AAZ engine ground point?

I posted this in the TDI area; just realized- after a hint from Todd- I have a TD engine (AAZ?) in my VW Canada 97 Golf.

I'm trying to solve an instrument cluster problem on my '97 Golf.
While I'm awaiting for new stepper motors for the speedo and tach to come from China, I thought I should check the ground points for corrosion.
(Some posts on the cluster state that there's a separate ground for the tach/speedo vs the cluster indicator lights...)

I've read posts that mention a connection point with several brown wires attached to the engine block. The few pics I've found don't look like my engine, or I'm not looking in the right area.

Does anybody have pictures or suggestions of where to look for that ground point?

Thanks!

Here are some pics of the engine.
I don't see any obvious ground points (brown wires, ring terminals attached to bolt).
There's a battery ground on the starter, of course.
Perhaps I need to look under the battery box or under the cowling with the wipers?

It's been a while since I've played with an AAZ, but as memory serves there's no multiple-ground connection... that was an MK3 gasser thing, pretty sure.

The most important ground is of course the big battery connection to the transmission.

That said, there will likely be a brown ground wire as part of the 10-pin (or so) black connector for the engine harness itself (you can see the connector in a couple of your pictures). If so, worth following it and making sure it is well mated to the block somewhere as well.

Thanks, Vince.
That helps to focus my 'quest'!

Instrument cluster is an intermittent problem - the worst kind for me.
I was getting 'completely dead' - no indicator lights no tach no speedo no fuel gauge,no temp -or 'completely alive' cluster with no clear pattern. Sometimes the cluster would start out 'dead' and then 'spring to life' during a drive.
Yesterday I pulled the cluster and re-soldered the connector pins to the PCB.
Reinstalled and turned the key and had full indicator lights, but no tach or speedo. Momentary quiver in tach and then nothing. Went for a drive, no change.
Assumed that one of the stepper motors was bad. Ordered 2.
Today I fired the car up and had completely alive cluster again. Ran a few errands, and everything was working perfectly. Came home.
A few hours later I went to move the car and the tach and speedo are dead again.

Controlled by aliens is my best bet...where's that tinfoil hat??

Well, good to see you don't take it personally...MK3 clusters are well-known to be haunted.

IIRC there's a couple key parts with a design flaw. There used to be guys on here who specialized in repairing them...dunno if anyone still does.

If you search generically for "MK3 cluster" you will likely find some familiar stories.

I may still have one kicking around... condition unknown... will check my stash.

Vince Waldon said:

Well, good to see you don't take it personally...MK3 clusters are well-known to be haunted.

Click to expand...

I can always get my speed from the GPS if I'm going anywhere on the highway, and I don't miss the tach at all.
One nice thing about older cars like this 97- it runs just fine with no cluster installed..I'm not not sure the newer ones would be so happy.

Anyhow, this is my car for leaving at kayak launches and taking down logging roads. With 300k km not a lot of resale value. Still, it would be nice to have a working cluster!.
Once I get the 2012 set up for kayak trips, I'll probably pass the 97 on to a new owner. Maybe even reinstall the back seats!

But I'll keep exploring the bad ground possibility. I'm getting pretty quick at pulling the cluster, so I'll probably check the resistance to body ground on the connectors ground wires next.

Weak electrics have been the only bad thing about this car. Maybe I'll even try to revive the rear defroster next!

There are two ground points to the body, under the battery tray on my 97 Golf TD (AAZ).
The grounds were surprisingly clean and non-corroded, even though they were buried in old leaves and dirt.

I cleaned 'em up some more, reattached everything and the tach/speedo are still dead.

So that's one possibility eliminated.

Vince Waldon said:

That said, there will likely be a brown ground wire as part of the 10-pin (or so) black connector for the engine harness itself (you can see the connector in a couple of your pictures). If so, worth following it and making sure it is well mated to the block somewhere as well.

Click to expand...

I had another more careful look today (it finally stopped raining for a while) and indeed there is a black wire that connects to one of the bolts holding the metal bracket for the engine wiring harness connector.
I cleaned up that connection and re-fastened.
It didn't solve the intermittent tach/speedo problem but I can cross it off the list of possible causes.