The "Dreaded Asterisk" in the '81 EFI Imperials.
I need to clarify my earlier response to this subject. When these cars were
new, Chrysler furnished each selling dealer with one spare cluster. When the
original cluster failed, they would replace it with another one, (new from
Chrysler), that already had the asterisk showing. The defective one was to
be returned to Chrysler along with the proper paperwork, to verify such
things as build date, service life, the car it was installed in, etc. In all
cases, the replacement had the asterisk built-in and started counting miles
at time of installation; hence the paperwork to show mileage at time of
replacement. Also, I believe this was a federal rather than a state mandate,
to prevent high mileage cars from having lower mileage, when sold. Whether
the public was fully aware of this, and what it was trying to tell them is
quite a question. But on another note, the cluster can be checked by finding
the litte wire with the plunger on the end, turn on the ign, push the
plunger, and enjoy the diagnostic show. It is fun to watch....Bob Harris
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