speedometer not accurate

Cmore

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2017
Location
Michigan
TDI
2005 Jetta. Gone, suicide Deer. 2011 Jetta.
some place here TDI club forum I read about having the the speedo recalibrated. I am unable to locate this. I have a 05 Jetta , yes tires are the correct size. my speedo is reading 4 mph faster then what i am actually traveling, compared to another car following me.
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
Has it always been like this? My Golf's speedo was a few mph's off when new according to the reading on my scan gauge. I've read here that this was intentional on VW's . I took the needle off while doing some other work to the cluster and repositioned the needle, but I was a little obsessed at the time.
 

jettawreck

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Location
Northern Minnesota-55744
TDI
2001 Jetta and 2003 Jetta
They all are and have been ever since the first MklV (2000) I've owned. Odometer is pretty close, so easier for me to ignore it. The speedo needle mod may be best option if a person is bothered by it.
 

jokila

Vendor
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Location
Houston, Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS, Manual
some place here TDI club forum I read about having the the speedo recalibrated. I am unable to locate this. I have a 05 Jetta , yes tires are the correct size. my speedo is reading 4 mph faster then what i am actually traveling, compared to another car following me.

If you have a smartphone you can download a GPS app to tell you the real speed. It should be about 2mph or so slower than the speedometer's reported speed. This is normal.

There is too much variance having someone follow you.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
The fixes have their drawbacks too. Adjusting the value with VCDS alters the odometer accuracy. Repositioning the needle only makes it accurate at one point. This is from memory from my old 2006 Jetta. Just learn to live with it.
 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
This is how it was designed by VW and what is actually built in into the cluster's software. Also, the coolant temperature gauge is even more inaccurate, if you ask.
This is NOT something what can be corrected with VCDS and/or tyre sizes.

There is a fix for both, though, the inaccurate speedo and inaccurate coolant temperature. But... It will require very expensive equipment in order to dump the EEPROM, do the required amendments and push it back, leaving alone the entire operation is very risky; you might end up with bricked cluster which the oly way to remedy is to throw into the trash bin.

Is it worth?
 

Rembrant

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2014
Location
Canada's Ocean Playground
TDI
2013 Golf TDI DSG
If you use an Ultragauge or Scangauge II, etc, you can display your correct speed. I do this in my 06 Jetta, only because I wanted to fill an empty display slot on the Ultragauge, but it does display the unaltered speed. I'd have to go look, but I believe mine is off by 6 km, or about 4 mph. I don't even look at the factory speedo anymore;).
 

Rrusse11

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Location
PA Deutsch Country
TDI
2002 Golf, 5spd; 05 Jeep CRD
I've got slightly oversized tires with 215/55/16, IIRC 25.3" vs stock size of 24.9" OD. Using my GPS as a reference I'm within 1mph at highway speeds. The odometer is off a tad too, but I'm more interested
in having the speed correct as I'm mostly pushing 5-10mph over the limit.

I'm sure there are various options for "enforcement alerts",
but CB radio seems to have died a death, and I no longer have one.
Lol, and I have no interest in getting a phone that's smarter than me.

 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
In case of tyre sizes which are not among compatible ones, you can correct the odometer issue by adjusting the distance impulse number. The indicated speed will also be closer to reality but this is just a partial fix.
 
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