Speedometer Fix you've been waiting for!

Hello to everyone, this is my first post and I would like to thank this forum for all the help it has provided me in repairing my diesels of the years. Thank-you

One recent issue I encountered was that of a dead speedometer and tach on my A3 TDI Jetta. I've read of other people with this problem but never found a fix other than replacement of the cluster.

If you have a speedometer that just sits at zero and vibrates and the tach is non-functional then this fix is for you. Note that all my other gauges worked fine.

I went to the local wrecker and obtained another instrument cluster from a 1998/1999 Golf or Jetta ....gas/diesel doesn't matter (cheap $50).Just make sure the speedometer has the same Max speed as your car. The solution after much investigation was to remove the speedometer motor from the donor car. This involves dismantling the cluster, removing the speedometer and tach needles (gently) and de-soldering the 4 conectors that hold the motor to the circuit board. I simply transplanted this motor onto my old board and the cluster is back to life.

This took me about 6 hours to figure out because I tried replacing various components on the cluster until one finally worked. I guess the motor eventually shorts out and cuts of power to the tach circuit.

I certainly hopes this helps other out there. At the end of the day I saved $450 over the cost of a new cluster, and still retained my original odometer reading.

Good Luck!
RSD911

P.S. Dont forget to check and replace all your light bulbs while you're at it.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

sorry for bringing back this really old thread but its just what i needed. you hear a lot about the b4 cars clusters going bad and replacing chips, but not as much about the A3' cluster going bad. My 98 jetta cluster died. speedo and tack gone. im gonna try this with a good salvage yard donor cluster i just picked up. hopefully it brings my original cluster back to life but all my gauges are out not just the speedo and tach.

Check the solder joints on the old board before you swap the motor. My 97 had about 6 bad solder joints...
quick fix!

AHood said:

sorry for bringing back this really old thread but its just what i needed. you hear a lot about the b4 cars clusters going bad and replacing chips, but not as much about the A3' cluster going bad. My 98 jetta cluster died. speedo and tack gone. im gonna try this with a good salvage yard donor cluster i just picked up. hopefully it brings my original cluster back to life but all my gauges are out not just the speedo and tach.

Click to expand...

Hopefully you're right... simultaneous speedo *and* tach failure is usually a different fault involving one of the surface-mounted chips.

I've used this place and was more than happy with the service. They now also do cruise modules.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VW-Golf-Jetta-Passat-Cabrio-Instrument-Cluster-Rebuild_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4142e3a60fQQitemZ280295089679QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I realize I'm bringing back a years old thread, but in my searching I haven't been able to find a reason or solution to my issue. My tach seems to get stuck, speedo works fine. When I drive, sometimes the tach works fine, needle sweeps smoothly. But about half the time, when the engine revs the needle goes up, but doesn't go back down when I let off the accelerator. Instead it stays where it was, or only drops slightly. On highway trips, the tach needle will peg out pointing almost straight down and stay there. The tach needle will eventually reset to zero if I leave the car sitting, ie.. shut it down with the needle stuck, then the next day when I turn the key it resets and doesn't move smoothly, ticks lick the second hand of a cheap watch. Anyone else have this problem? or know a way to fix it without spending too much $$? I've already had the cluster apart and lubed the motor with some spray, thinking it was stuck. But that didn't help. If it's too much to fix I will just leave it as it doesn't affect the performance of the engine at all, however would like to have it working. thanks in advance for any advice. I don't know where I'd be without this site and the great group of people here.