My neighbors '95 C280's speedometer has started to intermittently not register a MPH reading. The odometer hasn't skipped a beat nor does the problem seem to be temperature sensitive. Short of a dash disassembly any recommendations? Is the speedo electrical or mechanical on this car? Hope someone can help. My reputation as the neighborhood motor head is in jeopardy. Thanks in advance.
RB

 

you're a very helpful guy.

the speedometer is not mechanical but electronic triggering.

if you dont get abs, asr, bas, ets light, (which means the speed signal is fine) then the cluster is on it's end of life.

you may open it, look for broken printed circuit, loose connections and clean some contacts.

if it still doesn't work, toss it to the nearest rubbish bin, look your neighbor straight in the eye and tell him kaputz.

 

Hi Sleepwalker,
When you state, if you don't get ABS, ASR........... and so on, do you mean error messages on the dash displays? You didn't mention if the odometer is cable driven? That part of the cluster seems to function accurately. If the head unit (speedometer) is toast (probably costs as much installed as a decent 'station car') I'll print out some gear/tire charts for my neighbor and teach him how to use his tach as his new speedo. The car has 100K+ miles and while almost 'in the wrapper' I doubt my neighbor would spend big money for a dealer to replace it. In S.W.CT traffic is so dense now that breaking the speed limit has become a challenge. That being said, the speedometer is almost not needed. Thanks for your reply.
RB