Clock and Trip Reset

I've searched the forum but the other threads I've found have slightly different issues.

As in the title, whenever I turn the ignition off, the Clock and Trip/odo displays go blank and all of the dials freeze in whatever position they were in when the ignition was on. Whenever the ignition is turned back on, the clock and tripmeter have reset, and the dials flutter to a zero position.

I found that fuse 15 had blown, and it instantly blows when it is replaced. I removed the instrument cluster and did not see any damaged or frayed wires.

I have no issues starting or running the car. The radio (aftermarket) retains all of the presets, bluetooth code, etc. I'm not having issues with the internal or external lights (that I've noticed).

So, I guess I'm looking for the next step to diagnose the issue. Thanks in advance for your help!

did you have anything done to the car that it started doing this? eg: had an aftermarket radio installed?

No, the radio has been in there for a couple of years. The last work I did was fixing the A/C, but that was a couple of weeks ago, and the instrument cluster issue has only been the last couple of days.

Fuse 15 is the instrument cluster and auto tranny control module.
Sort thru the wiring and connectors for those devices. Something somewhere is likely grounding where it shouldn't.

My car is a manual. Any idea where the wiring harness from the cluster disappears to behind the dash?

It should all be right in that area, you may have a frayed wire somewhere in the harness would be my guess.

I'd pull all the lower trim off, the knee brace off, and start looking around for a harness against a metal bracket somewhere, especially around the steering column assembly.

Well, this is interesting, and not in a good way. I disconnected the cluster, and popped in a new fuse to try and see and start tracing my short.

When I made contact with the fuse in the fuse box, I got smoke, sizzling, and a burning plastic smell, and the sizzling apprared to come from pin 23 and or 24 of the blue harness connector for the instrument cluster. Does that mean the connector itself is bad? I'll try and track down what 23 and 24 are/do and report back.

Like like 12v and ground. I'll post a pic if I get a chance, but it looks like they shorted out inside the connector. Could this be a coolant migration issue? There was some kind of liquid near the instrument cluster wiring, and the fabric overwrap is sticky and nasty.

My guess would be that coolant migration is likely. Did the fluid smell like coolant? Have you checked the connector at the coolant overflow tank?

Does anybody know if there was a recall for the coolant migration issue? It seems fairly prevalent and VW changed the connector to remedy the problem (they know about the issue). I wonder if people that have had the issue could start something to get the problem remedied.

Well, in summary, it was definitely coolant. Pulling pins for other purposes there was residual coolant behind nearly all of the pins, some were just corroded enough to cause shorting, the rest were ticking time bombs. I had already replaced the coolant tank, but the metaphorical fuse was already lit.

The two shorted pins were power and ground in the blue 32 pin harness connector. I've since rewired a harness connector from severed from a deceased junkyard Golf. The short damaged my instrument cluster, as the clock only advances when the ignition is on. At least the tripmeter is working.

The damaged wires also kept me from using VCDS.

Anyway, I'll be replacing it with a new-to-me cluster at some point in the near future. But, that's a post for a different thread.

Not sure if anyone is really interested, but I hate finding a post with an issue similar to mine only to find that the thread had no resolution, so this is for posterity.

Coolant inside the cabin? If the heater hoses are dry, you'll want to check for coolant migration. Back at the overflow bottle, unplug the connector and see if it's wet. Back in the day we had lots of discussion on the migration as it can result in total harness replacement. Not so much recently. The fix was to drill a hole in the bottom of the connector on the overflow reservoir. Might also consider a new one.
Nice thread by the way, thanks for posting back solution!