I visited a friend whose Pentax K-x had the common E-Dial problem and helped solving this,
so I took some pics and decised to use it for a tutorial.

Best to use a JIS 00 or 000 screwdriver, because most Japanese screws aren't Philips but JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard)

Close the K-mount with an appropriate lid or a lens so no dust can enter.


1. REMOVE THOSE 2 SCREWS ON THE LEFT SIDE:

most photos I took show the screws removed, so don't worry if you won't see anymore screws!


2. REMOVE THOSE 3 SCREWS ON THE RIGHT SIDE:




3. Remove 1 screw from inside the battery compartment:



4. Remove 2 screws from behind the rubber-eye-piece:




5. Now insert batteries, switch the camera ON, if it ask for "Input Focal Lengh" chose any you want and click o.k..
Open the flash (flash button on backside next to rubber-eye-piece) and lift the top part gently about 1 cm up! Switch camera off, remove batteries (you need to get in there later for the screw located there!)


6. Now you want to remove the flex-cable because it can easely be bent and hurt and anyway it is much easier to work with the top lying on the side: Find the connector of the flex-cable:




7. Open the connector (with your fingernail or some sensible tool) It is the longer brown-coloured part right above where the flex-cable moves in:




8. Pull out the flexcable by lifting it gently with your (finely tuned) fingers, it is glued with a flexible glue to the bottom which is good! Don't worry, the glue isn't strong and will re-glue again later on:

(you can see the whitish stuff behind the connector here, that's the glue which helps you to adjust the cable when you connect it again!)


9. Now you can easely place the top part of your camera to one side and you have good access to the E-Dial!


10. Take off the 4 screws holding the E-Dial at place:




11. Before you take the E-Dial off for cleaning make sure you won't lose the black rubber button of the AF/AE-L Switch left of the E-Dial:



This is how it looks like if you take the AF/AE-L button off:



12. Turn the E-Dial upside down and clean the large gold-plated contact area:

(best to use Isopropyl alcohol for this and cotton-swabs)


13. Gently clean the goldplated contacts of the mode-dial (from back to front, don't bend!):





You can see, those contacts have been used regularely, this Pentax wasn't used just in AUTO-Mode but TA, Tv and P-Mode:





14. You might be surprised that even 4000 actuations (shuttercount) can collect that much dirt:


(If the Mode-Dial itself has collected dirt inside (which one can feel, it grinds), you can take it apart as well but be very careful in doing so: Place in on AUTO-position, take a photo how the contacts on the inner side are aligned and then unscrew them. The Mode-Dial goes off to the top and has a ball which is situated in a plastic counterpart. Don't loose this ball, it is fixed with some grease. Cleaning and reassembly is pretty straight forward and logical)



15. Bring the flat flex cable back to the connector. Now you will welcome the elastic glue, it will hold the cable while you close the brown strip again!


16. Place the top part into its correct position, but take care with the wires on the left side they can easely jam:




17. Fix all screws and then all should be fine, your E-Dial will move freely and should work as if you got the camera new from the factory!

Enjoy your K-x, one of the smallest DSLR bodies of the world with real DSLR functions on board!



Addition:
If by any chance the pop-up flash of your K-x (same for K-r and K-m/2000) does not work anymore, i.e. won't open, check THIS THREAD

[Mcgutierre]

Seems easy, I will try it.Thanks!

[photogem]

Seems easy, I will try it.Thanks!

You're welcome. Yes, go ahead, it is easy.
And report how it went!

[Mcgutierre]

I just did it! thanks again, it was really easy. In my camera I had to remove one extra screw inside the flash housing (step 5). Another surprise is that the e-dial had only 3 screws, one was missing, I remember sending the camera to spanish official service under guarantee to fix this problem, I supose they missed the screw, but I can't prove that; anyway I have lots of screws from other cameras and replaced it.
Photogem: now I have 2 pentax DSLR bodies (K70 and kx), and both of them were fixed using your tutorials, I couldn't be more grateful!
I love kx sensor, the colours are really natural, and I have no exposure problems in high contrast situations as I do with K70. 12 mpx is enough for almost everyone, it would be a perfect camera if it had a pentaprism viewfinder and 2 dials instead of one (and a better lcd screen).

[photogem]

I just did it! thanks again, it was really easy.

Well done, congratulations!

In my camera I had to remove one extra screw inside the flash housing (step 5).

Ah... no, you didn't need to:
Just the middle screw! It fixes the top-part to the front-part!
There is another screw right in front of the pop-up-flash release-hook!
This one must not come off because it holds the mechanism with the flash-solenoid!
If unscrewed, you could be screwed.......: When this mechanism is lose, there is this tiny plastic rod behind the mentioned hook!
This rod easely falls out and gets lost. Then the pop-up-flash won't close anymore and stays open!

Another surprise is that the e-dial had only 3 screws, one was missing, I remember sending the camera to spanish official service under guarantee to fix this problem, I supose they missed the screw, but I can't prove that; anyway I have lots of screws from other cameras and replaced it.

Well, this is typical for a lot of repairs I have seen.

Photogem: now I have 2 pentax DSLR bodies (K70 and kx), and both of them were fixed using your tutorials, I couldn't be more grateful!

Well, that's what this forum partly is about.

I love kx sensor, the colours are really natural, and I have no exposure problems in high contrast situations as I do with K70. 12 mpx is enough for almost everyone, it would be a perfect camera if it had a pentaprism viewfinder and 2 dials instead of one (and a better lcd screen).

Two more great cameras from old Pentax days: K10D and K200D
Both have the same CCD Sensor, I prefer the K10D for its better Antishake, dials and possibilities.
But for ooc JPEG the K200D is better