W202 Instrument panel speedometer sticks at 0mph

[desrobinson]

Hi All,

Over the past two weeks I've noticed that when moving off from stationary position, the Speedo displays 0mph for about 10 to 30 seconds and then suddenly springs to life and displays the speed that the vehicle is currently moving at. In the meantime the odometer has recorded the distance that the vehicle has travelled, as usual. It doesn't seem to matter what the speed is.

Any ideas what the fault might be?

 

[television]

Yes the fix is simple but a little bit of work to do it. The stop pin on the speedo needle gets sticky, amd the needle sticks to it.

The cluster needs to be pushed out from the rear or pulled out with the hooks, and the front removing and the pin cleaned.

 

[desrobinson]

Thanks for the advice but it sounds like a lot of work, as a novice. Do I need to remove the steering wheel and some of the related dash housing first?

What would be the best way to gain enough access to be able to push the cluster out?

 

[television]

Most clusters should push out with nothing else to remove other than the cover under the dash drivers side It may just clear the steering wheel

 

[C220GJS]

This shows you how; http://202tech.mkosonen.com/howto/instrument.html ;make sure you do not turn on ignition with the airbag or cluster disconnected or you will active the SRS fault light which requires a dealer reset. Cluster can be removed without removing steering wheel if you take care.

 

[desrobinson]

Temperature guage goes wild after 10 minutes of driving

Wow, thanks guys this is more than helpful.

Incidently, my temperature guage has been playing up for about three years now. It works well for about the first 10 minutes of the journey then it goes potty (techincal term). It flicks beyond the Red, I have to give the Dash a firm slap to get un-jam the needle so it reads properly for 1 second only for it to jump beyond the Red again. I've had the thermostat changed etc. My indie garage and Merc dealer tell me that the instrument cluster is faulty and would cost around £700 plus tax + labour to replace. Well I just looked at euromerc.com website where there is new a cluster for £149.99 (is that for real?). With Merc man's bargain and George's instructions I can replace the cluster myself at a fraction of the cost garage cost.

Though, I'm worried about mucking up the readings on the odometer etc. Is there any reason to worry. I assume that this data is stored on the car's computer and not in the instrument cluster. Am I right?

Your thanks are appreciated.

 

[television]

There will be little info in the old cluster and it should be a straight swap, there are 3 versions of this cluster and you must fit the correct one, there will be a part number on yours

 

[kemp2368]

as television has said,its a simple fix and the w202 cluster does come out without removing the steering wheel,as ive done this several times as my needle keeps sticking as well,it seems to be ok after every time i clean it,then as soon as the weather gets warm it starts to stick again,im thinking this time i might put a small sleeve around the sticky pin when i get round to it next time, i normally push the cluster out from the underneath as i have no removal tools,but i have managed to do the job in about half an hour so i think you should be ok just take it slow and dont force the cluster to hard when getting it between steering wheel and dash

 

[television]

Yes as kemp said,sleeving the stop pin is the best way to stop it from sticking.

You may also check the connections for the temp gauge

 

[desrobinson]

Thanks guys, I'll give it try and let you know how I get on.

 

[Benzfox]

How did you get on in the end?

 

[television]

How did you get on in the end?

That post is too old to get an answer from. Welcome to the forum, I take it that you have the same problem

 

[epervier]

That post is too old to get an answer from. Welcome to the forum, I take it that you have the same problem

He may not, but I have a similar problem on a W124 220 coupe the speedo doesn't work. would it be the same remedy? ie sleeve the stop pin, or would it be either head or gearbox sensor.

TIA for a response.

 

[television]

This is a very hard question, one needs to know that the needle is not stuck before looking further. Often a hard bang on top of the cluster would show if the needle is stuck, is your CC working OK

 

[epervier]

I have no idea what cc stands for, climate control?

 

[drdre78]

have you tried hitting it with you hand on top

 

[television]

I have no idea what cc stands for, climate control?

CC is cruise control, another component that requires a speed signal

 

[epervier]

I haven't got cruise option

 

[television]

I haven't got cruise option

OK I asked as it might have helped

 

[epervier]

have you tried hitting it with you hand on top

no, but I may try that tomorrow.