just finished going thru the clock on my 65 rivi.got it working but it stops for about 15 min. and restarts again.i cleaned every thing up and freed the gears up with small amounts of wd40. the only thing i didnt do was clean the points.they looked a liitle too worn down so i didnt want to take any more metal off the contact surfaces.they didnt appear oxidized . anyone got any experience working on these?

Is the clock in the car and wired to the printed circuit board? If not, 15 minutes is all you'll get out of one winding of the main spring. The clock is a mechanical clock that runs off a main spring just like your grandpa's pocket watch. The only difference is that the spring is wound with an electrical contact. When the spring runs down, contact is made and instantaneously the spring is wound again. Once the spring is wound, there is no electrical contact until the sping runs down again. SO, if you're bench testing it, 15 minutes is a good deal. If it's installed, look at the fuse panel and/or check the continuity of your printed circuit.

Ed

ed you were rihgt on!after further invetigation, i found that i had a weak electrical connection.i corrected the problem and the clock has been working perfectly for the past 18 hrs.im truly amazed at all the workmanship and machining that went into cars back then and all saying made in u.s.a! thanks for your help ed. arnulfo

How did you get the clock out? Do you need to take out the entire dash or can it be removed from the front?
Thanks!

@bob: it's quite easy to get the clock out of the dashboard. grab the clock on the outer ring and turn it gently but firm anti-clockwise until it will not turn any further. the pull the clock out ... but take care of the connector. the clock in the rivi i used to own worked perfectly but had some problems with the ground which is supplied through the clock case (i had no better guess).

Okay, I'm looking for something more complex..... how do you grip it....it seems to be in there pretty good

I got it out.... thanks again... it will work for about 4-5 minutes and then die...it looks quite clean
Cheers!
Bob

Bob,

That's the way it's supposed to work. A quick 12V electrical charge winds a main spring, then the clock runs off the main spring until it runs down. When it runs down far enough, another quick zap of 12V and the mainspring winds again. If it's not working in the car, then either you're not getting 12V to the clock (check the fuse) or there's a bad ground.

There are quartz conversions on the market if you'd want to "update" to something more modern.

Ed

Thanks Ed. When testing on a bench direct to a battery, there are 2 posts on the back. Are they both positive? If so, do I ground it to the body surrounding the clock?

Thanks!
Bob

If you want a clock that works and keeps correct time - convert it to quartz or have it converted . The part that you see is not changed . I use a company called instrument services . Good Luck , Dick

Bob,

The terminal that's insulated is the + terminal, it gets the 12V supply. The terminal rivited to the body is the ground. Because the housing is plastic, the clock needs a dedicated ground.

Ed

Thank you! I appreciate your help

I used the same kit from Instrument Services. The conversion is a fun little kitchen table project, and quite easy. I think the quartz mechanisms are more accurate, however for clocks with sweep second hands, you loose the "tick, tick, tick" motion of the second hand.
Instead, you get a smooth sweep motion - if that is important to you....

alex
roa 11550

Thanks guys. I guess I'd like to try to keep it as original as possible, but some things are best updated.

Thanks again!

The clocks on these cars are self adjusting when they're running. If you have to keep setting it forward to keep time, the mechanism will adjust and make it run a littel faster; if you need to keep setting it back, everytime you set it back, it slows it down a hair. Pretty soon, you'll be right on time, unless you battery goes down and you have to do a bunch of "catching up."

Ed

Ok,
I have been following this thread and now have my clock out and apart to the point where I can see the guts.

I have figured out how to wind the clock so the points are wide open but the balance wheel does not move at all by itsself. If I give it a gentl helping hand it will move for a few seconds but then stop.

I also have tried to adjust the time using the stem but it is very hard. The guts look clean, but if I was a guessing man, I would say that it is frozen, dirty or something like that.

Any ideas on what I need to do to fix this ?

the clock i had in my 65 rivi was also "frozen". i sprayed the clock interior with WD40 until everything was running smooth ... and that worked.

Got some Elecrical cleaner and spayed the hack out of my clock and then put a small amount of oil on it.

It has been running for 3 hours now and keeping time.

Mine rewinds itself ever 2 1/2 minutes though not 15.

My clock is still inconsistent. It is out of the car and wired directly to a battery and sometimes it runs for 30 minutes and sometimes for 3 minutes.... I think the points might be too worn down... is there a place that has these points? Instrument Services does not repair the points.

I was going to try Clockworks up in Wisconsin. According to him, qucik service and reasonable prices.

Check out http://www.clockwks.com/The_Clock_Worx.html

Mine was still on time this morning, so it goes back in the dash this evening.

bob , i cleaned the points on mine with some fine grit emery cloth.put the cloth between the points and move it back and forth just a couple of times .you dont want to take too much metal off.turn the cloth over and do the same on the other point surface. make sure whatever it is you are using to test has good solid electrical connections.i almost gave up on mine because it was inconsistent also but found out it was a bad connection.i used a battery charger on trickle charge to test mine.left it on for 24hrs.,i even sat there for about 1 hr. watching it reset to see if i could spot any problems.i also used wd40 for lubrication.its been working perfect since i put it back in on4/14/08.these clocks are a work of art,american made, and in my opinion every effort should be made to keep them original.by the way,by working "perfect " i mean working consistently within 6min. accuracy.

The timimg of these clocks can be adjusted as follows, if it is running fast, turn the time back one full revolution this will slow it down, repeat until it is running on time, do the opposite if it is running too slow.
Eric.

Thanks all... I took it to a family friend who has been repairing clocks of all types for several years....he emailed me today that he had lubed & cleaned the contacts and it has been running well for several hours...I have 12+ volts out to the connections so when I get it back into the car, it should work.
Thanks again!

Hi-Was reading the thread and was able to remove my clock. Can't seem to get to the guts of it though. How to do that? Do I some way remove the time set stem and then the face or does the case come off? Thanks for any help.

Hold the stem with a pair of needle nose very carefully and the knob will come off counterclockwise.

Take the obvious stuff off the rear and the rear case will slip off.