Restored my B4V gauge cluster; Need a tiny help! What's RPM in 5th gear at 60mph?

With your 02a transmissions, what's your RPM at a GPS verified 60mph in 5th gear?
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In my 1996 Passat B4V TDI wagon, when I pressed the trip reset button it did nothing.... so I took apart my dash and fixed it. Yay! Now the button works great!!
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Except I traded one problem for another... when I disassembled the gauges I had to remove the gauge needles as well as the faces, and I didn't quite replace the tachometer needle in the correct spot... I think I put mine back on so it reads +/-700rpm too low. I guess that's the easiest way to say it.
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(more detailed description: If you look at that bottom left corner of the photo, you'll see I misaligned the tack's gauge face's bottom right indexing tab, but didn't notice it until later... the face is metal, and it rubbed against the needle housing, preventing it from rotating correctly. When I took it apart a 2nd time to fix this, I just guessed for the needle placement. It's now moving correctly, but reading a bit low.)
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I'd love to know what is the correct RPM so I can attempt to take it apart a 3rd time and finally get it right.
OR if there is an official DIY re-indexing procedure, I'd love to learn about that too!
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Thank you

Don't know if this will help you, but my '96 sits on dead zero with no key in the ignition.

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thank you, vwxyzero ill try that

Another data point: idle is 900rpm. You may be able to get current RPM from Vagcom (or an OBD scanner), so you could rev it up to different speeds and compare your gauge to the reported value.

Your question also assumes your speedo is absolutely correct at 60mph. It probably isn't, nor anyone else's

thought it was 908 or 918 rpms in vcds? i know its not 900 even.

Mongler98 said:

thought it was 908 or 918 rpms in vcds? i know its not 900 even.

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Seriously man? The factory tachometer is not that accurate, and is not going to measure that small of an increment; it's going to hover somewhere just below the 10 X on the dial.

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turbodieseldyke said:

Your question also assumes your speedo is absolutely correct at 60mph. It probably isn't, nor anyone else's

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Very true. Iirc, VW speedos purposely report 5% lower than actual. Their logic was it’s better to read faster, than slower.

Tire diameters also vary by manufacturers, so even if running the correct size, tire wear and other variables come into play.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Very true. Iirc, VW speedos purposely report 5% lower than actual. Their logic was it’s better to read faster, than slower.



Tire diameters also vary by manufacturers, so even if running the correct size, tire wear and other variables come into play.



-Todd

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Todd it reads faster (higher) than actual MPH, not lower. Think about that reasoning for a second.
All the rest I agree with.

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I screwed that up. In the next sentence, I did mention faster...

-Todd

I opened the gauges again and got the Tach needle more or less correctly aligned. Thanks for the good ideas. "In the right ball park" is good enough for me, and I expect I'm within +/- 200 rpm, so that's pretty good.
I also realigned the speedo so that it indicates the correct speed at 75mph (checked to GPS). It was about mph off before, and it's basically always right now. *Happy dance

Thank you Abacus. what a lovely 425k miles showing there!! What is that extra scan gauge? I am looking for something just like that for my car. Does it plug into the OBDII slot?

Yes, it's a Scangauge and I love them. It plugs into the stock OBD port. I bought a splitter cable and ran one end to the stock slot and the other under the dash where the SG is plugged. The only issue is you have to unplug one to get the other to work, like for the Vag-Com.

I love seeing real time data and not the dampened crap of the cluster. I lost a head gasket when it overheated because the gauge said all was normal until it was too late to let the engine cool down. The sedan has 453K on it now but there is something wrong with the engine (piston ring or rod, I'm unsure) so I'm selling it. It still starts and runs good but is lumpy and passes too much oil. Too bad because I have a TON of parts and money invested but just can't spend the time to keep up 2 of them, and I'm keeping the wagon.

Abacus, if you end up with an extra Scangauge you'd like to sell, Id be interested... Do you think it's worth paying $150 retail for one?

I do not, sorry. I bought both mine used for $100 each at different times. I'm cheap so I'd look around some before paying retail.