Dash Gauges Losing Power

About a month ago at the beginning of my drive to work, all of my gauges randomly lost power. Speedometer, tachometer, fuel level, etc... I drove it for about 5 minutes and it felt like there was more friction than usual (kinda like the brakes lightly applied)


I stopped finally, turned the car off and back on, no fix. Then turned it off and removed the key, opened the door, checked fuses and it was working all fine again after that. I did notice the airbag light was on at this point. and it has been on ever since.


It happened again rarely at first, but has become common now for almost every drive. The get around is the key needs to come out of the ignition and it will run the gauges again. If I keep driving it, it will eventually come back on on its own also.


My EGT gauge which I obviously wired myself does get power. and my P3 Gauge still has power but remains frozen rather than providing values coming from the engine.


Any hint to where I should start looking? ECU trouble maybe? I wonder if a failed airbag sensor could cause this? I'll probably start by ripping out the fuse for the airbag.

Scan for codes first. It might be something as simple as the cluster is going out. The cluster is the gateway module, if it goes out the airbag should log a fault for no communication.

Mileage: 222290km-138124mi Repair Order:
Chassis Type: 1J (9M - VW Jetta IV (1998 > 2014))
Scan: 01 02 03 08 09 15 16 17 19 22 29 35 36 37 39 46 47 55 56 57
75 76
VIN: WVWSP61J23W493678 Mileage: 222290km-138124miles
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 01: Engine Labels: 038-906-012-AGR.clb
Part No: 038 906 012 GN
Component: RCS4MP EDC G520SG 4308
Coding: 00002
Shop #: WSC 00777
VCID: E288D35B6CFDC696FD-4B3C
2 Faults Found:
19561 - Valve for Intake Manifold Flap (N239)
P3105 - 35-10 - Open or Short to Ground - Intermittent
17911 - Load Signal from Alternator Term. DF
P1503 - 35-10 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
Readiness: 0 0 0 0 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 1C0-907-37x-ESP-F.lbl
Part No: 1C0 907 379 M
Component: ESP FRONT MK60 0102
Coding: 0019458
Shop #: WSC 01266 785 00200
VCID: B4246503D68918265F-5184
4 Faults Found:
00283 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor; Front Left (G47)
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit - Intermittent
01314 - Engine Control Module
013 - Check DTC Memory - Intermittent
00668 - Supply Voltage Terminal 30
008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
00495 - ESP-Sensor Unit (G419); Supply Voltage
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit - Intermittent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 15: Airbags Labels: 6Q0-909-605-VW5.lbl
Part No: 1C0 909 605 F
Component: 03 AIRBAG VW61 0202 0003
Coding: 12339
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: A71E824F475F63BEEA-5160
2 Faults Found:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
07-10 - Signal too Low - Intermittent
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
06-10 - Signal too High - Intermittent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 17: Instruments Labels: 1J0-920-xx5-17.lbl
Part No: 1J0 920 906 L
Component: KOMBI+WEGFAHRSP VDO V11
Coding: 07232
Shop #: WSC 00000
VCID: B12A6C17799B2D0E34-5160
WVWSP61J23W493678 VWZ7Z0C6820513
3 Faults Found:
01177 - Engine Control Unit
64-10 - Not Currently Testable - Intermittent
01336 - Company Data Bus for Comfort System
49-00 - No Communications
01304 - Radio
49-10 - No Communications - Intermittent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 19: CAN Gateway Labels: 6N0-909-901-19.lbl
Part No: 6N0 909 901
Component: Gateway K<->CAN 0001
Coding: 00006
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: F0ACA913B21164067B-5160
2 Faults Found:
01336 - Company Data Bus for Comfort System
49-00 - No Communications
01304 - Radio
49-10 - No Communications - Intermittent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 46: Central Conv. Labels: 1C0-959-799.lbl
Part No: 1C0 959 799 C
Component: 8A Komfortgerát HLO 0003
Coding: 00258
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: B73E520F97FFF33E7A-4B1E
Subsystem 1 - Part No: 1C1959801A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.FS KLO 0009
Subsystem 2 - Part No: 1C1959802A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.BF KLO 0009
Subsystem 3 - Part No: 1C0959811A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.HL KLO 0009
Subsystem 4 - Part No: 1C0959812A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.HR KLO 0009
5 Faults Found:
01330 - Central Control Module for Central Convenience (J393)
52-10 - Supply Voltage Too High - Intermittent
01331 - Door Control Module; Driver Side (J386)
52-10 - Supply Voltage Too High - Intermittent
01332 - Door Control Module; Passenger Side (J387)
52-10 - Supply Voltage Too High - Intermittent
01333 - Door Control Module; Rear Left (J388)
52-10 - Supply Voltage Too High - Intermittent
01334 - Door Control Module; Rear Right (J389)
52-10 - Supply Voltage Too High - Intermittent
End----------(Elapsed Time: 05:45, VBatt start/end: 12.6V/12.6V)-----------

Add1:

Alt issue is because the dongle for my mechman alternator is loose. Haven't felt like playing with that.
I keep forgetting to see if I can fix the intake manifold flap issue. I deleted my EGR so maybe this is why it comes up / can't rem.



Add3:

Yanked a cord out of the ABS sensor doing coil overs long ago. Haven't felt like running a new wire.


Add15:
This is new about the air bags and relevant to when the problem happened.


Add 17:
Likely related to current issue.



Add19:
Also don't recognize this.


Add: 46
Don't recall this issue before

Well it looks like you are having some communication faults, also some low b+ and high b+ faults. Just for kicks, clean your grounds under your battery tray and the ground going over to the transmission, see if it helps at all. Hopefully someone else can chime in before condemning the cluster.

