The odometer on my Pulsar NX has been a lost cause for years. I repaired it back in 2023, sacrificing the sixth digit and resetting it to 100,000, but it eventually quit counting altogether. I've decided I'm done chasing it. Instead of tracking miles I can't measure, I'm going to track engine hours.
The plan was simple: a basic mechanical hour meter that clocks time whenever it sees 12V. No miles, no fuss, just run-time. That's actually a better number for a car like this anyway, since it sits more than it drives and I care more about how long the engine has been running than how far it's gone.
Of course, a meter like this doesn't come with a mounting solution for a 1988 Pulsar, so I fired up the UltiMaker S5 and designed a bracket to hold it. Nothing exotic, just a clean little L-bracket that lets the meter tuck up under the dash near the console where I can still read it.
For power I kept it easy and tapped a spare, open fuse position that's switched on with the ignition. I thought about triggering it off oil pressure or the alternator so it would only count when the engine is actually running, but the truth is the difference is a handful of minutes here and there if the car ever stalls or I sit with the key on. That's an edge case I can live with.
Bracket printed, meter wired, and now sitting at a nice round zero. From here on out, the Pulsar keeps its own time.
