Schizophrenic Gauges, MKIII Jetta

[MrBurritoMan]

ok i am totally stumped on this one so any input is greatly appreciated. i have as my sig displays owned this car for about 3 months and i have up to this point in my life been able to fix anything that is electronic. the gauges in my car used to work perfectly fine then they would work half the time and the other half the time the speedo and tach would just shutter at zero. now that is all they do. they have not worked for about a month. the odo still ticks the miles away so i know that the cluster is getting a signal from the speed sender. any suggestions?

[jettadude]

there is a sensor in the tranny that hooks up to your speedo. that is bad. most likely ive allready done 2 on 2.0's

[SteveXs2]

That's weird because in my old car my tach worked fine but the speedo and the odometer died and it was because of the little gear in the tranny. If your odo still works though, that's very weird.

[burn_your_money]

If it was a mk1 I'd say check your grounds...

[fortytons]

I have had mine replaced under warranty for the same thing. I would get one off of ebay and swap it to see if it works.:cry:

[fortytons]

The bad thing is you can't change the ODO on the new one.MK3's are non-programmable (according to the dealer).

[jettadude]

yea gear or sensor. sensor is for the tach the gear and i think that is below the sensor is odo and speedo.

[lipunx]

I'm having a similar problem but instead of my speedo and tach it's my speedo and gas gauge. The speedometer started acting up a few weeks ago so I cleaned the pins up a bit with contact cleaner. That worked for about a week and now it's totally dead. The gas gauge just kind of moves all over the place so I have no idea how much gas I actually have . On top of all of that I'm getting code P0505 which is idle control malfunction. Could it be a bad ground ? I'm dumbfounded once again. Help ? haha

[MrBurritoMan]

the idle problem i have no idea on but as far as your gages are concerned it sounds like a ground. check the ground connections under the battery and behind the engine block.

[Mr_Diesel]

the idle problem i have no idea on but as far as your gages are concerned it sounds like a ground. check the ground connections under the battery and behind the engine block.

MkIII gauges, are notorius for software problems... rarely is it a ground.

[burn_your_money]

A grounds cheaper then a new cluster, and shouldn't take to long to try either, but you're right, chances are that won't be your problem.

[lipunx]

Well as it turns out I'm an idiot. It was 501 not 505 :D . Anyways I tried out another speed sensor I had laying around by setting up a cheap digital camera to watch my cluster while I tested it. Sure enough it was the sensor. I'm stilled stumped as to why my gas gauge is going nuts though.

[suburbanrobot]

I just bought a 96 GTI 2.0 and every now and then the speedo and tach don't work....
I need at least a tach to estimate my speed

[Mr_Diesel]

Hi suburbanrobot, welcome to dubnet.

Question about your cluster... Does ANYTHING happen at all when you first turn the key on? Can you see the mileage on the car? The digital clock? Is there any blinking lights or anything on the cluster?

[suburbanrobot]

Hi suburbanrobot, welcome to dubnet.

Question about your cluster... Does ANYTHING happen at all when you first turn the key on? Can you see the mileage on the car? The digital clock? Is there any blinking lights or anything on the cluster?

hey Mr. D thanks for the welcome:-D

when it is NOT working the speedo needle will bounce off the "0" Mph pin, otherwise the clock and odo works..... no blinking lights, no codes.

is there something I could inspect or clean myself?

when buying a used replacement cluster, how do would I know if it is good?

thanks,
Jeffrey

[MrBurritoMan]

typically when there is a software problem both the speedo and tach will flip out together.

it sounds like your should check your speed sender or grounding straps.

you could purchase a new (to you) cluster however the pain in this is the mileage will be wrong. when that happens the DMV will flip out and you will have a nasty note put on your car's record.

do you have an auto or manual transmission?

[Mr_Diesel]

Burrito,

I had a problem (software) just like you describe on my 94 Jetta. The needles would flip out and it would say "error" on the odometer LCD. Suburban, burrito has a good suggestion there. Check the grounding straps on the engine and check the speedometer harness down on the trans. Make sure nothing is loose. You might have to replace the speed sensor. (not too hard or expensive). Except, you say the tach doesn't work sometimes? Can you clarify?

There's no real way to test a used speedo... you just kind of have to take the sellers word. Use paypal so you can dispute the charge if the speedo is bad.

There are two types of clusters for the Mark III VW. You have a 1996, so you could have either one. The gauge faces (the part that has the numbers and lines printed on it) will either be recessed or "bubbled" out. The OBDI clusters have the "bubble" style cluster. That means that the gauge face pops out and isn't recessed. The font style for the numbers and letters is also more "round". The newer style cluster has a flat and recessed face. The font is more square than round.

Bubble Cluster:
http://www.dubnetworks.net/dubhost/d/3691-1/bubblecluster_vw.jpg

Newer Style Cluster:
http://www.dubnetworks.net/dubhost/d/3693-1/vw_cluster.JPG

Only thing you really need to do is make sure you get the same style cluster. The automatics have the "PRND321" on the right hand side, but the automatic cluster will work in manual trans car... (I have one in mine;)) I don't know if they work vice versa though.

[suburbanrobot]

typically when there is a software problem both the speedo and tach will flip out together.

it sounds like your should check your speed sender or grounding straps.

you could purchase a new (to you) cluster however the pain in this is the mileage will be wrong. when that happens the DMV will flip out and you will have a nasty note put on your car's record.

do you have an auto or manual transmission?

my bad.... it's the tach too when it does happen

yes, my car is a 5 speed manny

[suburbanrobot]

I think I have the bubble cluster.... it's a early 1996 as I was told by my dealer parts guy based on the VIN number.

I found this unit on EBAY w/ silver face gauges
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching&viewitem=&item=380017228264&_trksid=p3907.m32

I am going to take Burrito and your advice on checking the grounding straps! maybe that will rectify the problem... I just can't do it until next weekend as I have plans.

I'll keep you both updated

thanks

Burrito,

I had a problem (software) just like you describe on my 94 Jetta. The needles would flip out and it would say "error" on the odometer LCD. Suburban, burrito has a good suggestion there. Check the grounding straps on the engine and check the speedometer harness down on the trans. Make sure nothing is loose. You might have to replace the speed sensor. (not too hard or expensive). Except, you say the tach doesn't work sometimes? Can you clarify?

There's no real way to test a used speedo... you just kind of have to take the sellers word. Use paypal so you can dispute the charge if the speedo is bad.

There are two types of clusters for the Mark III VW. You have a 1996, so you could have either one. The gauge faces (the part that has the numbers and lines printed on it) will either be recessed or "bubbled" out. The OBDI clusters have the "bubble" style cluster. That means that the gauge face pops out and isn't recessed. The font style for the numbers and letters is also more "round". The newer style cluster has a flat and recessed face. The font is more square than round.

Bubble Cluster:
http://www.dubnetworks.net/dubhost/d/3691-1/bubblecluster_vw.jpg

Newer Style Cluster:
http://www.dubnetworks.net/dubhost/d/3693-1/vw_cluster.JPG

Only thing you really need to do is make sure you get the same style cluster. The automatics have the "PRND321" on the right hand side, but the automatic cluster will work in manual trans car... (I have one in mine;)) I don't know if they work vice versa though.