Analog Speedometer Repair
 

Does anyone know of a competent, not-so-expensive speedometer repair shop in the SF Bay area?

My W123 speedometer has a lot of "tick, tick, ticking" going on at mostly lower speeds. From 0 to 20mph, the needle jumps just a little. After 20, it is stable. Odometer & tripometer work well and the cable is new.

Try these guys, they get sent speedo's from all over the USA and are somewhat local to you.

http://www.paspeedo.com/

You did grease the cable before installing it...

I would check for binding before sending the speedo out for repair, but you will probably have to send it out.

The speedometer cable should NOT be lubricated, especially if it is new. Make sure the cable is routed correctly and does not have any sharp bends... i.e., make sure that after you push the instrument cluster in place, you gently pull down the cable down below, by the brake pedal.

Anyway, Commercial Speedometer in West Sacramento can repair it if necessary... they work on VDO units. You can ship it to them if you don't want to drive up there, but it's only 1-2 hours from the Bay area (depending on traffic). They're competent, but I'm not sure sure about inexpensive...

:o

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check them out.

Again I wish to thank you guys for the recommendations. After experimenting w/an extra VDO speedometer, I find the cleaning and relubing I need to do is quite simple, but with much care and patience required. So I am going to attempt this on my own to save a few bucks. (It's not a matter of stinginess, but of dirt-poverty). I just have one more question: Where can I find the special grease that is used not on the speedometer cable but on the plastic gears that turn the odometer?

Plastic gears are best lubed with silicone paste. Dow Corning Molykote 33 is specifically designed for this application.

http://www2.dowcorning.com/DataFiles/090007c88009534a.pdf

Thanks, Kestas. That paste is spendy but worth it in as much as it frees me up to do the job myself.