Mercedes 560SL odometer isn't working...?

Question

A friend bought a 1986 Mercedes 560SL recently... the car is in pretty good shape considering it's age. The speedometer is working but the odometer isn't... I thought they usually work together? Does anyone have any idea what is the cause of the problem? and suggest a fix? Thanks.

Answer 1

That year model has a cable which goes from the transmission to the back of the cluster panel. This cable drives the speedometer which is connected by metal and nylon gears to the odometer. The odometer on that car is several small wheels with gears and numbers on them. There's a rod which runs through the center of these wheels and they rotate around the rod. If you look VERY CLOSELY you may notice that one side is "pressed in" more than the other. That's because this rod often comes out of the bracket which is supposed to hold it. This could often happen for no reason whatsoever. On the other hand, tampering is also a cause of this.

Either way, the cluster panel needs to be removed, the speedometer removed from the back of the cluster, and the odometer repaired. This should be left to someone very familiar with these cluster panels, like a Mercedes shop, the dealer, or a speedometer repair facility.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Answer 2

Mercedes Speedometer Repair

Answer 3

hi there!

i repair speedometers for a living.

DAVEY IS CORRECT!

i can repair the speedometer for $60.00 + $5.00 Shipping in the usa. I give a 2 year warranty. All 100% german vdo parts.

I hope this helps. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Sometimes that happens when someone tries to roll the speedometer back to register lower miles. But on the other hand, it could have just broke.

Answer 5

Hey, I had the same problem with a 300SE and all it had been was a fuse had blown in the fuse box. Check there, all i did was i replaced the fuze in the box and it worked again.

Hope that helps