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Thread: Odometer Repair Questions (Early VDO)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
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    E21 323i, E36 M3

    Odometer Repair Questions (Early VDO)

    My VDO odometer stopped working and I found that the early style metal lead gear currently just spins on the shaft. Would it be better to replace it with one of the plastic ones from odometergears.com or try to glue the metal one back on? I think a plastic one would be a better idea than gluing the old one on case it breaks again and I need to get it apart.

    Also, should I clean off and lubricate the old gears while I have it apart? It looks like the original grease is petroleum based and replacing that with lithium grease is recommended but my other thought is just leaving them alone and maybe adding some new petroleum grease would be better than risking mixing two grease types or breaking the gears trying the get them cleaned off.

    Side note: I practiced removing the needle on my spare 80mph Motometer speedometer, but my 140mph VDO needle must have been superglued on after someone painted the needles because that one just broke apart. Fortunately, the Motometer needle fits fine on the VDO speedometer.


  2. #2
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    I decided to get two new plastic gears, they fit fine and the odometer works out of the car. I left the original grease alone and did not lubricate the new gears, per the manufacturer's instructions on those. Hopefully they'll last at least another 70k miles.


  3. #3
    Join Date
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    I tried to repair my own Odo and opened up my late model, extra, odo for practice. It did not go well. I think I had to remove the needle to get access to the gears I needed to replace. To be honest I couldnt even identify bad odo. That is no longer the issue now for me since my M42 swap.

    I think Im looking at a $600 repair and GPS conversion to get an odometer back in my car.

    Which plastic gears did you have to replace and how far down the tree did you have to go to repair?

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaredmac11 View Post
    I tried to repair my own Odo and opened up my late model, extra, odo for practice. It did not go well. I think I had to remove the needle to get access to the gears I needed to replace. To be honest I couldnt even identify bad odo. That is no longer the issue now for me since my M42 swap.

    I think Im looking at a $600 repair and GPS conversion to get an odometer back in my car.

    Which plastic gears did you have to replace and how far down the tree did you have to go to repair?
    None of my gears were actually broken, the early metal one that connects the odometer and trip meter to the input just started slipping and I also replaced the plastic one on the same shaft as preventative maintenance (these are the only two the website sells). The outer small one pried off easily enough and I just pulled the shaft out a little to get the bigger metal one off. The new ones press fit on. Mine used the thin big gear and the 17 tooth small gear, $25 each plus shipping.

    I was able to tell the odometer was broken since the big gear on the odo shaft spun independently of the smaller one on the outside. The needle is the hardest part, everything else was pretty simple. It's just three screws to be able to get at the gears once you have the gauge face and mounting plate off. I marked the speedo drive before I pulled the needle, so I could get it back on at the same spot (it's preloaded against the peg a little).

    I think the small outer gear could probably be removed and installed without taking the gauge apart if that's the broken one.


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Humboldt Co. Ca.
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    E21 323 2-E28, 1-M6, E92
    Jeff Caplin at Odometer Gears LTD is the place to go to get better than factory replacement gears for BMW
    Speedos. I have used his parts and instructions many time, The support for installing the replacement gears
    Is also there if you need it.

    http://www.odometergears.com/product...+Speedometer/9

    Jeff

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