Hi All
Can't see that this particular variety of VW electrical fault has been posted before so here goes.
Noticed tonight whilst driving back that the illuminated needles on the temp gauge and fuel gauge were flickering intermitantly. This does not affect the speedo or rev counter and the flicker is an illumination flicker not needle movement flicker. The background of the dials in question stays illuminated just the needle becomes invisible and then comes back.
It seems to be related to movement so I suspect its a connection somewhere that needs cleaning or re-making do you think this is correct? If so which side of the bulkhead is the connection likely to be and where do these cables run so I can follow and check them.
Or taking a more sinister view is this a symptom of something else as I do recall previous posts on VW electrical faults where something doing something was actually a sign that something else alltogether was beginnging to fail.
All ideas welcomed
As always
Mark
|
Ok just to update,
Tonight the flickering has stopped and the needles are no longer illuminated on the temp and fuel gauge. There is the occassional sporadic flicker but they are mostly out.
Both needles flickered together so I am guessing its a common light source for the needle illumination and given the other needles are unaffected I assume its a seperate feed than that for the speedo/rev counter.
Given the gauges represent equipment located at different ends of the car I am assuming its a cable connection somewhere between the back of the instrument cluster and somewhere in the engine bay, buts thats as far as I can deduce.
Has anyone come across this before? or can anyone suggest where to start looking?
As always
Mark
|
Sounds like a bulb. I think that in your car the needle positions are all driven by the ecu, so all the sensors report to the ecu and that then communicates with the display - the diagnostics allow a display test which drives each needle around its full travel.
If this is just an illumination issue I think you are looking at replacing a couple of bulbs / leds or cleaning a connector.
|
Hi Mark
Thanks for the reply if it is a bulb it raises the question is it a dash out job to replace the instrument bulbs or can it be reached from under the drivers footwell.
Given there is an occaisional flicker I dont the the bulb is quite dead yet and it does make me think about the likelihood of a poor connection which I take from your reply to probably be somewhere between the ecu and and the instrument panel. I have some time tomorrow so I will see if anything obvious can be seen but its a tightly packed engine bay with everything covered by a shield or cover so I wont know until I have popped the hood.
as always
Mark
|
This sounds like a problem with the instrument pod itself.It is very unlikely that there is a bad connection to the pod because the same circuit feeds the speedo/tacho needles .There are no bulbs ;all the illumination is led sourced.Removal & access to the rear of the pod requires dismantling of the light switch & panel ,& also the steering column cowling to gain access to the 2 lower screws.I don't think you will find anything in the engine bay that relates to your problem.HTH.
|
Hi Elekie
Many thanks for the reply it helps a lot.
The pod option sounds expensive and time consuming esp at main dealer rates. No other part of the pod is as yet affected and as the needles still work for the fuel and temp its not that much of an issue, just I cant see them in the dark.
I am tempted to keep any eye on it for the moment though I must admit any more deterioration or loss of the panel will be quite worrying.
Are there any common issues with these pods, like the "dry joint" problem that affects some ecus, is it repairable or is it time for a trip to the breakers if it needs to be renewed.
No that the engine bay has been ruled out I will look up from the drivers footwell tomorrow to see how much can be reached without dismantling though I suspect it will not be much.
As always
Mark
|
Could be a dry joint problem.But be very carefull if anybody decides to venture inside the pod .Ther are some very complex circuits inside that could be damaged;notably the vehicle immobiliser - you could end up with a car that does not start.This makes a s/hand unit difficult to use.
|
Thanks for the reply Elekie
This beginning to sound like it might be expensive......
Being tighter than two coats of paint it is a problem I might have to live with especially this close to Christmas.
But it does prompt three more questions, Firstly if I ignore it is further damage likely to occur and is more of the panel likely to die?
Secondly if the panel goes Kaput I presume the car will be in operable due to the immobiliser circuit?
Finally so should I get this fixed or replaced ASAP?
And there I was thinking most electrical problems could be fixed with a shot of WD40
As always
Mark
|
Mark,
I have a 2001MY Golf with similar design of inst panel. In investigating an intermittent fault with the trip computer display, I removed the cluster and dismantled it carefully, looking for, and attending to, dry joints. I found one or two, but it did not fix my problem. (A new cluster did - £300 at VW main dlr prices).
You could look for dry joints feeding the LEDs, but getting your clustr out of the vehicle seems more involved than the 5 min job on the Golf.
I dont think your issue will get worse, if this is all thats happened in 5 yrs.
Perhaps you could keep a small (LED) torch with a push button action handy, then use this to see the instruments in question.
Do you really need to see the gauges in the dark? The coolant temp will light up a warning lamp if too hot, and the fuel gauge is supplemented by a low fuel warning light and trip computer display.
|
Thanks for the reply
My initial thought is to ignore the problem for the reasons you mention as its only a minor inconvenience, my worry is that other functions might be affected or damaged if I do so.
Hmmmmmm Lets see how it goes.
As always
Mark
|
It sounds very much like an internal pod problem:
DON'T spray wd40 on it.
DON'T fiddle with it unless you are going to take the whole thing out and do the job properly, fiddling under there will only make things worse/cause other problems.
Leaving the fault will not cause your car any other problems in the long term.
Keep an eye on the net for a solution, there's no need to re-invent the wheel yourself! If the problem's that common, a solution will come sooner or later. There's already an excelent write-up on how to repair the passat door locks which fail regularly...
|
NOW SOLVED
Ok I finally got to the bottom of this problem so just in case it happens to anyone else here is the cause.
It was nothing at all to do with the pod itself.
Last week driving home indicated to turn right and double fast indicator sound, leading me to think a bulb was out. Got home and checked and yes rear drivers side bulb not working.
Into the hatch and I was surprised how easily the bulb carrier came out they are normally really really tight. Checked the bulb which was ok.
By now a bit puzzled so I put the bulb and carrier back in and made sure it was firmly home by using a large flat blade screw driver to twist the carrier body.
Since then the flicker has ceased and I have driven the car each night with the lights on and have covered about 400 miles since re-seeting the bulb holder.
As the flicker mentioned above seemed movement related the slightly loose bulb holder makes a lot of sense but best of all the "fix" cost nothing other than a few little grey cells and about 2 minutes of my time.
Heavens knows what this might have cost at the local VW Palace I can hear the "new pod required sir" now.
As always
Mark
|
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/abaa590b8ef30cb6707d4f4e4df395b5/7b0e98455893c736b9f077a820c3450e.jpg)
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/519bad972773cd5bc623ebfc1b1e67f9/b5c3b10b563bbc7d0e3c9211c3da7b99.jpg)
![2018 Volkswagen Passat 1.8 TSI 180 GT 4dr DSG [Panoramic Roof]](https://img.common.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/unsafe/trim/90x60/smart/filters:quality(70):no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/a4980c1c7c51521099064aa3245b7b1d/14db98a74878f7638903232c2a360197.jpg)
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/0b17ba391d86a45ba3a039ce4fb43c8b/a78de168d456c8d1f0636b5e71ebdcbb.jpg)
