My speedometer started acting up, so figured I had better do something about it. I got down to the point where I started to withdraw the shaft that the pot metal gear is supposed to grip, and I had a revelation: you don't have to pull the shaft out all the way. If you pull it out about 1/4" you expose the area of the shaft that the pot metal gear is supposed to grip. I used Charlie's (charmalu) trick of knurling the shaft with narrow vise grips on the exposed part of the shaft where the pot metal gear rides. I clamped down hard with the vise gripst a couple of times, turning the shaft until I could see little indentations all the way around the shaft. They were subtle, but I knew I had hit pay dirt when I found it was VERY difficult to push the metal gear and shaft back into place. The difficulty was cause by the resistance of the pot metal gear as I was forcing the knurling into its shaft opening. I also had to make sure that the other end of the shaft was correctly centered in the hole in the sheet metal bracket at the other end. I ended up using an actual vise, with a metal spacer at the other end, to press the shaft onto the pot metal gear. Once I got the metal gear and shaft fully pressed back into the stack and poking out the high digit end that pot metal gear was on there TIGHT. I decided that the thread locker was an unnecessary risk at that point - mechanical interference was enough to keep the gear turning.

The one thing that I would have done a little different is I think I would recommend using a vise grip with a snout that is just about 3/16". Mine was a little wider at 1/4", and it seemed a little broad.

Kurt

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- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).