I just fixed my daughter's 87 300E odometer. Speedo was working fine but trip meter and odometer was not moving. Was easier than I thought and design was different from the DIY article that is listed in the DIY section.

#1. Basically, I just used my fingers to put pressure on the inside of each
side of the cluster box and pulled/wiggled it out until I could see
the pressure clips on the top and then pulled it out (you can
make some hook tools from a wired coat hangar if you can find one
around your house anymore).
#2. Reach back there and unscrew that brass odometer ring.
#3. Disconnect vacuum hose for economy gauge if it has one.
#4. On this one, all of the light bulb indicators had matching numbers for
each hole they went into (so did the holes) so I just pulled them out
without marking them (if not, use masking tape and mark each one).
#5. Pull out rest of connectors. They all only fit into a specific spot so
don't panic on trying to remember. Easy to reassemble and plug
in.
#6. Take the console, out, flip it over and uscrew the mounts that hold
main console to the plastic frame (4 if I remember correctly).
#7. Unscrew 2 screws from outside temp gauge and remove digital lcd
module (black skinny rectangular box underneath speedo).
#8. Uscrew 4 screws that hold speedo and odometer to board and
remove (be careful not to bend or break needle (you can also
remove needle by taking off black cap, and pulling out needle off
stem...it's on tight but will come off with steady pulling).
#9. Now...check the little worm gear (about 1" long) and white plastic
round gear for damage. If damaged, replace. Mine had worked itself
out towards end away from the worm gear. I pushed it back in.
#10. Also check the reset lever and springs for the trip meter to make
sure they are working ok. Once I did that, to test and see if it
worked, I got my drill and found a bit that fit in the back of the
speedometer disk just like the speedo cable. I slowly turned it both
ways until I saw the worm gear turning and engaging the little white
round gear.
#11. My trip meter started moving, then the odometer...just like it should
work when driving. For me, problem was solved at that point and I
just put it back together in reverse...easy.
#12. Went back to car, connected all bulbs back in, connectors, vacuum
line, big round electronic connector (only fits one way!) and pushed
back into dash. Turned on car took off and HAD NO SPEEDOMETER
FUNCTIONING! Crap, forgot to reconnect the brass speedo ring with
cable to speedometer! Simply pulled it out, reached in and screwed
it back on, pushed it back in and VOILA! A working Trip meter and
odometer!

Hope that helps somebody else!

Steve

so the worm gear just had to be pushed back into place?


did anyone reset the trip meter while in motion?

No...the little white gear that the worm gear turns had to be pushed back in. I tried and tried the "push while driving" method to no avail.

SP

The problem I have on my '87 260E is that the trip meter does not work, it keeps making a click sound every time the odomoter turns 10meters. Drive 10 meters, click, 10 meters, click. I think what happens is that the odometer tries to turn over the trip meter, but the gear is worn so it just make a click sound. I will have to pull it out and use your instructions. By the way, where to buy some gears to replace the worn ones?

this will seem rather obvious:

http://www.speedometergears.com/

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Oh and contrary to what the factory did, do NOT lube the new gears!

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Throne,

You may not need to buy new gears but I'm sure they are cheap with where Gilly posted. Sometimes they just move to a certain position due to being out of alignment and may not be broken. Also check the reset lever for the trip meter and the two on it springs to see if they look ok. Post a picture and I'll let you know if they look right. You never know, I think someone could have went into the one I was looking at and pulled that gear out to stop adding mileage as the gear is on that post pretty tight and shouldn't have worked itself out like it did.

Steve

They slide out of position, you can push them back. They will slide off again a month or two, you can slide them back on. Then they will slide off in a day or two, ... you can slide them back on. I've done this with VDOs since the late '90s, learned that cracked ones get replaced, non-cracked ones get epoxy.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Then use a little thread lock on the gear post...I'm a trained and certified electronics repair tech and fixed many Camcorders, VCRs, TVS, Audio Decks, hard drives, etc. Most of the issues in those items were not electronic components but plastic and rubber pieces. Rubber revitalizer, silicone grease, and thread lock cost customers a small fortune...hence why I try to fix everything for anyone when I can...for free!

TVs on the other hand, used deadly high voltage. Had to be much more careful and have proper test equipment Al lot of times it was a diode, transistor, IC, or .25 capacitor.

Steve

The big problem can be when the factory would put lube on the gears and the gears would turn in to goo.

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Yes. There was no Goo on my gears and I did not add any