I figured out what's wrong with my odometer. The shaft that holds the numbers for the main odo reading had slipped out of place, so the worm gear and the trip meter were disconnected from the main number cluster. I used a small screwdriver to lift up on the main number deal to realign it with the hole and push it back in place. See pictures below.

Here is the gear out of alignment:





And after I got it pushed back in place, this wee bit of shaft sticks out on the other side:



So what's the best way to keep this from popping out again? Let it go and hope for the best? Glue a bit of something to the back of the shaft rod to hold it in place? I feel like if it happened once, it's bound to happen again.

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2010 Mercedes E350 4Matic - 77k miles
1986.5 Nissan D21 V6 4x4 - 276k miles
1987 Mercedes 190D 2.5 Turbo - 3??k miles
1983 Mercedes 300SD turbo parts car
2017 Honda CBR500R - 15k miles
2016 Suzuki GSX S1000 - 9k miles

You can put a tiny bit of superglue on the shaft to keep the gear from slipping. A new gear would be the best answer.

hmmmm... is there enough to file a couple small indentations and fit a tiny C-clip? Or glue one on but it would have to be squeaky clean.

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Brian
87 300Dturbo 180K #14 head still running R-12 SOLD 12/2017
02 F350 Powerstroke 180K
05 Chevy Express 1 ton w/Royal Utility box 120K
08 Infiniti FX-35 40K
15 Golf Sportwagen TDI 35K
10 Sprinter 3500 chassis with a Class A Winnebago on it. 56K

I would disassemble, sand the shaft, apply a EXTREMELY TINY amount of green loctite on the shaft and put it all back together.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Thats just what went wrong with mine .But the shaft had come out of the pot gear this lets the shaft move up, and it then clears the worm drive.Push it right out with a drill bit to hold the numbers in place fix it with selo tape to hold numbers in the right locations .If they miss match it wont clock on the numbers on rotating Rough up the shaft with emery paper and apply a spot of super glue on the pot gear shaft only , before you push it back in place .Mind how much glue you use, as it will glue the other gears together . ..The pot gear is grey in colour and must rotate with the shaft .The thers white or black dont .The damage is done by setting the oddo to zero on the move .

The black gear on the brass bushing itself didn't slip on the shaft, the shaft just slid out about a quarter inch or so. The teeth on the gear seem fine, and doing tests rotating the gear everything seems to work properly.

This one is just different enough from the 300 odo that I'm a bit uncomfortable trying to pull it apart all the way.

The c-clip idea is an interesting one. I'm not sure if there's enough sticking out on the other side of the shaft to fit one (or if I have a precise enough file to make the cuts for it) but I'll inspect it when I get home to check into that. I like the idea of a mechanical connection holding the shaft in place much better than an adhesive of some sort.

__________________
2010 Mercedes E350 4Matic - 77k miles
1986.5 Nissan D21 V6 4x4 - 276k miles
1987 Mercedes 190D 2.5 Turbo - 3??k miles
1983 Mercedes 300SD turbo parts car
2017 Honda CBR500R - 15k miles
2016 Suzuki GSX S1000 - 9k miles