Chris -

BTDT.  Until I got my odometer working, I carried a gas can on the 
roof, cover by a cardboard box.  Gas guage still not working, sender 
I think.  Speedo/odo fixed after about 10,000 miles of living with 
agas can as my best friend ;-) and several times running out of gas.

I've seen 3 modes of failure on a odometer.
1) primary drive gear split, common, can be fixed with string and 
glue.
2) same gear shatters, need to replace with one from junker, hard to 
find un-broken
3) shaft gear is on slides out form housing and disengages gears.  
Tried several things, but ended up replacing speedo housing.

You'll have to take speedo apart to figure out this one, different 
versions for different years and models.

I spent $55 for two broken odo instrument clusters, and with mine, I 
ended up with 2 functinal ones.  Holefully cheaper where you are, 
Sacramento Vanagon used parts are pricey.

The voltage stabilizer on on the instrument panel can affect the gas 
guage reading.  I replaced both that and the gas guage with no 
change, so on mine, it's the sender and I haven't gotten around to 
dropping the tank.

- Jeff '80 Westi

- - - - - - - - - -
The gas gauge on my van has never worked as long as I've had it,
have always used the trip meter as an alternative.  Well, now the trip
meter has called it quits

The symptoms: When the tenths of a mile ring reaches nine, it freezes.
This also freezes the odometer.  I could use it for a while by pulling the
wand out a little, this trick no longer seems to fix.

The gas gauge symptoms: if full, reads half empty or a quarter empty.

Has anyone tackled these two problems before, barring or in lue of that,
any suggestions