Just purchased a clock as part of group of center console gauges online from someone that said it was working when they pulled the console out. It was the only one of the three (volt and temp) that was not all scratched up. It was completely frozen. Now I have 2 that don't work

I went to North Hollywood Speedo and they said "Service on these can range from $195 to $385. 1-5 day turn around."

I don't need a clock that bad....

Anyone have recommendation for a reasonable repair on the center console clock? (later model)

Update 12/15/18

Based on an other user's experience, this post has been scrubbed to no longer provide endorsement of a different vendor.

PM me.

Hah! Who needs a clock when you have one of these?

So true. My 914 clock I bought from eBay tends to gain time - if only I had bought one of those watches. The brit car guys hang a wristwatch on the dash.

Under the VDO sticker on the back of the clock is an adjustment screw. Give that a go.

Just putting this out there, but may be worth a peek inside. Maybe there is a Uribe video of someone doing this. I know your not the 1st.

I repaired a VW T3 clock by opening it. The clock uses a solenoid and a spring winder. The wore broke off the solenoid. A quick resolder job was all that was required. I imagine the Porsche clock has a similar mechanism.

My thoughts exactly. You started with a broken clock, you may be able to fix. If you do a thread may be in order. I have a feeling it could be a simple process.

Isn't there something over at Pelican about fixing 911 clock. It should be the same for 914.

Yes they have a good tech article. After reading it I think most people will still send them in to get fixed. The following isn’t it.

1973 Porsche 914 Clocks
The 1973 and very early 1974 Porsche 914 clock is a spring-driven unit that uses intermittent electrical charges to rewind the spring. There is a tiny adjustment screw on the rear of the gauge to speed or slow the clock as necessary. The driving mechanism is accessible via removal of three 5 mm nuts and subsequently a white plastic cover from the rear. Initial removal of the rear cover requires breaking off a wax-filled plastic enclosure surrounding one of the nuts (pictured at right) which probably invalidates any warranty (no-doubt already expired). The clock face, needles and inside of the lens are accessible only by prying off the molded steel bezel ring. Failure of these VDO "Kienzle" clocks, part number 914 641 119 10, generally results from the triggering of a spring-loaded, thermal-solder "fuse" connection that can be easily repaired with a needle-type solder gun. This fuse is clearly identified and described on a sticker affixed to the side of the removable rear plastic cover.

1974 - 1976 Porsche 914 Clocks
The VDO clocks used in the 1974-1976 Porsche 914 center console are sealed units with the mechanisms accessible only by prying off the molded steel bezel ring. This later "Quarz-Zeit" clock is more accurate but also more prone to failure. The driving mechanism is a small motor as opposed to the spring-driven design in the 1973 models. The "Quarz-Zeit" clock, also designated part number 914 641 119 10, commonly suffers from motor failure or plastic gear/shaft breakage, rendering the unit inoperable.

NoHo Speedo changes the movement of all clocks to modern day Quartz Movement. On a '73, Specialty Gauge will repair to the original movement, so for those into originality its the way to go. Love the fact that you can hear the mechanism when the car is not running.

The more original, the better IMHO.

Depending on the malfunction .
If the Clock still Ticks, maybe a little amount of WD40, applied through/along the Center Shaft, my help.
On my Clock, it worked.
If not, maybe it is consolation, the Time is right twice a day

Sounds like your clock (per above from Coondog, at lest for the earlier clock) might be pretty similar to the VW Type 3 style clocks which have the same issue of the "fuse" going out. Do a quick search on the samba and a few threads should show up if you want some more details. I haven't fixed mine, so I can't help too much, I just know of the issue and that lots of people have fixed it easily.

The hands, for the original one, that is still in the car,, work smoothly and i swapped the bulb to an LED bulb and lit up nicely under power. i was hoping to avoid taking a clock apart (I did that once when I was a kid and that did not go very well) and just swap the replacement in and walk away. The hands on the one I received will not even turn. It appears to be seized up and I doubt will work. I will try to take that one apart first and see if the pelican fix works. If not, then I'll see what I do with the other. thanks for the recommendations and options

@drem914

I know your last post was almost a year ago but I was wondering if you ever fixed your clock?

