# Fix your broken odometer



## austinado16 (Apr 4, 2003)

99% of the speedos with trip meters have inoperative odometers because a 15cent plastic gear cracks and seperates under the load of turning the 4 trip meter number wheels and the 7 odometer number wheels.
Repairing these means sending the speedo out and getting charged $125 by places like North Hollywood Speedometer, etc.
I think I've come up with a permanent fix, and it may also be preventative if your gear isn't already broken:
1) Remove the instrument cluster
2) Remove the speedo from the cluster (don't wreck your circuit board)
3) Remove the 2 large slotted screws on either side of the speedo threaded fitting
4) Remove the plastic back case of the speedo.
This is as far as you tear down the speedo
5) You'll see a small gear that runs on the worm gear, yours will probably have a split in the gear face
6) Slide this gear off
7) Run over to the hardware store and find their bins of external snap rings
8) Grab 2 of the 1/4" diameter (80 cents each) external snap rings that will fit over the center hub on the broken odometer drive gear. 
9) Put some instant glue (I like "Bondini" or "Bondini 2") on the crack in the gear
10) Push one snap ring onto either side of the gear, by forcing the snap ring down over the hub. The snap ring is super strong and will keep the gear "pressed" together
11) Push the gear down onto the odometer shaft and support the other end of the shaft while you do this. The gear should run in about the middle of the worm gear.
12) Lube any shaft or spindle you can get to using something like TriFlow and the straw from the can. Just using tiny amounts.
It looks like this installed (a snap ring is on both sides of the gear).








You're done. Put it all back together.
I just fixed the odometer gear in my speedo using this method. My gear was comletely split in half...in other words, it was in 2 pieces. I glued it, snapped ringed the hub, and pressed it back into position. So far, it's working perfect. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 



_Modified by austinado16 at 1:01 PM 1-30-2009_


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## JohnBarleyCorn (Aug 29, 2007)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (austinado16)*

Or buy a speedo with the motometer logo on the face (not VDO)...they have the metal gear. I have no idea which cars/models had which, but I know MK2 had both and I'm fairly certain MK1 had them also. I don't the swap-ability of the speedos from MK1 to MK2, but maybe?
From my parts stash:
















I love the fact that my lowest mileage odometer showed 199k plus...


_Modified by JohnBarleyCorn at 12:35 AM 1-3-2009_


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## where_2 (Jul 21, 2003)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (austinado16)*

Alternatively, search the internet for what we were posting about fixing VW VDO odometers back in 1995 on Rec.autos.vw It's easily located using the google search phrase "speedo_fix.txt"
Now that you fixed the plastic gear, the next gear to give you problems will be the metal gear off the side of the tenths place in the trip odometer.


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## austinado16 (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (where_2)*

Just and update to the repair I did on my own odometer a few weeks ago. I've got almost 700mi on it now, 470 of which were done on a road trip this past Saturday. 
So far, so good. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## austinado16 (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (austinado16)*

I'm repairing another speedometer today and took a picture of how the gear looks repaired. It's been added to my original post.


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## applefr3akG60 (May 7, 2009)

ok, I need to do this to my corrado g60 (1990) I pulled everything out.. but do i need to take the needle off? And if so how do i get it back on and know its at zero?? Thanks for the advice.. would like to get my odometer workin again








Jason
Ogden, UT


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## austinado16 (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: (applefr3akG60)*

Take a look at my instructions again. No the needle doesn't get touched at all.


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## where_2 (Jul 21, 2003)

*Re: (applefr3akG60)*


_Quote, originally posted by *applefr3akG60* »_ok, I need to do this to my corrado g60 (1990) I pulled everything out.. but do i need to take the needle off? And if so how do i get it back on and know its at zero?? Thanks for the advice.. would like to get my odometer workin again








Jason
Ogden, UT 

Depending on which gear is slipping, if the plastic gear is cracked, and that's your only problem then NO, you don't need to take the needle off the speedo. You can just use the fix suggested here. However, I will note that many of the VDO odometers I have worked on (three now) all had issues with the metal gear that drives the tenths place in the trip odometer. For that, you WILL need to remove the needle and the gauge face. 
The trick to getting the needle back in the correct place has been well documented on the internet since 1995. Type the phrase "speedo_fix.txt" into google, it's archived in several places across the internet. Around the perimeter of the VDO gauge you will find a small white line that cannot be seen with the gauge installed in the car and the plexiglass cover in place. That white mark is roughly where your speedo needle will point if you gently lift it over the stop peg and let the spring do it's thing. If you make note of where it rests, you can put it right back in the same place. 
Another interesting concept that I read on the VWVortex was one guy who used his cordless drill to spin the input shaft and make a baseline reading of the speed with the drill max'd out. Later when he reinstalled the needle, he could perform the same proceedure spinning the input shaft at the max rpm the drill would run to check to see that he had the needle back where it started from. With the drill max'd out, if it was reading 4mph lower than the initial reading you detach the needle again, rotate it 4mph clockwise and reattach it. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
I can't take credit for that last method, I always tested mine with my Garmin 45XL GPS receiver... My repaired Corrado_G60 odometer has clocked approximately 100k miles since I fixed it using the method I described in the "speedo_fix.txt" back in 1995. I've performed that repair method on two Mk1 Scirocco VDO odometers, and one Corrado_G60 odometer. The last time I had to repair one of these was 1997. I haven't been able to check my latest Corrado_G60 to see if it needs to be repaired because it doesn't run yet...


