So it worked perfectly and now nothing.

Red indicator in the P R D S L window no longer moves. Gears obviously still change no problems but the indicator parts does not move.

I've heard its cable operated and that it can break.

Any step by step on how to replace?

Can you buy the part or is there another method of fixing?

Thanks in advance!

OR anyone have a nice cluster for sale? My Odo and trip meter stopped working too

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1968 280se Inline 6
Anthracite Grey - Socal

What breaks is the strand of fine wires that pull the indicator needle against the force of an internal spring that pulls the needle towards "P".

Repair is a bit like jewelery repair. I've rebuilt one of mine under the guidance of an expert and it's not very hard if you are into making little parts and that sort of thing.

The non-functioning odometer is almost certainly due to the pot-metal gear loose on the shaft it is press-fit onto. This is the 'classic' failure mode on these things.

The friend who guided me on this does odometer repair & speedo calibration as well as the shift indicator repair. I can check if he still has more of the pot-metal gears for the W108, but I'm pretty sure he does. Sadly, these are long since NLA from MB, but he bought a bunch of them when they stopped stocking them.

Having someone do it is probably the best approach. He replaces the original fine wire in shift indicator with a Kevlar fiber and told me that he's never seen a failure of the Kevlar fiber in all the years he's been doing them.

The odometer fix requires re-cal of the speedo as the hand has to be pulled off and re-installed. You need a setup to turn the speedo at a precise rpm to cal the speedo, but its otherwise straightforward as the cal speed is stamped in the speedo case.

The rough cost of the two rebuilds is somewhat less than $200, I can check that if you're interested. The person is in So. Cal, so you'd have to ship it, etc.

hi there, thanks very much for all the info. I figured the gear selector was something like that. Sounds like something I'd be happy to get someone else to fix. I live in so-cal also so please do let me know if they still offer this.

Other option is to go used but I figure a used one could break 2 days later so probably best to fix this up and hope it lasts a decent while

look forward to hearing more form you

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1968 280se Inline 6
Anthracite Grey - Socal

Does anyone know of the guy referred to in above post, I'm keen to get it away for fixing

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1968 280se Inline 6
Anthracite Grey - Socal

So I found out the So Cal guy who can repair these is Rudi but does anyone know how to contact him? I did get a number a while back but it doesn't seem to be working

It's going on 2 years later and I'm keen to get this fixed now

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1968 280se Inline 6
Anthracite Grey - Socal

For the odometer I would take it to North Hollywood Speedometers.
North Hollywood Speedometer and Clock Company. Serving your gauge needs since 1955. VDO, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Veigel, Veglia
You can probably ship it. You have to remove the cluster. Not hard. Got mine repaired 10 years ago and its still working fine. They can also calibrate the speedometer for an extra charge.

As for the cable, mine also broke 10 years ago..I removed it and its sitting in my tool box.
The wire is has split ends where it broke. I thought about crimping the wires together but the small plastic wheels where the wire glides just have enough room to accommodate the wire and crimping it would make it a little larger and will get stuck.