I also recommend Corey Shepard of Specialty Gauge. He redid all my guages. cleaned them up from 45+ years of dust and dirt accumulation as well. Bright guages now and all work as expected. He's also a 914 World member and vendor

If you push the minute hand too deep on the post it will hit the gauge face mounting screw, hence no more movement. Take it out and investigate that first. It happens

Jim
Thanks. I found Cory's info in this thread as well as elsewhere online. I sent him an email. Looks like he charges $109. That seems very reasonable. I'm part way through trying to retrofit another mechanism into one of my clocks and will likely try to finish that as I've gone too far to turn back but I have others I can send him.

right now we are in the process of making a reproduction 914 clock identical in every way to the original but just not with the VDO on the face. We will be selling it along with the installation gasket for no more than 95.00 an hopefully cheaper

George
Hopefully, they'll be more impressive than your oil temp gauges. Your oil temp gauge looks nothing like the 914 Gauge. For $38.00 and free shipping a person could get this:

https://www.ebay.com/p/Aftermarket-Porsche-...8991&chn=ps

I'm tempted since my car isn't original anyway. I think if you can have an original clock restored for $110 that would be the route most would go. I'm almost done installing another VDO movement into my 914 clock and it's coming out well so I probably won't have one restored or buy aftermarket. Good luck with the clocks. I'll probably start a thread about how I'm doing mine.

EDIT I just looked at your site and saw you offer the same gauge. I saw a different gauge you posted a picture of in the last couple of days.

you have not seen a pic of our oil temp gauge yet as I have not posted it, only posted the oil PRESSURE gauge!!!!!!!

Ours looks exactly like the Indian one you provided the link for.

Why waste time making a non matching gauge? Would be silly.

AA told me this a year ago, still waiting !!

Mine is an exact match as it uses a 914 housing, face etc. It uses a VDO mechanism out of a 52mm gauge. I only attempted it because I had 10-15 working 52mm clocks lying around. I guess mine will match better since it is VDO! In the picture, I have 52mm hands installed. The finished product will have proper 60mm hands.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I have seen a picture of your gauge. It is posted on your site.

Yup, Coon, that guy in India (he is a good guy) was very very slow on this one. He makes the equalizer cables, the speedo angle drives, the Horn an driving light grilles, the thermostat cables, and the volt meters, pressure gauges, temp gauges, and soon clocks. Took WAY too long on the horn and driving light grilles, we had had them planned back in 2011!!!!!!!!!

any update?

I looked into finding a small 12v quartz movement that can fit inside the can. Wasn’t very successful

we had an in person meeting with our manufacturer just before Thanksgiving and they have dissected the original and the smaller vdo replacement as well as the 944 /924 clocks, and accordingly the early ones have movements the later ones electronic. They will be making the clocks fully electronic but looking identical to the original console clocks. He has not given us an update since, we have the identical volt meters, the oil temp gauges as well as the new factory console sized oil pressure gauges, we are also thinking of having him make

right pass side door panel boxes
switch bezels for driving fog emergency and hazard lights
headlight motor knobs
"taco" plates
200 degree factory look sending units
74.5-76 fuel filler neck gaskets

any interest, any one already doing these? (do not want to make something someone is already making in this small market

Just saw this pop back up. I didn't realize I had started the questions. Still have not taken apart the clock yet to give it a shot at a repair. Last time I took a clock apart I was a kid. My parents weren't too happy about it....

1974 914 2.0 Clock Repair - I removed my clock face with a "terminating screw driver", these are fine and sharp and make easy work of removing the face by turning up the lip around the edge. I then removed the three screws off the back of the housing and lastly heated up the ground solder to release the clock body from the housing.
I immediately noticed one of the blue capaciotors was fried and one solder leg melted off. These are easy to replace. You can either take it into an electronics shop and have them do it or just take in the old capacitor and have them match it and solder it back on yourself. I will be replacing both of them just to be safe.
All the other components were just fine, gears, shafts, etc. I will recommend lubricating them since you already have the clock open at this point. You can buy a "terminating screw driver" at Home Depot. Update to follow on the success of the capacitor change out...

I forgot to mention you do not need to take any other part this clock apart to replace the capacitors, the hands, clock face and PC board can all remain in place and the less invasive the better with these things. Here are pics the terminating screw driver, it will save a whole bunch of frustration and possibly damage by using the wrong tool.

