Speedometer repair

[Fred C. Dobbs]

I've an '04 Ballabio and my speedometer has crapped out, again. Got a little over nine-thousand miles out of this one, the first one lasted just five-thousand. In both cases the odometer went bad, the gauge registers speed just fine. So, rememering an old post by Greg Field concerning stripped gears being the problem (from lack of grease) I dissassembled the old spedo and sure enough, the main drive for the odometer and trip meter had worn to the point where the two gears (steel) no longer mesh. The plastic gears have a small amout of grease on them and look fine.

 

My plan is to remove the new replacement($$$)spedo from its shell and lube all the gears before installing it. Does anyone know the best type of grease to use? I might grease the gears every five-thousand miles or so as a preventitve measure.

 

Thanks

[Skeeve]

Does anyone know the best type of grease to use? I might grease the gears every five-thousand miles or so as a preventative measure.

 

These aren't high-pressure gears, so you can leave off the Moly-Di driveshaft grease...

 

Tri-Flow silicon grease w/ teflon? You're looking for something that is sticky [so it won't fling off] and will still lubricate in small doses [hence the teflon additive], while being inert to the plastic [petroleum-based greases might soften the plastics?]

 

Just tossing the ideas out there for discussion; I have no dog in this fight [yet!]

[Fred C. Dobbs]

To answer my own question--There's a speedo/tach repair outfit in Palo Alto, Ca. They do a lot of BMW airhead gauge rebuilds. I called and described my problem, asked an appropriate grease to use. "Just use any type of grease" was the reply. "Nothing special, use whatever you have on hand". So, I used some sticky red stuff I use for general purpose grease. I'll have a look at the gears after 5,000 miles or so and check for wear.

[gstallons]

I wouldn't use sticky stuff........