Odometer won't Zero
 

I have a 1990 300SE. I did not realize you should not press the Odometer reset button while the car is in motion, and it let me know by stopping working! The dash dimmer still works, but I'm sure I stripped the teeth or gearing in the mechanical part of the odometer.

Can I find out how many teeth this has for part ordering? I am assuming this is a relatively easy DIY job once I remove the cluster.

What I can suggest is that the trip meter counter connector can slip out of place and that is what happened to mine once and I corrected that by taking out the cluster and putting it back in place and it has worked perfectly ever since. Are you sure yours is broken?

Odometer
 

I have not pulled the instrument cluster to look at the back end of the Odometer. I know that pushing in the stalk has no resistance, as opposed to before when I could feel it rolling against teeth.

I will look for a loose trip meter connector in addition to a bad gear.

Lesson learned is not to Zero out the odometer when in motion!

Hi Pete , the trip meter on my car will do that once in a while also. I've found that if I keep trying to reset it (while in motion) it will pop back in. Good luck :)

Thanks Kyle - I'll give it a try. With the Fuel needle bouncing around past the 1/4 Empty level, I really need to the Odometerto reset, since I get 450 or so miles per full tank.

yours can't work while in motion? i have to do mine while it is in motion or it won't get past 1 mile. it just clicks for every tenth of a mile it goes through. and i hold it until the meter starts rolling then i let go... this may be messed up, so don't try :P

Odometer reset
 

During a road ralley I reset the odometer in my 300E at 70 mph. My odometer was knocked out of position. Later I put it back in place but would not not stay put, it eventually kept jumping out. After several attempts to correct the problem I finally sent it out for repair. I was told by a mercedes expert to never reset in motion. I never perform a reset in motion and it has worked perfectly since the repair. However, I frequently reset the odometer on my ford truck, gm car, and honda motorcycle without issue.