Looking for support. Has anyone else had the misfortune of having your speedo drive fail ? my 96 9000cse with 53,000mls did and I am now faced with a repair bill of £585.00 the break down of the bill is £5.65 +Vat!! for the PLASTIC drive and the remainder is for labour to remove the gear box strip it down replace the £5.65 piece of PLASTIC rebuild said gearbox and refit .Am I just unfortunate or has this happened to you ?

When I had the gearbox off a 1990 CD to replace the clutch slave cylinder I removed the speedo drive. It was easier than finding the connector at the other end of the cable attached to it. A single bolt retained the speedo drive which has a plastic helical cut gear projecting from it. It can be removed from the gearbox by reaching up from underneath the car in minutes. This engages with a gear inside the differential housing and I doubt very much if it is made from plastic. The plastic gear on the speed transducer is available as a replacement part.