2X ^^^

Also clean the grounds:
Left of the lower drivers door kick panel.
Under left side of the dash.

Maybe look into the alternator plug issue.
Could be causing the over - under voltage issue and at a minimum not good for the alternator, controllers or lights getting spikes and dips.

Long shot, maybe measure for AC voltage at the battery with the car running. (bad diode)

Haven't had a chance to try anything yet but i had another power drop today and did some observations. The following things also do not work when the gauges die:
No headlights
No electronic door locks / buttons working

No power windows
My P3 gauge was powered and taking readings

Opening the door gave no dinging sound that you'd normally get for key in the ignition


Overall it seems like almost all electronics on the car lose power. So yeah a loose ground sort of makes sense but the injection pump would also die if it lost power but that is not the case since the engine never stops.



The friction is definitely a thing when I'm in gear. Going down a hill I'm very familiar with kept good speed in 3rd gear. Usually even 2nd gear won't slow me down enough to not need my brakes. What could lose electrical power to cause the transmission to have a bunch of friction like that? It is a manual.

Also i think this aftermarket alternator has always thrown high voltage errors. my P3 gauge will show as high as 14.7v but the real read right from the battery is always a solid 14.4.

DudaEnergy said:

Also i think this aftermarket alternator has always thrown high voltage errors. my P3 gauge will show as high as 14.7v but the real read right from the battery is always a solid 14.4.

Click to expand...

Is the P3 gauge a real volt meter?

Do you have a volt meter?

With the car running, lights and AC on high measure the following voltage points for a drop:
I would not want to see more then a few tenths of a volt.

From the positive post of the battery to the power stud of the alternator.

From the positive post of the battery to the stud on the fuse box above the battery that gets feed from the battery.

From the positive post of the battery to each of the posts of the fuses above the battery on the side leaving the fuse.

While your at it measure for AC voltage at the battery. This can raise havoc with electronics.

Another 0.02-
If the system Voltage gets too high, the car will shut down the instrument cluster (and not sure what else) in order to protect. Sorry I don't know what the high threshold Voltage is for shutdown. I experienced this several years ago when the regulator failed and allowed the alternator to take the system Voltage above 15V.


Sounds like at least a couple of things to pursue, and see if the issue is fixed.
Good luck!

The airbag fault is a voltage fault you should be able to clear it and have it stay off after you fix your voltage problems. My thought looking at this and reading your description is the alternator is acting up either with to much or to little voltage on an intermittent basis while the car is running.

I had a similar situation when my alternator failed several years ago.

Haven't had time to attack it yet but will try checking voltages and grounds once i can get under my car again. For the time being, the problem has stopped. And I cleared out the fault codes too so I can be sure the next reading is fresh. While unlikely, it's possible the alternator is going. or maybe it's something stupid like that dongle that tells the car the alternator is working is banging up against something metal.



Last year, one of my fender lights fell out and the wire got shredded. And of course every time I went to hook up my trailer I'd find the lights dead or the fuse would pop during transit so my mind was stuck on the trailer when in fact the tail light was just blowing the fuse constantly. When i finally went through the wires one by one, I found the frayed wire had been causing the issues intermittently. Sometimes it'd go weeks without blowing the fuse. It's always the little things! lol

So today my system was not charging and I had a solid battery light come on. I got under the car and fiddled with the wire dongle for the mechman alternator and doing so made the battery indicator light go off. However, I'm still not getting any charging at all.



Does the ALH system require a signal to the alternator to actually engage? I checked the positive wire coming from the alternator and found there was some small wires that went into I believe a 5 pin plug. It looks like 2 of these wires have to do with the AC signal. The number 1 wire has completely severed. I believe I patched that up correctly but the system still isn't charging. So at this point I'm wondering if there's anything else I can check for or if I should start looking at pulling the alternator and trying a new one.

The heavy wire to the battery has to be clean and tight.
There are 2 small wires as far as I know.
One goes to the dash light. Yours is working.

The other goes to the injector pump if I understand it correctly.
I suspect it does not turn on the alternator until the engine is running.

My usual thought, with the car running, lights and fan on full measure the voltage from the negative post of the battery to the case of the alternator.
I would not want to see more then a few tenths of a volt.

Also measure for AC voltage at the battery.
Should not be much.

So I called Mechman and they told me the alternator does not require a signal from the car to activate. So we deemed it dead and I sent it back in for repair. I got it back quickly, slapped it into the car among doing several other things and it didn't work. I called them the next day and they apologized and said it does require an excitation wire to operate. They did say the brushes were a bit worn and they replaced something else so it wasn't a total loss. Went through all of my fuses and found nothing blown. Then realized I had tapped the 12v source from a wire I installed for an in tank lift pump and then remembered I had a fuse on it. Yup, it was blown. After replacing that, the alternator worked! But a little too well. it started at 15v and then calmed down to about 14.8v after a bit of driving. They guarantee 14.6v with the alternator which is what it used to get all the time so I hope 14.8v isn't too much for the system.

Back to the cluster problem, I don't know if that's fixed. As I said earlier I did find a severed wire that I repaired but did not fix the alternator issue. After looking through it, I found this wire appears to go to the plug for the alternator and AC compressor so it's likely that the severed wire, which was severed by something metal I had in there probably blew the fuse. Whether that would cause the cluster to suddenly lose power or not, only time is going to tell. Will post again if I have cluster power issues but fingers are crossed that it was that wire getting dinged that caused the cluster to "reset" itself.