My first guess is that it is sticking in the down position.  Clean the pivot and lubricate with a very light oil.  I have never had any direct experience with this matter.  Just my theory.

Hmm, we're talking lubrication again. Ha, ha.

Good Luck.

-Dick Wong-
78 Scirocco
Original Owner
87 Vanagon GL Syncro 2.5 (Blaze)
Third Owner
12 Golf TDI
Original Co-Owner

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Eric Caron
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 7:19 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Intermittent speedometer failure

Hi folks,

        I�d love some tips concerning a new strange problem with my speedometer.  this troubling behavior just started on our recent weekend trip.

During the trip the speedometer needle indicating speed which sometimes not move.  the other indicators like miles on the trip counter and mileage would keep working.  then for no apparent reason the needle would start to work again and according to my GPS it was correct.  Every now and then it would just stop working, often after the van had been at a stop.

Can anyone tell me what might be going wrong and if there is something I can do to make the speedometer healthy again.

Eric Caron 
85 GL auto Westfalia 

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