Bill,

Thank you for the trip-odometer rant, though I'm not
sure I enjoyed it.

>> "The first thing that happens when you push the
button is that the gears disengage.  So, it won't
matter if it's moving or not."

Sure, but the first thing that happens when you
RELEASE the button is that the gears ENgage, and I
suspect that's when they break.

>> "Why didn't it go the first time? Or first 50
times?"

Cuz the first time it was used, the mechanism wasn't
20 years old. I don't think anyone suggested an
inherent design flaw in the trip-odometer mechanism,
but as you correctly point out ...

>> "Combine that with old brittle plastic and you've
got breakage."

If one simply engaged manual transmission gears
without benefit of synchronizers or clutch (rather
similar to the trip-odometer mechanism), one might
experience similar results down in the gearbox. Even
if they were NOT made of old, brittle plastic.

'Course, that would probably cut one's trip short,
making a trip-odometer rather superfluous ...

Jeffrey Earl
1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"

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