bobbybuyer

Thank God there is place to help with this car! I just bought a 90 V8 quattro with a broken odometer. The tach works, so my guess is the odometer gears? Am I right? I'd like to take the instrument cluster out and don't have a clue where to start. Any words on this issue would be more than appreciated.

bbtri

Check out this post for removal instructions:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2188650
Is your speedometer working? If the speedo works and the odometer doesn't it's in the instrument cluster. If niether works it's also possible the sender or wiring could be bad. V8 instruments are a problem. I've had to replace mine twice.

GabrielB

I had the same problem with my 100. Tach was working fine but the odo died. The problem was a plastic gear. The material in the gear that links the step by step motor that drives the odo to the numbers is a soft plastic (kinda "hard jelly stuff") and had 1 broken tooth. It was a pain to fix it (I had to make a "copy" of the gear) but its doable if you have time and pacience. I don't think you can buy the gear anywhere, so this is a perfect example of DIY. If you need more details please let me know.

yodasfro

You can buy new gears not cheap http://www.odometergears.com/ Also you can check ebay.

RallyCV

I know that later 100s and 200s use the same instrument cluster - I'm not completely positive about V8s, but I've got a spare cluster I can raid parts from if you like.

yodasfro

The V8q cluster is unique to the V8q however a gear from a different cluster may work. But the reason the stock gears break is they are made from rubber, new ones are plastic. Another note is to NEVER reset the ODO. while driving that will cause the gear to strip some teeth.

RallyCV

Seriously? Come on Germany, stuff like that is why I'm going back to Japanese cars... After this winter.

bobbybuyer

Thanks much for all the help. The link that showed the closeup pictures of the odometer and the descriptions of how to get to it, really helped. The gentleman's description of how to get the dash out was 80% correct for the v8. I figured the rest out easily. But, after 4 hours of really taking my time and being thorough, I got the dash and cluster out. What a monster cluster. I took pics along the way so I don't have TOO many parts left over when I try to put it together. The 1/4 inch tiny gear that engages the gears that engage the odometer drum, had 1 tiny tooth missing. 15 teeth on a 1/4 inch gear made of weak plastic. Man that's bad German engineering! The link that the gentleman put in the description was to speedometergears.com. Just as he said, they had a gear that should work. It is # 10-013. $28.00 delivered. It should be here tomorrow 11/15/11. If all goes well, I'll report back to let everyone know the outcome. I may end up fixing this problem for $28 and some hours of a little effort. You guys are great! Again, many thanks for all the help. Rob

bobbybuyer

odometergears.com is the site. not speedometergears. I stand corrected.

RallyCV

Its a poor solution, but thats what you get when you make a standard sedan into a high end luxury car.

Adding extra sound deadening is inexpensive. Designing an all new instrument cluster just because the driver can hear the odometer ticking away costs a few deutsch marks.