87 16v odometer stopped working

[Juice87]

So my odometer and trip meter stopped working. Can i fix it or do i need a new one. Bentley wasnt really any help. Also, am I insane or is there some magic trick to get the cluster out?

[Scirocco16]

There's a How-to here:

http://www.garageprosoftware.com/sci...h_odometer.htm

The cluster is just a bit tricky to get out, but you've kind of got to get it at an angle in there, and it will come out. Be careful though.

There's two gears that could be slipping. One is a red plastic gear and the other is a metal one.
In my case it was the metal one. I just used a pliers to mess up the shaft and carefully used a punch to put the shaft back through the gear.

Just make sure you look at everything very carefully as you take it apart. Taking some pictures could help you get it back together right. The wheels on the odo don't have any particular order, as long as the numbers are lined up like you want them and they're all on the right side of the small plastic gears above them.

edit: My link won't work for me, so here's another how-to. This one doesn't cover how to take out the number wheels, but it will help if the red gear is your problem.

http://www.vintagewatercooleds.com/t...r/odometer.htm

When I got my car, neither odometer was working, but after taking the cluster out multiple times, i finally got it fixed. The first time I put the metal gear on backward so it didn't drive the trip meter at all.

[Juice87]

Cool thanks. Guess i know what ill be doing tomorrow

[cuppie]

Another odometer link for you, too:
http://foxx.tripod.com/vw/odometer.htm

Word of warning:
if the problem is the metal gear (on the right end of the odometer) spinning on the shaft...
Knurl it gently! A little bit goes a long, loong way here. I overdid it on mine. To the point that it took, ah, excessive force to reinstall the odometer shaft. Which caused it to bind. Which destroyed the speedo, to the point that it snapped the speedo cable (after it made all kinds of horrible noises, and acted all kinds of crazy.)
Moral of the story: a little knlurling goes a long, long way.

Quick tip on removing the cluster:
if you haven't already done so, remove the steering wheel. It makes it a helluva lot easier to pull the cluster.
Do that, flip the wiper stalk to 'intermittant.' Rotate cluster down to rear, lift off of the pins. Rotate it a bit counterclockwise (looking down) in the dash... it'll come out. As the prev. poster said, be gentle. You'll find the "magic spot" that it comes out of the hole.

[Scirocco16]

^^^^ what he said about just knurling it a little. So true! I went a bit overboard with it too. When it came to putting the shaft back in the metal gear I found using a traditional hammer and punch to be extremely slow, plus it always felt there was a risk of breaking something. My dad has a springloaded "nail set" punch for his carpenter work, and I found out that really worked wonders. It gave me a lot of force really quickly and precisely and didn't seem to put too much stress on the plastic housing.

Here's a link to what I'm talking about.
http://www.amazon.com/Noxon-32R02-1-...3&sr=8-1-spell