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## applefr3akG60 (May 7, 2009)

ok, i pulled the speedo out of the cluster. and on the left hand side, i see a worm gear and a red gear. I pushed the red gear onto the shaft a little more, and still no dice, i didnt want to take the face off as i was not sure about the needle, but all i can see that even looks remotely like that, is a red gear on a white worm gear on the left hand side of the unit. it doesnt look cracked. I really appreciate you helping me a bit, im not a total noob, Jut hoping i dont have to replace the cluster.. then i have to take the car to a shop here in about a week to see why it wouldnt pass emissions.. yay..


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## austinado16 (Apr 4, 2003)

The drive gear may be a different color than what I've shown in the photo above, due to model/year/etc. differences. Still, it's the same system.
Put a piece of weed wacker string in your drill, shove that into the drive at the back of the speedo and power the drill up in the direction that moves the needle as if you are driving....I believe that's reverse on a drill. Then watch the gears and figure out who's turning and who isn't.
If you just pushed that red gear in, without holding the metal shaft steady as I suggest in my directions, then you just pushed the shaft out, you didn't actually move the gear back into position over the worm gear.


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## where_2 (Jul 21, 2003)

*Re: (austinado16)*

Yeah, red, white, blue doesn't matter what color that gear is... If it is slipping on the shaft, that's a problem. Same goes for the metal gear, if it's slipping on the shaft, it's a problem. 
It's been so long since I had one apart, I forgot that the shaft slid around that easily...


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## applefr3akG60 (May 7, 2009)

ok, i pulled the speedo out of the cluster. and on the left hand side, i see a worm gear and a red gear. I pushed the red gear onto the shaft a little more, and still no dice, i didnt want to take the face off as i was not sure about the needle, but all i can see that even looks remotely like that, is a red gear on a white worm gear on the left hand side of the unit. it doesnt look cracked. I really appreciate you helping me a bit, im not a total noob, Jut hoping i dont have to replace the cluster.. then i have to take the car to a shop here in about a week to see why it wouldnt pass emissions.. yay..


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## where_2 (Jul 21, 2003)

*Re: (applefr3akG60)*

3 posts and the last two are identical...








Short of showing up in his driveway, I'm basically out of hints and suggestions. I'd almost offer to fix the silly thing for $40 if it landed on my door step in a box with a return shipping label... I'll almost guarantee that NO legit mechanic shop is going to want to touch that odometer. They'll tell him to ship it to VDO or whatever the name of that place was that would fix them for $125... http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## DAVEG (Aug 14, 2001)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (austinado16)*

Austin,
I could not find the proper lock pin. They were either too big or the wrong type. I reinstalled everything and the trip counter is working but I have to keep track of the relationship between the odometer and trip counter to make sure it is turning at the same speed.
I also had intermitent problems with the tachometer. Is there a fix for a bad circuit panel?


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## where_2 (Jul 21, 2003)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (DAVEG)*


_Quote, originally posted by *DAVEG* »_I also had intermitent problems with the tachometer. Is there a fix for a bad circuit panel? 

If you can figure out which wiring circuit it is, and where the bad spot is in it, you can jumper over the bad spot with a thin piece of wire... 
Interestingly, being the son of an electronic technician, I've seen how this works first hand...


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## fatmobile (Nov 11, 2002)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (austinado16)*

Nice trick.
I used a tubing cutter to cut a piece of copper tubing, and help reduce it's diameter.
I then ran a rat tail file down the center to get it to the right inner diameter.








After it fit nice I cut a small slice of the end off.
The little clip you used looks much easier.


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## PoVolks (Oct 2, 2003)

*Re: Fix your broken odometer (fatmobile)*

awesome method! I just got back from hobby town USA to try and match up an R/C car gear... to no avail. I will try this method tonight!


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## dubudubudubu.com (May 18, 2013)

Plz plz help I am now the owner of the 1985 jetta coupe jason pattons mk2 if anyones familiar with that car
Anyways the speedometer and tachometer or none of the gauges works just because he used it as a show car so he said he just went with the flow of traffic which I dont really mind I just want my stuff to work right anyways theres a cable missing that looks as if it plugs into the top of the transmission but is a mk2 and any info of
What I need would help he jist said the gauges dont work cause he pulled some cable and that id need to buy it
What cable could this be


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## Mutato192 (Aug 4, 2008)

I have a 89 MK1 Cabby the Odometer will work for a while then stop. When you go for first drive of the day it will work. But stops after you stop. 
And will not start working until the next morning. Do you think it has a cracked gear?


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## Blue-Civic-Hybrid (Jan 19, 2015)

This thread just saved me...


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## JewelsVW (May 9, 2020)

I did this fix yesterday. Thank you so much for the clear directions. Cost me 89-cents. Winner winner chicken dinner!


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