Temp gauge overheating, intermittent reseting clock cluster power loss

To date replaced for this issue, all from idparts.
Water pump, thermostat, temp sensor. Grounded wire from temp sensor.
Now my cluster says max temperature and flashing Coolant light. My ecu reading coolant after warmup is steady at 197.6
Why is my clusteering acting up. Keyswitch seems ok. Wondering about sending the cluster out.
Please help
267,000mls 1998 ahu.
Than you.

Update, driving to work.
Cluster gauge raised evenly with ecu temp but 50 degrees + to what the ecu read.
Ecu temp read 201 and held there for the hour ride with a max of 204 at acceleration.. (is this too hot? )

Temp sounds fine. You probably have a bad cluster, it is pretty common for them to fail. It probably can be repaired - Derek at Chubb is the go-to.

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Ok, talked to Derek. Gonna sender out.

Haven't gotten the cluster out yet.
I compared my ecu temp value to my other mk3, it reads 167degrees f after warm up. Why are the running temperatures 30 degrees different between the 2 cars.
Could there be a 167 degree thermostat?

Pretty typical for the thermostats on these cars to start sticking open as they age. I've replaced more than a few that wouldn't let the car get up to proper operating temperature.

167°F is low, 190-200°F on a summer day is where it should be.

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Ok, I'll go after that thermostat too. It's kinda interesting how two similar milage cars are showing similar failures.
I'd love to cut out the dummy temp gauge and put in a vdo. Wonder if there's a writeup on that.

scangauge II - no more having to rely on the idiot-gauge VW supplied.

The gauges in the B4/Mk3 are at least still real gauges. They work ok when the cluster is healthy. For what it's worth they're VDO gauges too...

MK4+ have "fake" temp gauges that just show a steady 190°F from anywhere between about 170-215°F. VW had too many people freaking out that the temperature increased whenever they went up a hill so they dumbed it down.

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vanbcguy said:

Temp sounds fine. You probably have a bad cluster, it is pretty common for them to fail. It probably can be repaired - Derek at Chubb is the go-to.

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Click to expand...

+1 The clusters in these cars seem overly sensitive to voltage fluctuations, compared to just about everything else made at the time. Derek rebuilt mine, and a couple months later, I used the reading lights one evening with the engine off, and the next day it was ever so slightly slow to crank (still more than enough to fire), but the voltage drop was enough to reset my trip meter. I didn't measure it but based on experience, it couldn't've been below 12.0, compared to ~12.8 at full charge. The battery is a ~800CCA Group 49 that's less than a year old. Apparently, an accumulation of this kind of event is what kills the LCD displays and/or gauges.