Olympus Pen EE3 - Faulty light meter and stuck aperture

My Pen EE3 was working fine till recently I noticed the shutter fires even with the cap on (the red flag doesn't come up). Also, the aperture seems to be stuck on f22, and doesn't open up when I shift to f3.5. Are these problems related? Because these issues appeared at the same time. I checked with a friend who owns a few of these and he said the light meter's spoilt and needs to be replaced (can't be fixed), but the aperture can be repaired.

Can anyone tell me how to fix this problem? I really like this camera and would like to get it working properly again...

Unless you are planning on this being a DIY project, my guess is you are better off finding another one on eBay. I don't think my OM repair guy (zuiko.com) works on these. If the meter is toast, another one that works would be the best solution IMHO. Bill Barber

Thanks Bill for confirming what my friend said. DIY isn't an option since I'm useless at this stuff. I guess I'd better head on over to ebay...

I seem to recall that the mechanism on the viewfinder Pens is similar to the one used on the Trip 35. The Trip is actually very easy to work on. Take a look at www.thermojetstove.com/Trip35 for detailed instructions on how to check the meter and clean the aperture blades.

Thanks for the link Tim. I'll check it out.

I wonder if the meter really is dead; the EE-3 series was made in the 70s & 80s, and all the ones I played with still had functioning selenium cells. Maybe it's just gummed-up lubricants?

Here are instructions with pictures, on how to open up an EE, so you can see what's inside (even if you're not going to try repairing it yourself.)