BohemiVan: VW T25 Speedometer & Odometer Not WorkingHow to fix???

Has the speedometer or odometer of your VW T25 stopped working? Do you want to know one possible way to fix them? Read on to find out how I fixed mine at the affordable cost of the price of one nail.

All of a sudden, both my speedometer and odometer stopped working. As I needed to get my van through it's ITV (MOT), I decided I needed to sort this problem out and, as I was strapped for cash, decided to attempt to fix it myself. I also do not like ordering things online and having to wait for weeks for them to arrive, so I held off ordering a new cable.

First, I removed the dash cover that surrounds the dials behind the steering wheel. First, pull at the casing at the front and sides and eventually pull off the back. You will have to pull quite hard but it will eventually unclip. Then you will need to remove the two screws that hold the dials to the dashboard. Then you will be able to pull them towards you so you can see the back of the speedometer. When I first did this, I saw that the cable had come out of the back of the speedometer and that its plastic clip had broken. At first, I thought this broken clip could be the cause of the failure. However, despite gluing and taping it back together and pushing it back into the speedometer, it still didn't work.

As it was both the speedometer and odometer that had stopped working, I realised it must have been something to do with the cable feeding them both. It wasn't that the clip was broken, so it had to be something at the other end of the cable where it meets the wheel. Still with the dashboard falling forwards exposing the disconnected cable, I drove very slowly and looked to see if the inside of the cable was rotating. It wasn't. This confirmed it was a problem at the other end.

I took off the hubcap of the driver's side wheel. The end of the cable could be seen through the square hole in the bearing cap but it had obviously been pulled through so was no longer being turned by the wheel. I removed the bearing cap. You're supposed to hammer this off with a claw hammer but I used a plumber's wrench instead. It was full of brown grease so I cleaned that out a bit. I got hold of the cable using tweezers at first as it was pulled well inside the hole. I then held onto it with small pliers as I dislodged wire left in the hole that runs through the end. Wire had obviously been used to secure the cable end to the outside of the bearing cap but had broken, causing the speedometer failure. I dislodged the remaining bit of wire by hammering a nail into the hole and pushing it out.

Having watched a Youtube video on reducing the size of the square hole in the bearing cap so it fits the square end of the cable better I checked to see if there was much difference in the two shapes. The bearing cap square was larger than the cable end and the cable end had worn at the edges. I decided to reduce the bearing cap square so it provided a tighter fit for the cable, reducing the risk of slipping. I stood a piece of metal pole onto a metal block and put the cap onto the pole to resemble a mushroom shape. I then hammered the cap around the hole until the hole became smaller. If the hole changes shape, you can file it back into a square.

Luckily, I didn't need to do that.

Having no wire and no 'e clip' or 'circlip', I had to improvise. I used the short nail that I'd used to remove the wire remnant. It fitted very nicely. The end of the nail meant it was secure on one side by the head and I bent the other side over and cut it down in length. I have since read that the cable end needs to be filled in to prevent water entering the bearings, so I shall put a dab of silicone onto it.

Job done anyway....the speedometer and odometer worked again after half a minute of driving. I think it had seized up due to not working for so long. All of a sudden, it sprang back to life.