TheSamba.com :: View topic - Trip meter mistake...yep, I did it..I pushed it

Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:56 am

Who has not heard the advice to only reset the trip meter when stopped? Who knows what to do if you...well...pushed it like I did rolling away from the gas station? I searched the forum, found lots of speedo repair posts but didn't locate how to repair the trip meter.
Anyone have the post? Thanks!

Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:29 am

oldhuldy67 wrote: ...Anyone have the post? Thanks!

This thread wanders a bit but may have some useful posts:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...p;start=20

Alas, the link to the page with the fix described is dead -- did not try Wayback or such to revive it.

Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:46 am

Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:13 pm

Thanks Awahanee...fairly detailed info. Given all the difficulties,
Do you think anyone has replaced the speedo with a lookalike or close enough
From a Jetta..Audi?

Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:46 pm

I've heard the advice but have also heard that it might be an old wives tail.

Having taken apart and repaired two speedos
now, looking at the lever operation, wheels
etc. I don't think that resetting the trip odo
while driving harms the speedo wheels, gears etc.

here's an album of pics and comments on
one I repaired. I'd take the comments with
a grain of salt; some could be considered conjecture. I ain't no expert! ;)

https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/1985VanagonTransporterSpeedometerGuts

Neil.

Sun Nov 01, 2015 5:04 pm

Never heard this one before. I've reset the tripmeter while driving many times. Does it cause problems once they get old?

Sun Nov 01, 2015 5:22 pm

Unless you have a Syncro you can't use the speedo from a VW car because the 2wd Vanagon speedo cable turns way too slow.

Mark

oldhuldy67 wrote: ......
Do you think anyone has replaced the speedo with a lookalike or close enough
From a Jetta..Audi?

Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:22 am

Weird, eh? I've been pushing Vanagon trip meter reset buttons while moving for 20 years and over 225,000 miles with no issues, usually while driving away from gas stations.

Touching wood now.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:27 am

Jake de Villiers wrote: Weird, eh? I've been pushing Vanagon trip meter reset buttons while moving for 20 years and over 225,000 miles with no issues, usually while driving away from gas stations.

Touching wood now.

X2.... But I always am gentle when pushing and if it seems to resist I back off and try again.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:25 am

If you're moving, there are gears trying to advance the odometer number wheels. I would expect, that the mechanism that zeroes the number wheels has to disengage them from the drive gears to do so. Otherwise how can it spin them?

Perhaps as it gets older, there could be a gray area in the mechanism, where it's trying to advance while your finger is holding them at 000. I don't recall mine resisting, but I don't hold it down. If some odometers "resist" it seems prudent that if you are moving, do your reset with a quick button push; at lower speeds.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:29 am

I push it in motion all the time and haven't had a problem (yet).

Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:35 am

I don't believe the hype. A few years back I studied the workings of the odometer and tripmeter and came to the conclusion that it was purely a myth that pushing the button when moving increased the odds of breaking the odo. I don't have one apart right now and don't recall the details the specific details but I believe that the gist was that the reset mechanism moves the main tripmeter gear away from the drive gear while still allowing the driven gear to rotate. It is not until the drive and driven gears are unmeshed that it resets the numbers. My memory could be faulty though. YMMV.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:37 am

That advise sounds like an old BS reason for not covering a warranty issue.
When I worked in a bike shop, I would hear bike companies say similar things to get out of honoring a warranty.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:39 am

Andrew A. Libby wrote: the reset mechanism moves the main tripmeter gear away from the drive gear while still allowing the driven gear to rotate. It is not until the drive and driven gears are unmeshed that it resets the numbers. My memory could be faulty though. YMMV.

I am recalling the same now that you mention it but could be a matter of grey matter going gray.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:29 pm

This thread inspired me to pull out a spare speedometer I had. I removed the tripmeter section. On the end near the 1/10ths is a black gear on the outside which is spun by the odometer portion of the gauge. I can spin that easily by hand and there is not any change to the resistance at any point during the depression or release of the button. The button unmeshes the gears prior to resetting the numbers. If you spin the black gear quickly while pushing the button very, very slowly, you can feel when the gears start skipping at a slightly meshed position, but there isn't any added resistance during that time. I am convinced that there is not any relationship between the odometer failing and pressing the button while moving.

Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:10 pm

^^

moreover, I'd suggest that the gears are moving relatively slowly.

I'd venture a guess that if a gear is ready to fail, resetting the trip odo will hasten its' demise and cause the odo or trip odo to fail.

relevant pics of speedo I repaired

Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:53 pm

my odometer started slowly down then stopped working about a month ago.thanks to this thread I took it apart and seen those gears were just jammed together and I fixed them(I did push it while moving).when I took it apart on the back of the speedo plate was 159,235 dec. 2001(now 238,943),so was fixed before.just thought it was interesting.thanks for the info from everybody

Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:28 pm

Thanks for the great photos and advice...but, I broke the needle anyway.
Superglue, deftly applied seems to be holding. I knurled the shaft with small wire snips and the little brown gear will be as hard to work itself off as the speedo needle was to get back on...without breaking again.
Now, for the road test..