Another W123 Odometer Repair Question-LUBRICATION - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

fruitmeister420 · #1 08-27-2013, 05:15 PM

Search has not been able to answer my question, so here goes.
I got the instrument cluster out of my 83 300D, and I am attempting to follow Diesel Giants repair of the slipping pot metal gear.I removed the shaft and dimpled it a bit where the gear rides. and it seemed to be working until it tried to flip the 100's digit. at that point things got real tight and the pot metal gear started spinning on the shaft again. I'm planning to pull the shaft again and get a little bit more aggressive with the dimples. But the tightness in the gears worries me. Is it recommended to lubricate the gear sets with some sort of grease? Vaseline? white Lithium? wheel bearing grease? Or is it not a good idea? If lubrication is recommended exactly where would I put it?
I really don't want to have to pull this out again in 6 months, and want to get it right the first time.
Thanks

toomany MBZ · #2 08-27-2013, 05:28 PM

NO!

Lubricant will "melt" the plastic gears.

cooljjay · #3 08-27-2013, 05:59 PM

Your best bet is to go find a working one at the junkyard or buy a working one off eBay....I have tried his trick on both my cars....but it never worked....I simply went and found a working one and then set the numbers to match mine....a whole cluster at pick n pull is only 30$ if I remember correctly...

fruitmeister420 · #4 08-27-2013, 07:39 PM

I pulled the shaft out again and gave it a few good squeezes with a needle nose vice grips, I was worried that I was being too aggressive , but after popping it back in place , things worked a lot better. It now spins the numbers around nicely , with only a little bit of resistance when flipping the next level up. ie the next power of 10. I rolled it through several hundred miles by hand with out a glitch, so now the fun part comes, putting the instrument panel back in place.

charmalu · #5 08-27-2013, 07:59 PM

Don`t be afraid to clamp down with your VG. I did the 150mph one in my 240D. I put some good ridges in the shaft for the pot metal gear to get a grip. If you get it right, you will never have another problem with it.

Don`t lube the number wheels, they don`t need it.

The 2 long shaft white gears have some sort of grease on them from the factory, not sure what type it is.

If you get your mileage off, or get one from PNP. the shaft on top with the grey cogs, file off the sides of the shaft where it has been flattened, then pull out the shaft and cogs. start on the right side and set each numbered wheel, slide on a cog, then number wheel etc... when you get it all on and lined up, you will need something now to hold the shaft.

I stripped off a short piece of small wire insulation, then slipped it onto the shaft. It fits tight and holds the shaft. the shaft doesn`t spin, it just holds the cogs as they flip when a number wheel is ready to turn. It has held up good now for several thousand miles and don`t see any problem with it coming off.

The Trip and Odometer are run by the gears, the spedo needle is run by a magnet spinning.

Charlie

Phillytwotank · #6 08-27-2013, 08:13 PM

After you chomp down on the shaft you can put a little glue between the potmetal gear and the shaft for extra hold. I did!

ROLLGUY · #7 08-28-2013, 07:32 PM

The last one I did, I didn't even pull the shaft all the way out. I just pulled it out enough to bite the shaft with the dikes, and no further. It worked out great, and I did not need to tape the numbers or anything like that. This job is really not as hard as some people make it out to be. Some of the steps on the DG tutorial are not even necessary.