileage at replacement must be affixed
3. If true mileage is not known a True Mileage Unknown (TMU) sticker must be affixed.

I know the odometer (e.g. ECU) on my BMWs can be set to true mileage using factory software/hardware. Not sure about my Ram 1500. For a tractor the "sticker" approach seems more than reasonable.

Dan

PS> When I sold ny B7200 I told the buyer the 3.1 digit manual hour counter had rolled over at least twice and had been out of service at times. He had no concerns....

 

[Shawn T. W]

good idea would love to know if keeping the cluster powered up qould work.

I'm not home right now ... But would take less than 7 minutes to find out if I was ...

 

[BX25D Rookie]

If your BX 25 is like my BX 25 and BX 2370, a signal wire routed from the alternator runs to the instrument cluster. That signal wire is in the large connector that plugs in the rear side of the cluster.
Once that signal wire circuit is inside the instrument cluster, it splits and runs to several places.
1. The hour meter.
2. The tachometer.

I'm not a Dealer Technician and may be wrong, but I don't believe there is any way to do what you want and set the hour meter for ~ 1000 hours.
I just went thru a Dealership instrument cluster replacement on a used BX machine I bought about a year ago. I had to print out the workshop manual diagnosis steps and the schematics, and have a few conversations with the Service Manager, along with some hand holding.
This particular Dealership, they couldn't diagnose electrical problems at all.
The had "parts changer" Technicians.

In my case, the hour meter worked, and the tachometer did not.

My Kubota Dealership replaced new instrument cluster said something like 0.3 hours upon delivery.
BX machines don't have an ECU that can be reprogrammed.
The closest thing to a ECU in a BX machine is the instrument cluster itself.
BTW, IF you can figure out a way to easily set the hour meter, I would like to do that on my BX 2370 so the hour meter actually matches the known machine hours.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Oh, my machine did not have a sticker showing the hours on the original instrument cluster,
or that the cluster had been replaced.
I saw the original hours on the cluster before it was replaced, also I had photos from the Dealership website showing the original hour meter.

 

[GeoHorn]

When I installed a replacement hour-meter on my (non Kubota) lawn tractor…. I just used jumpers to connect it to a 12V power supply for a couple days. As it got close to being correct I had to watch it like a Hawk one day….but I guess I could have put the power supply on a timer.

 

[Old Machinist]

You could hot wire the meter to a battery or power supply for 41 days But it would probably have to be removed from the panel. Also not sure if one would survive being powered on non stop for that long.

I recently replaced an hour meter in one of my John Deere displays. It gets power in the tractor through the tach so just turning on the key won't do it. The meter itself had 4 legs labeled P, N, R, and I. P was power, N was ground, I was for input, and R was a reset. On the bench I had to apply power to the P and I terminals and a ground to the N.

The hour meter in your BX may be completely different and none of that would apply unless you desoldered it from the panel.

 

[whitetiger]

You could hot wire the meter to a battery or power supply for 41 days But it would probably have to be removed from the panel. Also not sure if one would survive being powered on non stop for that long.

I recently replaced an hour meter in one of my John Deere displays. It gets power in the tractor through the tach so just turning on the key won't do it. The meter itself had 4 legs labeled P, N, R, and I. P was power, N was ground, I was for input, and R was a reset. On the bench I had to apply power to the P and I terminals and a ground to the N.

The hour meter in your BX may be completely different and none of that would apply unless you desoldered it from the panel.

The BX25 would need power to the I terminal, also as it only clocks time while the alternator is charging.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Had a look at the wiring for a BX25 ,shows 'tach/hours' meter connected to alternator ,so similar to my BX23s.
yes, you can set the hours. Any electronics tech can do it
need to supply the panel with +12, ground and then use a frequency generator(FG) supplying 12v pulses to wire from the 'alternator' . The 'trick' is to use a low enough frequency so you don't go HIGHER the hours number you want. In the good old days, I'd use line power (60 Hz) to calibrate the analog tachometers I made for my Mustangs. Should take maybe an hour or two. Just be sure to stop BEFORE you get to the hours you want !

 

[Runs With Scissors]

If I recall correctly,

In a time long, long ago, and a land far, far away…….the auto dealer I worked for had to replace a dashboard for some reason.

They had to send it to “Chrysler” then they sent a new one back that had the correct mileage on it.

But I doubt tractors receive the same “scrutiny” that cars do.

I would want to have the correct hours on mine as well, but when my tach cable broke, I put about 10 hours on it before I had it replaced under warranty…..

They simply replaced the cable, and sent me on my way. ………..No muss, so fuss…...

So now I have to remember to “add 10 hours” on my machine.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Early car electronic dashes had a separate memory chip for the odometer number. Had to get a 'certified' tech to remove old one, program the new one and install that. Real common at the boarder ( USA <> CAN swaps ) to change MPH to KmH and vice versa....
Now the 'odometer reading' is inside the CPU ( brains), so they go through the OBD-II port to change them.
Since tractor's dash is similar to new cars, dealer 'should' be able to do the same...connect to OBD-II port and change the memory location where the odometer reading is. Similar to the 'new injector data they have to enter.

 

[skeets]

Dont worry about it if you sell it just tell the buyer you replaced it and there another 1000 hours on it

 

[TheOldHokie]

Dont worry about it if you sell it just tell the buyer you replaced it and there another 1000 hours on it

Too simple

 

[skeets]

If I recall correctly,

In a time long, long ago, and a land far, far away…….the auto dealer I worked for had to replace a dashboard for some reason.

They had to send it to “Chrysler” then they sent a new one back that had the correct mileage on it.

But I doubt tractors receive the same “scrutiny” that cars do.

I would want to have the correct hours on mine as well, but when my tach cable broke, I put about 10 hours on it before I had it replaced under warranty…..

They simply replaced the cable, and sent me on my way. ………..No muss, so fuss…...

So now I have to remember to “add 10 hours” on my machine.

MY old Silverado dash went tits up like that too, at 70 mph it showed 15. They needed the mileage from the last inspection because everything went away. And 2 weeks later they put in another cluster, new used or rebuilt I dont know, but it worked.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

If I recall correctly,
.....
So now I have to remember to “add 10 hours” on my machine.

Ahhh, now waitaminute!

"If I recall correctly"... This is a big if. It could have been 9.8 hours. Or 10.1 hours! Shocking!

If you try to sell this tractor now and tell the new owner "to add 10 hours" you would not be telling the truth and hence an enterprising lawyer might detect faults in your selling transaction!

 

[GeoHorn]

I went to a Lot of Trouble to install hour-meters on a couple portable generators I own. Find a suitable location…. disassemble…wire it…. drill mounts…. install…. Only to find that a couple years later I never used it for the intended purpose of establishing oil-change/service intervals and record-keeping.
I had planned to perform oil changes at 25-hr intervals…. but after two years…. I changed it at only 8 hrs due to simple age on one of them…and after 14 hrs on another after 3 years. Obviously they SIT a lot.
I bought another portable gen to put out at the water-well-house for emergencies….and was about to engineer yet-another hourmeter installation….. when I came to my senses and decided I’ll just put it on a Calendar interval instead. Why? Because ….(I’m late 70’s) …. after another ten years or so ….I likely won’t even be around …. and it’ll be someone else’s problem.. They‘ll have the spiral notebook maintenance record I keep on EveryThing….and that’ll be all that’s needed.

These “Chonda” generators may not even be worth having after I’m finished with them, regardless of the fact they’ll likely Still Have less than 100 hrs on them.

KISS