I have a VDO cluster, and over the course of the past year I was in search of a working odometer. I have literally swapped out 7 different speedometer units (putting new gears in each time and keeping my same cluster and board). None of them worked. That is until this last one.
Now this could be crazy coincidence, but before this current working odometer, they all looked the same (all were VDO including the working one). Let me explain:
The face of the non-working odometers had a lot more MPH delineation. Lots of little ticks in 5 MPH delineation similar to the tach. The working one looked different. A lot less ticks - only on the 10 MPH increments.
Mechanically, the working one is different as well in one small but visually significant way: On the plastic cover that protects the gears is a circuit board. All the non-working clusters were missing this. Something tells me that this slight adjustment on the VDO circuity makes for a more reliable and robust odometer.
So if you are looking for working speedometers in the junkyard, look for that little circuit board on side of the gears. From my experience that seems like your best bet. It sure is nice to have a working odometer!
Now this could be crazy coincidence, but before this current working odometer, they all looked the same (all were VDO including the working one). Let me explain:
The face of the non-working odometers had a lot more MPH delineation. Lots of little ticks in 5 MPH delineation similar to the tach. The working one looked different. A lot less ticks - only on the 10 MPH increments.
Mechanically, the working one is different as well in one small but visually significant way: On the plastic cover that protects the gears is a circuit board. All the non-working clusters were missing this. Something tells me that this slight adjustment on the VDO circuity makes for a more reliable and robust odometer.
So if you are looking for working speedometers in the junkyard, look for that little circuit board on side of the gears. From my experience that seems like your best bet. It sure is nice to have a working odometer!