E30 odometer not working

[m0m0 3]

Hey all, sorry if someone has asked this before, I did have a search but came up with only the usual gear fix. Pretty much the odometer on my e30 decided it had enough, I got some gears off garagistic to fit my motometer cluster and put them in but afterward it would only count over  a few kms and then stop for a while and then count over some more later. Its fully stopped working now though. Everyting else works fine though

I've taken the cluster out a few times since to check the gears but they're fine. I was hoping someone might have some ideas as to what could be causing this

Cheers

[C-130 Hercules 571]

Suggest you have another good look at the gears. The get quite brittle and another one might have decided to let go. Make sure you put some plastic grease on as well. 

[gjm 3258]

(Apologies if you did this!)

Did you ensure you got the correct gears? There are two types of odo - Motometer, and VDO. The fascia of the dash isn't sufficient as it is possible (and not uncommon) to replace the entire odo unit with a working one, so a Motometer odo could be found in a VDO-labelled dash. And vice versa.

[m0m0 3]

Thanks for the replies, I'll put some plastic grease on them and see if it makes a difference. Any idea where I can buy plastic grease from?

Also yes its definitely a motometer unit as its soldered into the main board and has the original bmw parts number sticker stating its a motometer unit stuck on the speedo unit as well as all over the rest of the dash. 

I got the motometer non-us gearset from garagistic as mine isnt in miles or mpg, I checked the old and new gears back to back to make sure they were the same (probably should have counted teeth as well) but they all matched from what I could see. 

I'll check this all again today but if I cant find the issue, does anyone sell good working odo/speedo units by themselves?

Thanks

[gjm 3258]

Jon at Auto38 (in Masterton) sells rebuilt odos.

I have a few here that I plan to sort (the not working aspect is very common) but haven't got around to sorting yet.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

The SI batteries in them are also common to fail now they are 30 years old.

If your car has been owned by an enthusiast it is likely they have been changed already, otherwise they are worth thinking about.

[gjm 3258]

1 hour ago, _ethrty-Andy_ said:

The SI batteries in them are also common to fail now they are 30 years old.

If your car has been owned by an enthusiast it is likely they have been changed already, otherwise they are worth thinking about.

The row of lights - green, amber, red - advises when BMW thinks a routine service is required; we fastidious owners don't wait for the service indicator and rely on generally shorter intervals. Using the car is normally sufficient to re-charge the batteries, keeping the service indicator lights working.
If (when) the batteries fail, the service indicator lights don't illuminate. Not such an issue, but it can mean the tacho and other gauges also stop working or become erratic.