I have a 1983 240D.

I have been experiencing problems with the speedometer and gauges, especailly the temp gauge. I am just about to the point of giving up and either taking them in to be fixed or replacing them with used. My question is am I better off getting what I have repaired or going for used parts? I know at least with the speedometer that I would have to reset the odometer, if I go used. Also, can I replace, just the temp gauge or do I have to replace the whole section with the fuel and oil pressure gauges?

Tref,

I expect that the speedometer problem is completely independent of any other problem you have with your instrument cluster. There are two common speedometer problems, one would be the speedometer cable causing the needle to bounce around, if this is the case fix the speedometer cable. The second is the odometer not working. This is usually the trip odometer binding. Either way consider the speedometer and the rest of the instrument cluster as two seperate items that happened to be attached to each other. It is very easy to remove and replace the speedometer from/to the cluster, once the cluster is out.

Your other problems could be a loose connector, or if limited to the temp guage could be the sender in the engine.

Give some more specific descriptions, and I'm sure we can help you. It is a ten minute job to remove the entire instrument cluster and have it ready to lay on the workbench. We can help you with that too.

Give more specific information regarding the nature of your problems.

Good luck,

------------------
Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

On the speedometer, it is really the odometer. Niether odometer is working. It was slipping before so I gook it apart and tightened the pot metal drive wheel on the odometer. The speedometer needle seems to be working, so it is somewhere in the drive mechanism for the odometers. I need to take it apart one more time, just to make sure that I have not done something stupid, but I fear that there are some critical drive parts that are broken.

On the gauges, I have been having a grounding problem and a few of the ciruits were fried on the printed circuit board. So, I repaired the fries and completed the ground connections. The fuel gauge seems to be working OK, and of course the oil pressure gauge works, but the temp gauge is not working, it does not register at all, when I was having a ground problem, the gauge did bounce a little, but it does not register, it just sits at the bottom. Again, I want to take it apart one more time to check for the obvious things. All of the lights around the gauges seem to be working.

What other questions do you have?

Just an update.

The temp gauge seems to be registering something. So does that mean that the temp gauge is working and that it is probably the sending unit?

I have not had a chance to open everything up again. Hopefully later today or tomorrow for sure.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

The speedometer is indeed seperate from all other gauges in the instrument cluster. The problem you are having with your odometer is pretty common with MBs. I have detailed instruction(with pictures)on how to repair a stalled odometer. No special tools required.
I will be glad to scan and send you a copy, if you want.There are two pages.
Bill Lewallen Lexington,Ky.

It's an easy DIY repair job. The procedure for securing the loose drive wheel was posted in Nov/99 (search 'odometer' and 'Barrie').
If you can't find it, let me know and I'll be glad to re-post.