KmPH or MPH - What's what????
KmPH or MPH - What's what????
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Original Poster:

53 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Bought an R33 that has a NISMO 320Kph speedo fitted. The speedo needle has been converted to MPH at some point (small MPH white sticker over the Kph original) and appears to read OK when driving around. Does that mean that the odometer now also reads in Miles or is that still reading in Kph? Anyone with knowledge of these conversions who could advise??

NHK244V

3,358 posts

194 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
On my lucida with a MPH converter the trip still reads in KMPH smile

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Original Poster:

53 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Thanks, Be good if mine does to, I have no idea when it was converted so working out the actual mileage could be difficult if its a mixture of KMPH and MPH.

benzito

1,060 posts

181 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
probably still reading kilometres if the only thing that has changed is the addition of a sticker! Surely the previous owner would know and you can ask them,

failing that, just for fun you could do a 10 mile journey (use google map or sat nav to estimate correct distance), if the odometer adds 10 in this journey then its reading miles, if it adds 16 to the clock then its reading kilometres,,

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Original Poster:

53 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
benzito said:
failing that, just for fun you could do a 10 mile journey (use google map or sat nav to estimate correct distance), if the odometer adds 10 in this journey then its reading miles, if it adds 16 to the clock then its reading kilometres,,
Agreed, this is what I was planning to do if nobody has a definitive answer. May do it anyway on the next long run just to confirm either way.

Rich_W

12,548 posts

234 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Chances are that whenever, whoever put the sticker on the dial it "accidentally" lost a few thousand KMs at the same time...

If I was looking at a car with those stickers on, it would actually put me off the car!

littleredrooster

6,124 posts

218 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Have we all been on the silly juice tonight? How on earth can an odometer record Kilometres per hour?

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Original Poster:

53 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Rich_W said:
Chances are that whenever, whoever put the sticker on the dial it "accidentally" lost a few thousand KMs at the same time...

If I was looking at a car with those stickers on, it would actually put me off the car!
Not looking for a lesson in how to buy a used car, just some info on the conversion.

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Original Poster:

53 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
littleredrooster said:
Have we all been on the silly juice tonight? How on earth can an odometer record Kilometres per hour?
Agreed, that should read "miles or kilometres" Doh........

Eighteeteewhy

7,259 posts

190 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Rich_W said:
Chances are that whenever, whoever put the sticker on the dial it "accidentally" lost a few thousand KMs at the same time...

If I was looking at a car with those stickers on, it would actually put me off the car!
Really?

I'm sure it has to read in mph to pass MOT. Plus it makes it a lot easier to know how fast you're going so you don't get friendly letters from pesky scamera vans.

maniac0796

1,292 posts

188 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Is it digital or mechanical, and how has it been changed.

If it's mechanical and they've put a converter in the cable somewhere, then it'll read in miles. If they've just changed the clock face, then it'll still read in kilometers.

As for digital, it depends if it picks it up from the diff or a wheel speed sensor.

nottyash

4,671 posts

217 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Oldandslow

2,405 posts

228 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
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When I fitted the speedo conversion chip to my Legacy the odometer also changed to counting in miles. Fully electronic system not mechanical cable driven.

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Original Poster:

53 posts

172 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
maniac0796 said:
If it's mechanical and they've put a converter in the cable somewhere, then it'll read in miles. If they've just changed the clock face, then it'll still read in kilometers.
Not sure but I'm thinking it's a mechanical one. Car was originally a jap import so read in KPH before NISMO dials fitted. The dial face is standard apart from the single sticker over the original KPH marker. Guess I need someone with a bit more experience of Skylines to confirm if it's mechanical or not.

Lippy Kid

4,479 posts

197 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Profile said:
Not sure but I'm thinking it's a mechanical one. Car was originally a jap import so read in KPH before NISMO dials fitted. The dial face is standard apart from the single sticker over the original KPH marker. Guess I need someone with a bit more experience of Skylines to confirm if it's mechanical or not.
I'm no expert, but AIUI, the speed of the pulsing signal is reduced by the converter, therefore if you're reading MPH when you're driving (i.e, staying with traffic at the same pace in a 30mph zone, for example) then the trip will be recording in MPH too.

Ten Ninety

244 posts

198 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
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My R34 GTR odometer definitely read in miles after the speedo had been converted. I didn't even get a sticker - I just got marker pen over the 'k' so it said 'm/h'! The total odometer reading had also been converted to mileage at the time of the conversion.

On a side note, I recall that contemporary Skyline folklore suggested some mph conversions on imported cars could make HICAS (and possibly ATTESA) systems behave a little strangely because they would 'think' the car was travelling slower than it really was.

maniac0796

1,292 posts

188 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Profile said:
maniac0796 said:
If it's mechanical and they've put a converter in the cable somewhere, then it'll read in miles. If they've just changed the clock face, then it'll still read in kilometers.
Not sure but I'm thinking it's a mechanical one. Car was originally a jap import so read in KPH before NISMO dials fitted. The dial face is standard apart from the single sticker over the original KPH marker. Guess I need someone with a bit more experience of Skylines to confirm if it's mechanical or not.
Well, does the odometer roll over like cars of old or is it a digital display?

D_G

1,891 posts

231 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Profile said:
Not sure but I'm thinking it's a mechanical one. Car was originally a jap import so read in KPH before NISMO dials fitted. The dial face is standard apart from the single sticker over the original KPH marker. Guess I need someone with a bit more experience of Skylines to confirm if it's mechanical or not.
It's actually electronically driven even though it has normal tumblers for the mileage. Your car has a converter which slows the pulses down so the needle and mileage changes into MPH/miles. If you don't have any records you will never find out the true mileage I'm afraid.
The comment about the HICAS is right too, the speedometer outputs to the rest of the car so if this isn't changed then the other speed related systems will get the wrong speed signal.

Rich_W

12,548 posts

234 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Profile said:
Rich_W said:
Chances are that whenever, whoever put the sticker on the dial it "accidentally" lost a few thousand KMs at the same time...

If I was looking at a car with those stickers on, it would actually put me off the car!
Not looking for a lesson in how to buy a used car, just some info on the conversion.
Rightio. Here;s some info for ya. Measure a mile somewhere use another car or Google Earth. Then reset your odo and drive that mile see what the result is.

Bit more proactive than just assuming someone will know the EXACT conversion on your car smile Going from the conversions I've seen. If it's "just" a sticker then most won't have touched the odo

Eighteeteewhy said:
I'm sure it has to read in mph to pass MOT. Plus it makes it a lot easier to know how fast you're going so you don't get friendly letters from pesky scamera vans.
Firstly. No not relevant to the MOT.
Secondly. How hard is it remember 5 numbers?

48,64,80,96,112

biggrin

Edited by Rich_W on Wednesday 28th December 21:17

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

277 months

Wednesday 28th December 2011
quotequote all
Drive it a mile and see what the odometer says...nuts