Re: E30 Odometer Problem

[Randy Walters <randylwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Matt Brannock <mattb@domain.elided> writes:

>Hello! I have an '87 325 with 250k miles on it. It's been running great
>without any problems, but a few days ago, without warning, the odometer and
>trip odometer completely stopped. I don't believe that they are sticking, as
>no form of jiggling or slapping will even get it to move a little bit. I also
>checked the fuses to see if one blew, as the instrument cluster is electronic,
>to no avail either. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the cause may be? Is
>there a sensor on one of the wheels or axles that I could check/replace? If
>so, how would I go about doing that? If you have any suggestions, I'd
>appreciate it. Thanks.

 I assume your speedometer is still working ok since you're only asking about
the odometer,  so in this case i'd say the little nylon gear inside the odometer
that advances the numbers has cracked from age and released it's grip on the
metal shaft it resides on and can no longer move the numbers.  This is kinda
common on old E30's and is also rampant on the 85-92 MKII Volkswagens
which use VDO instruments (happened to both of my MkII VWs around 150K :-)

 One fix is to remove and open the odometer and super-glue the little
cracked gear onto the shaft.  Dozens and dozens of V-Dubbers have done
this with great success,  mainly because the little gear isn't available
anywhere without having to buy a complete new odometer.   I know of
at least a few E30 guys who fixed their slipping odometers the same way.

Randy
89 325is
85 Golf GTi
86 Jetta GLi
01 Jetta 1.8T Wolfsburg Ed.

http://home.earthlink.net/~randylwalters/




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