Did I just broke my Quartz clock?

[alexandros075]

Hello E21 Friends

One of this days I decided that due to the cold weather and the car not being used very much I should disconnect the negative terminal from the battery. When I went and started it this weekend for a drive, I adjusted the analogue VDO clock by pushing the button and moving the dials clockwise ( I heard that if you move the dials counter clockwise you might damage some clocks mechanisms so I try to be extra careful). And now to my surprise the clock doesn't seem to work , before I could hear it working and now nothing, just stopped where I left the dials. I tried pushing the button away etc.

Did I just broke my clock? Or is there a step I might be missing ?

Many thanks in advance for your help

Cheers
Alex

[Jeroen]

Alex,

Don't think I ever managed to break one haha! It is more likely the fuse is blown, or that the fuse has a corroded surface. So I'd start with checking the fuse and rolling it for corrosion. Get used to it, E21's owners do have to roll their fuses on a regular basis. That's why they changed to different fuses with the E30.

Fingers crossed now!

[alexandros075]

Alex,

Don't think I ever managed to break one haha! It is more likely the fuse is blown, or that the fuse has a corroded surface. So I'd start with checking the fuse and rolling it for corrosion. Get used to it, E21's owners do have to roll their fuses on a regular basis. That's why they changed to different fuses with the E30.

Fingers crossed now!

Hi Jeroen so I just went and had a look. The fuse looks okay, its shared with other electrical items such as the hazard lights. I rolled the fuse for a bit of luck but no signs of the clock ticking or moving unfortunately. Then I took the fuse out and the hazards didn't work, so I guess is something on the clock that went kaput. I am not too bothered, not sure if I take the whole dashboard out to fix it, unless its an easy fix ?

Many thanks
Alex

[nic65]

is the big one or do you already have the tachometer?....

[alexandros075]

is the big one or do you already have the tachometer?....

Hi Nic65, is the small square VDO Zeit one that lives on the dashboard. I have a tachometer. Do you know what could be wrong?

[nic65]

taking it out of the upper speaker compartment shouldn't be difficult ... let's hope that while running out of power, some internal capacitors have not been damaged

[alexandros075]

Just as an update on this. I wasn’t that bothered about the clock not working so I just left it. Today as I shut the car off and I go looking for my phone close to the dashboard I hear the “tick-tick” noise, I see and the clock works again! It has fixed itself! Not sure what happened so I will leave it and see if it stops after, but for now I have a working clock !

[Jeroen]