polo guages fault

[automan234]

As you can probably guess I joined because of a problem, I guess many have. Only a recent convert through buying a 98 polo open air for my daughter, cracking little car, typically VW. But....... recently a problem has occured which I would be eternally grateful for help with (plenty of thanks but unfortunately no beer, flowers or cash...or anything else...shes only 18 and totally untouched by human hands...the daughter not the polo)

Ok , down to the nitty gritty../....The polo suddenly developed a problem ... when turning on the ignition to start the car none of the warning lights in the centre of the dash lit up... the fuel gauge stayed at empty and on starting the rev counter doesnt read....so.....drive off and no temp gauge, no fuel gauge, no rev counter, no speedo and when you put the headlights on, no illumination in the gauge cluster at all. Everything else seems fine as in headlight switch illuminates, all vehicle lights work etc. Having been given a tip I removed both pos and neg cables from the battery and held them together for 30 seconds, reconnected the battery and suddenly....everything works as it should.....for up to 20 minutes...

then the gauges stop at whatever they are and the lcd display of time, mileage etc start to fragment and thats the way it stays...leave the car a day and again the gauges dont work unless you do the battery cable thing. Was told to run a second earth from the battery to the body and that hasnt helped either. Cant seem to find another instrument cluster anywhere but then when the gauges are working ...they work so not sure that would clear the problem anyway....if anyone can suggest answers, my 18 year old blonde slim daughter would probably send you a thankyou...as would I

Thankyou

[Jmac]

As you can probably guess I joined because of a problem, I guess many have. Only a recent convert through buying a 98 polo open air for my daughter, cracking little car, typically VW. But....... recently a problem has occured which I would be eternally grateful for help with (plenty of thanks but unfortunately no beer, flowers or cash...or anything else...shes only 18 and totally untouched by human hands...the daughter not the polo)

Ok , down to the nitty gritty../....The polo suddenly developed a problem ... when turning on the ignition to start the car none of the warning lights in the centre of the dash lit up... the fuel gauge stayed at empty and on starting the rev counter doesnt read....so.....drive off and no temp gauge, no fuel gauge, no rev counter, no speedo and when you put the headlights on, no illumination in the gauge cluster at all. Everything else seems fine as in headlight switch illuminates, all vehicle lights work etc. Having been given a tip I removed both pos and neg cables from the battery and held them together for 30 seconds, reconnected the battery and suddenly....everything works as it should.....for up to 20 minutes...

then the gauges stop at whatever they are and the lcd display of time, mileage etc start to fragment and thats the way it stays...leave the car a day and again the gauges dont work unless you do the battery cable thing. Was told to run a second earth from the battery to the body and that hasnt helped either. Cant seem to find another instrument cluster anywhere but then when the gauges are working ...they work so not sure that would clear the problem anyway....if anyone can suggest answers, my 18 year old blonde slim daughter would probably send you a thankyou...as would I

Thankyou
Yeah that sound like a failing cluster for sure, either need vin or even better the number straight off the dash cluster, might have a source for one but there is a few types.
Cheers
Jmac

[Umai Naa!!]

Only other things I can suggest are to pop the relay/fuse carrier out from under the dash, and check that it's all plugged in correctly. Same goes for the connectors at the back of the cluster. While in that area, check that there's no unusual evidence of fluid on the connectors. I have seen cases in the past where engine sensors have leaked, and the oil or coolant has travelled though the harness to the rear of the cluster. Sounds crazy, I know.

[automan234]

I appreciate the answers, wierd thing is yesterday, driving very carefully...double demerit points..... and 10 minutes into the journey...they all came up till the end of the trip and then when I left work....nothing again. Will tear the dash apart on my 2 days off and check connectors. I did get someone say that possibly its the small voltage regulator 3 pin chip on the back of the printed circuit oversupplying a voltage...have already checked the charging current on the alternator (someone else said it could be overcharging) the dash type is the one with the box between the rev counter and the speedo dials with about 12 warning lights in it, have tried to find one locally on the central coast but no luck so far.
Once again thankyou, was hoping it was a simple one :mad:

[dylan8]

having the same sort of issues with my girlfriends polo.

hand brake light started coming on a few months back, then one day on her way to work the hand brake light and oil pressure light came on.
went and picked the car up to find the tacho wasn't working either.

Many thanks to Volkwerke who test fitted another cluster for us, few weeks of driving and nothing!
had the original cluster checked out, got it back and was told it was working fine and they couldn't find a fault.

installed the original cluster again, was working for a week or two until this morning where the hand brake light came back on.

It was suggested to me buy the people who check the cluster (Howard instruments) that there was something wrong with the wiring, but im not sure how this can be when the test cluster didnt show these sorts of issues...

Umai Naa!! have any more details on where I should start looking for the lose connections under the dash, dont have the car infront of me right now...

[Jmac]

Thinks its fair to say of it was ok with test cluster and not with orig then it'll be the cluster . Fitted plenty for that very reason
Cheers
Jmac

[dylan8]

Thinks its fair to say of it was ok with test cluster and not with orig then it'll be the cluster . Fitted plenty for that very reason
Cheers
Jmac

yeah was my thinking, just wondering if it was by chance it didnt show up on the test one...
its in for a service soon so we shall see if the boys find anything suss.
Cheers

[Jmac]

No probs keep us posted, if i were you i would keep an eye out for a donor one mate
Cheers
Jmac

[dylan8]

do you know if the mk3 golf/vento ones are the same Jmac?
well had the car serviced, and seems to the brake light was actually that, the brakes! (thanks Volkwerke!) so far so good with the original cluster back in

[anthony--t]

I pulled apart a polo one at the start of the year to try steal the lcd for my vr cluster before I realised how many different types of clusters there are. To me it looked the same from the front but the housing was different. I think the connectors are the same so a 4 cylinder mk3 cluster might work

[dylan8]

I pulled apart a polo one at the start of the year to try steal the lcd for my vr cluster before I realised how many different types of clusters there are. To me it looked the same from the front but the housing was different. I think the connectors are the same so a 4 cylinder mk3 cluster might work

Cheers, ill have to pull my other mk3 one out and see what it looks like