I keep telling my wife, "What am I going to do - break it more?" Usually successful, but also know when to call/send to the professionals. Fixed our hand mixer yesterday - just some dirty switch contacts. Whrrrr....

I keep telling my wife, "What am I going to do - break it more?" Usually successful, but also know when to call/send to the professionals. Fixed our hand mixer yesterday - just some dirty switch contacts. Whrrrr....
[/quote]


We used to fix things all the time but most of it is throw-away these days. What drove me to try and fix this was the replacement cost. Hopefully it's just the capacitor and it's so true... I had a non-working clock to begin with so only up from here I guess.

Deleted. Comment doesn't apply to this clock.

@bbrock


That one is a later model quartz unit. I'm not sure if they have the same solder "fuse" that we have on our earlier mechanical VDO Kienzle units.


@Lmaze
I've never worked on a quart unit so advice is worth what you paid.

Electrolytic capacitors (the can type) go bad over time as you've already discovered. The electrolyte in them dries out and the no longer act as a capacitor. Alternatively, they swell and explode / leak as looks like is the case with yours. The electrolyte is corrosive so the lead that looks fried might just corroded away and not "fried" without any other damage. The capacitors are the prime suspects for sure.

The other thing to look at if you're not alreay aware, is the copper board trace that might be below or near the capacitor. Not uncommon for the electrolyte to corrode that trace away too, but, that can usually be fixed with a jumper wire if necessary.


Please post with followup on how this works out.

My bad. I didn't catch that. Thanks for pointing it out.

What do I know . . . . I'm only guessing too since I've never actually worked on the quartz version

It's the internet though . . . advice is always worth what was paid!

Capacitors commonly deteriorate over time. I'm not an electronic tech, but I am an electrician and have seen many capacitors fail. I have removed the capacitor, the board will be cleaned with contact cleaner prior to soldering the new legs in place. My assumption is that these two capacitors provide the regulated burst of voltage the motors requires to turn the gears. Technically they store and release a charge voltage as needed. I can't see them being used as a fuse connection. You could attribute the fine solder lines as a fuse point. I don't see any other issue other than a failed capacitor that feeds gated voltage to the motor. My solder iron is a small hobby unit, which for the most part takes forever to heat up and holds a solder melt for about a second when directly applied. I'm not concerned at this point about and heat related issued that would extend to the motor.
That being said we will soon find out when I install the new capacitor and fire up the clock. Hopefully this fix is viable.

You're good. As @Superhawk996 pointed out, I was referencing the earlier self-winding clock style. It has a spring loaded solder connection that is clearly labeled as a fuse. I just checked my clock and it is 120 C solder. Very low melting point. Doesn't apply to your clock though. Interested to see how it turns out. I love it when people take the time to fix these things.

Update: I picked up the new capacitors today (16V 47UF) for $7.00, smaller units than the old ones so the car should be a bit faster.

I decided to replace both which worked out well because when I went to remove the second capacitor the one leg slid out, it would been the next failure.

The clock now works great, the gears had a slight sound to them, a dab of oil and they are super smooth and quite. I also timed it for five minutes with my phone stop watch and it's right on the money.

So overall, relatively easy fix and total cost of $7.00. Again if you open your clock and see an obvious issue with the capacitors and don't want to play with the whole soldering issue, you can take it in and have the e-shop change them out. I would guess this cost would be minimum.

Nice job. Glad it's working and thanks for posting for others to learn from your experience!

I bought my first 914 in February of this year and this forum has been a priceless resource for me. It was nice to finally give something back.

Here is a pic of my 914, really loving this car, it kinda grabs onto you.

I know there are a few threads out there on clocks. The PO of my 356 had all of the gauges done years ago and the clock was converted to quartz. Palo Alto did all of the work. I bought one of AA's quarts replacements and it shipped yesterday. I have a 74 BB and the clock makes noise but the hands don't move. It also drained the battery over a few months. My bad for not disconnecting the battery for storage. I'll attempt to repair the old clock per the instructions in this thread at some point and also update it with how the AA clock looks and works. Palo Alto quoted me $695 plus shipping to convert my existing clock to quartz and do their other normal service.