87 300E. My trip odometer is stuck and clicks. I have pushed the reset button to no avail. Regular odometer works. Any suggestions other than "percussive maintenance?"

obviously it is stuck so, you have to take cluster out and see. One tip for the future: DO NOT PUSH THE RESET BUTTOM WHILE DRIVING. These odometers are very sensitive and...well, you know what happens if you do!

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J.H.
'86 300E

This appears to be a very commen problem. I have a similar problem on my 1988 190 E and a SEARCH brought some helpful information. But I have not acted upon it since I don't have a garage and it's too cold to work outside.

You'll need to get the instrument cluster out and if your speedo is a cable driven unit (not electic), you'll need to disconnect that cable. Getting to the instrument cluster and popping it out seems to be the hard part. Some suggest starting at the bottom, under the dash, and popping the cluster out from behind. On some models, it appears that the side vents flanking the instrument panel can be removed and that will give access for nimble fingers to pop the instrument cluster out. I have the CD for my 190 E and it clearly shows kneedle nose pliers (with rubber pads) about to clamp down on one of the plastic vanes on the vent, with the intent to yank it out (I always hate to do stuff like that). Another method of removal is to get the Instrument Panel Removal Kit (I have no idea what the cost is) which appears to be a half dozen thin metal reeds (they look like feeler guages) with hooks on them. They have to be inserted strategically to pull the instrument panel. It looks to be one of those Catch 22 repairs - if you could take the instrument panel out to look for the proper positioning of the metal feeler gauges with hooks, then it would be no problem to place them correctly and pull the instrument cluster out. My Indie Wrench says he just grabs ahold and yanks it out.

The main problem seems to be a plastic gear on a thin metal shaft and that gear cracks and gets loose and starts to slip or fall off. Some recommend putting the gear back in place and adding a dab of contact cement to hold it in place. In a severe condition, sending it to VDO is the only alternative.

All of this may sound odd - I know about the repair and, yet, I have never performed it. I'll tackle the task soon when the weather warms up. Then I'll REALLY have something to say. Good luck with whatever you do and don't forget to tell us what you did and how you did it.

My trip odometer freed itself after I hit the reset button several times today. I had tried earlier but I guess it was random.
Several pieces of info may be useful to others.
1)do not reset in motion. I did several times. The numbers lined up better then.
2)Zepco in Dallas wanted $289+100 labor to fix. AC speedo in Arlington quoted $250 total. Jim Cheevers said he was certified for VDO.Anyway I dodged a bill.

My '88 300E does the same thing. After reset it rolls to .9 and clicks, I've found that if I push the reset button in and hold it till the milage rolls over to 1.0 it works fine. I've had the thing rebuilt too and it still sticks and clicks at .9 so save your money.

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Todd
2000 E55 AMG
1988 300E
1970 280 SEL (for sell cheap)
1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce

tgrand: if you dont mind sharing how much was the rebuild and what all did they do?
thanks
Ryan

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83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

Hey Ryan,

I dug up my receipt and the rebuild was $110 including freight. R&R speedometer housing with SRS was another $98. The only reason I had it rebuilt was after filling up with gas and resetting the trip odometer something bound up the odometer and the unit with the numbers on it twisted slightly out of its housing, so neither odometer was working. Like I said earlier the trip still clicks after the rebuild so if your's works and mine always does if I hold it in when it rolls from .9 to 1.0 save your money.

__________________
Todd
2000 E55 AMG
1988 300E
1970 280 SEL (for sell cheap)
1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce

I have had this happen on nearly every MB I own, and the first time I figured it was possibly already broken, so I would just agitate it some and see if it was really broken. If not, it might start working, or, it might really break. Or it was already broken. Anyway, when they jump a little while you drive, I do not think they are broken. I have always been able to punch the reset knob/button a few times and get them unstuck. I have even resorted to doing this when the car is moving if it did not work when it was sitting still.

I think the source of the problem is not pushing the knob or button all the way in when resetting it. The unit is not fully reset and cannot engage the drive gear as intended.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

I have repaired a hundred of these.

The pin that holds the reset feature inside the trip odometer slides to one side. When it does, there is only one of two holes in place. This allows the carrage to be off center.

When it fails, it will sometimes go back on track, but eventually will fail again.

I charge 2 hours (130) for this repair. That includes R&R of the cluster.

Hope this helps.

__________________
Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 11 YRS

My '81 300TD has an electronic speedo/odo and was a snap to fix!
I took it out and examined the gears. (which were VERY visible!)
The small gear and the first main (larger)gear had about as many teeth on them as a 90 year old Tennesee woman (no offense to any 90 year old Tennesee women).

I went to the local auto salvage yard and purchased a new entire instrument cluster for $40...that included the housing and all gauges. Removed the gears from the junk yard one, and swapped out the bad gears for good. First I made sure that no extra teeth were floating around! I could have just swapped out the entire assembly, but call me a purist...

Now it works like new! Best $40 I have ever spent.

__________________
Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

Hey, dieseldaddy:

I saw you are in W MI as well.

Which local auto salvage yard did you get the cluster from?

My 87 300TD could use a working odometer.

I have three of them now...
First one I used to replace my housing (speedo was mechanical)came from Pete's Auto Salvage (http://www.petesauto.net)in Jenison; second was a mechanical from 6-Mile Auto on Alpine and 6 mile (couldn't use that one at all. live and learn); and the 3rd *and final* one I snatched the gears from was electronic and it was from Baker Auto on Alpine.

__________________
Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

I asked the local MB club folks who could fix my 87 300 E speedo/trip odometer. I found the man and paid $65 for the repair. He said the speedo was steady on his machine. The trip odo was unstuck for a week or so and now is stuck again. There was some speedo needle bounce at certain speeds before repair. He said there was a slight kink and tried to bend it out. The bounce is worse now. There is also some speedo noise now. He said I may need a new cable. Is it possible to have problems with the transmission part of the speedo cable. In other words if I get a new cable and the speedo is stable on the machine, does that mean the transmission adapter is bad?