Clock stops when very cold.
 

Has anyone noticed that the clock (analog) in the 85 300 D stops working when it is very cold @ night. It seems to work alright when it warms up a little. This is the 1st year I've noticed it.

My '80 240D does the same.

As does mine...
 

Runs well in the summer...another of my hobbies is timepieces, and the fact is that after 20 years analog clocks need to be cleaned, or at least to have their resistors changed...do a seach, there are some posts on this.

One reason I prefer the 240 to the 300, etc., is I like the very legible clock, and find it more useful than the tach/clock on the "better" diesels.

I've also posted recently about how to pull the instrument cluster...with a mind to trying to get my clock to work, send it for a cleaning, or do an exchange.

Best of luck

Clock
 

Thank you. I'll do it... But, I'll wait till spring!

Last night was the first time mine did this. Funny that you bring it up.

It was so cold out there that I would have stopped working as well.

Don

My clock did this as well (small clock in clock/tach combo). I thought it was the mechanism (i.e., gears) but the culprit are the two capacitors that have a degrading dielectric.

You can get replacement capacitors from radio shack (higher voltage rating), and it is an easy fix with the instrument cluster taken out of the car.

After the repair, the clock will again work in all temperature ranges.

I agree with Jim B+. Last year I replaced the capacitors in my clock after it had stopped working. I followed the directions that I found here, they were great. After reinstalling the cluster back into the dash, the clock did not work. I took it apart again and noticed that the linkage from the knob to the clock was sticking, the spring would not allow the gears to uncouple. I cleaned the assembly up and the clock has worker flawlessly since. Take the time to clean the linkage as long as you already have the clock out. I think the capacitors at Radio shcak cost about $1.00 each.

Tom

Clock
 

Tom-
Could you give me a little more info on these capacitors. What do they look like? Are they in the clock and is it difficult to get at them... I'll have no problem removing the dash etc.
Thanks.
Ed

Ed, I found this in the archives: http://business.baylor.edu/Richard_Easley/autofaqs/clock.htm
It describes the procedure. The capacitors are small cylinders with a wire on each end. They were located on the back of the clock assembly, easily accessible. Follow the directions in the thread. I hope this helps.
Tom

clock
 

Tom, thats terrific! Thank you very much.
Ed

The FRAKO is the stock capacitor 16v/100microFarad
The Radioshack is a 35v/100microFarad

Richard Easley's procedure will get you there. Lubricate the reset pinions while you're in there.

Radio Shack capacitors (black) installed:

Now, if we just had a clock that did not stop when we take the car battery out.....

So, what time is it?
 

A link to the US Naval Observatory Master Clock:
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl

-Scott

thanks scott! i forgot to turn my clocks back yesterday, hehe;)

I had the same problem with the clock on my '84 300D all last winter and again this fall.
Replacing the capacitors did the trick. The instructions mentioned above were enormously helpful. A very handy tool for this procedure is a solder sucker or some other solder removal tool, which helps removing the old caps without overheating the printed circuitry.

Phil

That seems very promising. I will plan on doing that sometime in the near future. I would like to get the clock working. The PO before me said it hasn't worked for a while and that MB wants a lot of money to fix it. If I can repair the clock with stuff I have laying around the house... that would be great!

Link update
 

The above link no longer works. Anyone know another place with this information?
Charles

http://articles.mbz.org/instrument/renew/

Scroll down the page and it has the capacitor number. My clock worked on the bench and I can hear it clicking in the dash after replacing them, but it still does not keep time. I'll try cleaning the mechanism like was mentioned above.

John

Another wrench in the works:

Mine keeps time to a range something better than a minute per month - provided I don't touch it.

Anytime I reset the time (DST, etc) it won't restart itself. I have to set it anywhere from 15 to 20 times before it starts to run again.

Have wiggled the adjuster, pounded the dash, fiddled with everything that can be fiddled with... and once you twist the minute hand around to some new setting, it almost never restarts. When it does restart, it keeps it perfectly... ?!?

Clock fixed but now speedometer intermittent
 

Thanks for the link. I guess I got lucky - mine works and I could not see a + or - on the Radio Shack parts. They are also a different color now but same part number. Put it all back together and the clock works - but the speedometer doesn't. Didn't do anything to it except paint the pointer. Odometer and trip meter work so I guess the cable is connected correctly. Is the speed part actually electronic? There is a black box on the back that with two prongs that connect to an electrical wire. If I hit the dash, it will start working.

Suggestions?

Michael:

My 300SD did that. I believe the setting mechanism was not disengaging. Cured it with some lubrication.

I know you are currently at school. If you want to bring it over here (Sparta), I'll be happy to help you with it. Figure 1.25 hr drive from Boone.

-Scott