The gear simply slipped sideways on the shaft (usually), needs to be pushed back into place (typical VDO failure). It will also need to be secured, a dab of epoxy on a toothpick will do it, slide it in place, and be sure that you don't glue the odometer shaft to the bearing surfaces.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Well you were right, the gear had slipped off the shaft and I'm hoping it will hold. The gear looked okay so hopefully it doesn't need any more attention any time soon.

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1989 300CE

Was this tough to do? My daughter's isn't working on her '87 300E. How long did it take to attack and repair?

Thanks,

Steve

It can be accomplished within a few hours if the gear isn't broken. It is quite intricate work and my cluster took a bit of force to remove as it has likely never been out. You can make your own tools for removing the cluster as opposed to the ones that Mercedes-Benz sells. The thread link below has all the steps and is quite useful. I also changed out the two instrument bulbs. You will need a 3W 194 style bulb. Don't bother going any higher or you risk damaging (ie. melting) the cluster.

Lets' Pull the Instrument Cluster!

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1989 300CE

Great! Thanks for the feedback. I'll try it.

Steve