Broken Odometer

["Halpern, Allan" <allan.halpern@xxxxxxxx>]

Andy,

If the speedo is working the sensor is still working and nothing you
replaced or repaired should have affected that.  The odometer is driven by a
stepper motor getting its signals from the speedo.  These odometers are a
common failure on E28's of this age.  The failure is most likely a broken
plastic gear in the odometer.  They seam to deteriorate with age.  On my
535i it was a small pinion gear that failed so I searched around till I
found a gear that was the same size in a surplus store (called "Sky Craft")
here where I live.  This worked for a while then stopped again.  This time
it was the gear that meshes with the first gear I replaced.  I found a junk
Instrument cluster for $35 that had a good gear in it so I replaced the
broken one.  This worked for a while and now its not working again.  I
haven't taken it apart yet but I am beginning to think that the saying "a
chain is only as strong as its weakest link" is very appropriate for this
situation.  Unless you can replace all the gears I wouldn't bother with it
like I did.

Al  

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