W124 odometer

[2.5Turbo]

I was driving around yesterday and after at least a few miles of my trip odometer saying 511 miles, I figured my odometer had finally bit it . Speedo worked OK, just both odometers were not turning.

Took the cluster out today and pulled the speedometer. I noticed that the shaft with the green plastic gear on the end (the one that engages with the worm gear) had slipped to the left a little and had come off the worm gear. The shaft slipped out of a little hole in the frame of the speedo on the right side of the odometer that keeps it straight. There seems to be nothing keeping it in that hole. Did something come off or is that just how it is? I didn't find anything rattling around in there. For now I figure I'll just slip it back into the hole and hope it doesn't pop out again.

[2.5Turbo]

Well after a bit of fiddling I figured it out. I pushed on the gear/shaft a little harder while the end was in the hole and it popped into the hole and stayed put, centering the green gear over the worm gear. I kind of wonder what made it pop out in the first place...none of the gears look stripped or loose and the odometer wasn't turning over an ungodly amount of numbers (stopped at 123833 with the trip odo at 511.x).

[babymog]

Not a permanent fix, it will probably stop again in ~1000miles.
BTDT.

[a2t]

my trip and odo quit working a while ago (at 288k)

is there a step by step on here somewhere for repairing 124 cluster odo ?

[2.5Turbo]

Originally Posted by babymog

Not a permanent fix, it will probably stop again in ~1000miles.
BTDT.

We'll see...hopefully not. Drove all over the place today and put about 150 miles on and it's still going. The upside is I can pull the cluster, pop the shaft back in and have the cluster back in there in 20 minutes now

Originally Posted by a2t

my trip and odo quit working a while ago (at 288k)

is there a step by step on here somewhere for repairing 124 cluster odo ?

I found that the 123 DIY page on dieselgiant sort of works for the 124. The odometer mechanicals seem to be very similar.

[a2t]

http://www.dieselgiant.com/repairyourodometer.htm

Thanks, looks like a chore though!

[rocketboy52]

2.5, Thats wierd, my 1991 300D 2.5 turbo just had the Odometer freeze. I typically reset the trip odometer on each tank fill up, and last time I filled up and reset the trip Odometer, it froze and now niether odometers are spinning. Hopefully I'll be able to fix it the same way you did.

[babymog]

Welcome to the world of '80s & '90s VDO odometers, ... the justification for electronic/digital odometers.

Funny thing about nylon/PA6 and time, tends to keep drying/shrinking until it cracks.

[Pooka]

I just wanted to add to the last post that all VDO ods from this era seem to do the same thing for the same reason: That little gear. I had an Audi and several Mercedes do the same thing.

[ah-kay]

I had the same problem with my 190D project car. The shaft moved and slipped off the hole on one side. It can be pushed back in but it is not a permanent fix. I screwed a piece of flex metal strip on the other side to stop the shaft from moving sideway. I put a dash of grease on the metal such that the shaft will rotate smoothly. It has to be a very small screw and it will fit between a crack near the shaft. I also put some JB weld down to stop the metel strip from moving up/down. I did not take any picture unfortunately. It has been working great.

[2.5Turbo]

An update...

It worked for a while and then did the same thing. I decided to take it into a speedo shop to see what they could do. One rebuild kit later and it works and looks like new. I never knew how dirty the number wheels had gotten until I saw the finished product!

[a2t]

how much? pics ?

I should do this..oh wait Im sposed to be selling it and keeping 126...second thoughts abound...

[gerkebi]

Common problem, and why you can never really trust the mileage on 124's. When mine did this I JB Welded a metal flange across the two ridges on either side of the little gear. This keeps pressure on the gear to keep the pin in the hole. Works fine.

Disconnect the battery before you pull the binnacle. I shorted something out on the circuit board that made the oil pressure gauge dead and the tach goofy. I had to locate another board and swap them out. PITA.

[matthias08]

when i purchased my '87 300D, the dash had been pulled out (assuming to fix the odo, it worked when i purchased it) but the dash wasn't all the way in..


so i pushed it in, knowing i have the MB dash repair kit in the trunk..


and now i have time to fix it again, trip odo sticks at xxx.x9 every 20 or so miles ( but works fine 40 degrees or below?!)

how in the world do you get it out?

and anyone else experience a randomly working odo?

[babymog]

Originally Posted by gerkebi

Common problem, and why you can never really trust the mileage on 124's.

As a couple of us mentioned above, it's not the 124, it's also 126, 123, Porsche, VW, Audi, Volvo, ... anything with a mechanical odometer that says VDO on it.