Re: Odometer drive gears .....

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

> I pulled the speedo out of the QTC yesterday to fix the *standard*
> broken odo drive gear.  The gear on the '83 is much more accessible
> than on the '78 ... you don't even need to remove the speedo face
> to get at it.  I called a couple of VDO repair shops to ask them if
> it's possible to replace the gear.  They told me that there is no 
> way they can sell the gear to me, and even though the gear is right
> out there in front of God and everyone it will still cost me $60+ to
> get it replaced (because they have to recalibrate the unit).  As long 
> as the new gear has the same number of teeth as the old gear I can't 
> see why any recalibration would be necessary.  The fracture in the 
> gear was such that even after I attached it more firmly to the shaft 
> it can bind against the worm gear, so I need a replacement gear.  Any-
> body know of a way to get replacement gears without having to grab 
> one's ankles?

In a rare moment of candor, someone once told me the truth about why every
VDO repair shop in the world refuses to sell just the plastic gear: 1) the
zinc gear that drives the plastic gear often needs to be replaced as well,
and 2) their license agreement with VDO prohibits them from selling parts;
anyone caught doing so, he claims, will be terminated and removed from the
list of authorized VDO repair stations.

My guess is that because VDO can provide them with an exclusive on repairs,
they can in turn charge them that much more for parts and/or the license...
in the end, everyone except those of us who drive german cars for more than
60k miles, benefits from this kind of arrangement.  That said, at one time,
there was a place in Atlanta that would sell gears to licensed repair shops
for about $2.50 per ... unfortunately, I can't remember the name or number.
 

                /| | | |\  |   |\  | | |\  |  AudiDudi@delphi.com
               /-| | | | | | = | | | | | | |  Jeffrey Goggin
              /  | |_| |/  |   |/  |_| |/  |  Scottsdale, Arizona