custom instrument cluster

[aacooler]

Hi, first off I'm new here to the forum, if you haven't guessed. ok I bought a 82 to rebuild and to annoy the wife, this is my first water cooled VW and I have a few questions. first off I was going to replace the bulbs in the instrument cluster and found the soft board falling apart, well I lost the tachometer in the reinstall so I took it out and changed the voltage regulator and still no luck. I have temp and coolant readings.. so am I missing something? Or is the board just warn out , if so I was thinking about making a custom panel, has anyone have any suggestions on brands of gauges or design? or am I just crazy?

[Briano1234]

Hi, first off I'm new here to the forum, if you haven't guessed. ok I bought a 82 to rebuild and to annoy the wife, this is my first water cooled VW and I have a few questions. first off I was going to replace the bulbs in the instrument cluster and found the soft board falling apart, well I lost the tachometer in the reinstall so I took it out and changed the voltage regulator and still no luck. I have temp and coolant readings.. so am I missing something? Or is the board just warn out , if so I was thinking about making a custom panel, has anyone have any suggestions on brands of gauges or design? or am I just crazy?

No, we don't think you are crazy, and on the vwvortex from time to time folks have made custom gauges they are the exception and not the norm.

if most of the gauges work, then you probably lost the connection on the main connector. You can take the connector shroud off the main connector, and gingerly remove the mylar off of it. On the top side of the tongue, place one strip of electrical tape. This increases the connection tension and is non-drastic.

The tach if it was working before may come back to life.

Have you tested all your fuses? Using a meter.

The tach is usually powered from the coil so have you knocked any wires off from there?

[aacooler]

Thanks I will give it a shot. The wiring at the fuse panel is a mess and I have relays laying everywhere. Ithink the po tried to trace some gremlins there instead of the altenator and regulator. I was hoping to do a quick fix on the panel and be done. No such luck.

[Black93CAB]

Briano, do you happen to have a picture handy of the coil and where the tach connects to it, i have a similar problem and pulled out my cluster hoping to find out what the problem was and no luck, also upgraded to LED's and still no light? also if you have a picture of how you are suggesting the tape being applied on the ribbon? under the ribbon? i guess i just cant visualize in my mind how you are trying to paint the picture. Thanks

[Briano1234]

The tach comes in on pin 5 of the large connector t14. It is a red/black wire.
It goes around the fuel pump relay, and to pin 1 red/black on the ignition coil.

For "plumping" the connector.
Remove the plastic shroud off the large connector, by pushing in the fingers, and prying it off CAREFUL.




Carefully take the Mylar circuit off the plastic tongue.


You will see that the bottom side of the mylar there is writing.
The top side of the mylar are all the pins.

On the Pin side of the plastic tongue, place one strip of electrical tape on the plastic tongue.
(don't have a pic, sorry)
Then replace the mylar over the taped tongue. The tape is on the plastic tongue and is now under the mylar, so that when the pins hit the connector they are really really tight.


Carefully place the shroud over the mylar, it is Keyed.


fin'e

[Black93CAB]

Ok briano, here is my ignition coil tell me what I'm doing wrong and why my tach is no longer with us. Thanks as always!

[Briano1234]

That is a digifant 1 coil, that means that the car is usually from California.

You have to use the Digifant 1 it should only have the 3 wires to it.
The only green /white wire I see in the schematics is on the hall generator to the digi1 controller.

The digi1 schematics are in the back of the Bentley.

The Tach wire runs off the Fuel Pump Relay 5/1. So, you would need to look at the fuse box, rear for the red/blk

On the Digifant2 the wire goes over to the Coil and fuel pump relay.....

The fuel pump relay doesn't stay picked and held at run time. It actually is pulsed from the digifant controller at engine rpm.

[Black93CAB]

Is that the fuse box that is under the driver side dash board, near the clutch pedal?

[Briano1234]

probably

[Black93CAB]

Ok So i got my dash all back together and changed my lights out to LED's Looks Great by the way, everything is working fine now(except the tach is still MIA) and now for some reason i don't have blinkers and my airbag light and the red light next to it just stay on all the time? Any idea what that is about? I have included in pictures the green light stays lit when i flip my turn signal up or down but nothing, and they do all blink when i put my hazards on. is it possible for the turn signal relay to go out but still work for the hazards? I have check all my fuses and don't know what else it could be?

[Briano1234]

You blew a fuse for the turn signals that is the glow and no flash.
Also using a LED you have to remember that they trigger lower than a bulb, so if you have any voltage difference they will usually come on. But I would check your fuses.

The airbag lights, were they working prior? As that is usually a tripping of the circuit.

here is a link to a thread:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.p ... hts!-SWEET!

http://reflectionsandshadows.com/a1-tech/
section 6 group 69 for everything we have on airbags.

[TDubs]

I have a '92 wolfie without the manual. I've been trying to figure out how to take care of the airbag lights being constantly on. This info is going to be very helpful!

Thanks,
Terry

[Briano1234]

Your most Welcome,,,,