Cluster Mods

[Occams_Razor]

enable the "welcome" cluster message

Done this today on my full FIS sport cluster, you change address 417 and change 02 to 6B

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using vagtacho and the hex editor program XVI32.

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A big thanks to graeme86 for drawing my atention to this


__________________
2003 VW Golf TDI PD 130,jazz blue, xenons,Allard FMIC, Turbodynamics stage 2 hybrid VNT 17 turbo(MD 376)221bhp, uprated sachs clutch. Aligators custom remapp

[Occams_Razor]

0417 should say 02 ("welcome" message off) which you change to 6B ("welcome" message on) as posted above.

0416 is used to enable the "miles to empty" feature.

If the "miles to empty" is turned off (i.e not displayed in the MFA menu when you scroll through), then the figure is C1

To enable the "Miles to empty" display, change this figure to E1

These are known correct values for my full pixel MFA Euro cluster R32 which has part number 1J0 920 846 F

They may or may not be in the same addresses on other clusters.

graeme86
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Graeme depending what software you have used to read the EEPROM, sometime the bytes can be swapped over, ie 0416 might be 02 instead of C1. I think all Immo III VDO FIS cluster have the same addresses. All the ones I've seen.

aRd
Member

[Occams_Razor]

Please remember that those addresses are hex addresses. They really should be notated as such to avoid confusion. I'm getting used to the C/C++ notation, which is "0x" followed by the four-digit hexadecimal number, but you may also see it written as the four-digit number followed by "h".

Miles to empty is at 0x0416 (or 0416h), and the welcome message is at 0x0417 (or 0417h).

--Chris

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

What he said.^^^

I have trolled up some more stuff on the German forums:

Drumroll please.....

You can have the cluster lighting come on when the ignition is on, independently of the light switch.

Not only that but you can also select which parts light up:

Any combination of the needles, the number scales and the displays (clock and odometer part)

Audi S3's come with this feature which I believe can be switched with VAGCOM. The VW cluster (IMMO 2 or IMMO 3 only) require the hex codes to be amended.

The thread is still developing so stay tuned:

http://www.gti-tdi.de/board/thread.p...user=0&page=10

And then there is this (may have to be registered to view this forum):

http://www.r32-club.de/showthread.php?t=6151

graeme86
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nihilator
But if it's just a byte change, that'd be über-kewl.

Hey, guess what? It's just a byte change!

I did it tonight, and it works on my 1J0 920 926 F (IMMO-III VR6 MFA). I changed the byte at 0x01ED to "3F" (from "30"), and now my whole instrument cluster (faces, needles, and displays) lights up when I turn the key to "ignition on."

mtltdi, I actually tried "X9" to get just the needles to light up...that worked, too, and looked pretty cool in a dark car at 1:00am. With the ignition on, only the MFA, the needles, and the idiot lights that remain on when the ignition is on but not started were lit.

Gotta PM LeeNouks on gti-tdi.de and thank him. And thanks to you, graeme86, for bringing it here!

--Chris

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

I'm glad someone here understands all this "hex talk"

I wasn't 100% on what codes were actually needed to do this, hence my reference to the German forum.

LeeNouks (Big thanks )post said:

Quote:

1ED auf X3 für Displays ohne Zeiger und Skalen
1ED auf X5 für Scalen ohne Displays und Zeiger
1ED auf X7 fürScalen und Displays ohne Zeiger
1ED auf X9 für Zeiger ohne Display und Skalen
1ED auf XB für Zeiger und Displays ohne Scalen
1ED auf XD für Zeiger und Skalen ohne Displays
1ED auf XF für alles Aktiv

Das X steht fuer eine x-beliebige Ziffer welche keine Auswirkung auf das Ergebnis hat; also belassen werden kann was drin steht.

Zeiger = Pointers,Skalen = Numerical scales on the gauges and Displays refers to the clock and odometer display windows only btw

My IMMO 3 cluster has 30 in position 0x01ED as well, so you can leave the "3" part and put the suffix digit e.g. 3F and everything works. But could you put "XF" as well and it would work also????

I wonder if you could clarify this for us hex noobs???

I think LeeNouks explains it in his quote at the bottom, but I can't get a precise translation of it:
"Das X steht fuer eine x-beliebige Ziffer welche keine Auswirkung auf das Ergebnis hat; also belassen werden kann was drin steht."
The best I can get is: X which stands for x any figure no effect on the result has; thus it can be left what is in it.
Sounds like you can put any figure at all in the "X" position and it has no effect on the programming - the critical digit is the second part.

Also, just to clarify how the feature works:

Ignition on - selected cluster lights come on whilst driving without switching on lightswitch. Dimmer switch (rheostat) has no effect on cluster lights.

If you turn on lightswitch then all dashlights come on as per normal. Dimmer switch then operates as normal.

Is that Correct??

And finally, this all has me wondering... This feature can be enabled with VAGCOM on Audis, by changing the cluster softcoding, so would it be possible to alter the hardcoding of the VW cluster to enable a softcoding change thru VAGCOM..if you get my meaning?

graeme86
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

No, "X" is not a valid hex character. Plus, it wouldn't say that the first digit of the byte has *no* effect, it only has no effect on this mod. I'm sure the first digit does something, so changing it from whatever it was originally is not a good idea.

A good way to interpret that is: "The X stands for an arbitrary number that has no effect on the result, and so can be left as it stands."

I haven't tried the dimmer switch to verify that it has no effect when the lights are off. It may behave differently in clusters with US software vs. clusters with euro software, since we've got daytime running lamps. It might also behave differently cars with and without MFA/FIS, because cars *with* MFA/FIS have the light sensor that may act to dim the backlighting.

Other than that caveat, what you wrote sounds correct to me.

Yes, what you say makes sense, but I would have no idea where to look for that. Activating some byte in the software may allow you to go to a specific adaptation channel to change this on your own, but that's far beyond the scope of my abilities.

--Chris

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by TDi110
Ok you guys have got me hooked onto this. What I need to know is what I need to do all this stuff and possibly where to get it from.

I figured I need a program such as Vag Tacho?
What lead do I need?

Can I use my 3rd party vagcom lead?

Any help would be appreciated.

TDi110

Vag Tacho is more than just software, it's the hardware you need, too.

Only two tools will work, that I know of, unless you're good at desoldering surface-mount IC's. Either Vag Tacho or VAGdashCOM, and I don't believe Vag Tacho is particularly reliable.

--Chris

PS-- I think I'm going to turn off my "displays" (clock and odometer). I need something to remind me to turn the headlights on at night, and since I can't see the backlight on those two particularly well in the daylight, they're good candidates.

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nihilator
Sorry...I tested it (incompletely) and forgot to report back.

When the headlight switch is off, the cluster lights are bright, although it didn't occur to me to check if they were at their brightest, or if they were at all controlled by the light sensor.

When the headlight switch is on, the cluster lights dim with the interior lights, and are subject to the rheostat.

--Chris

Update:

I reprogrammed it so that the odometer and clock are off when the headlights are off. It does serve to remind me to turn the lights on, although not having the radio and Climatronic screens lit does, as well.

And I like that the needles, being lit, are easier to see now in the daylight.

After some testing, I have some slightly surprising (to me) results to report.

When the headlight switch is off, the cluster backlighting is at its brightest, except for the MFA, which is bright, but still subject to the light sensor. If you shine a light directly in the light sensor, the MFA will brighten up to compensate, but the other instrument cluster lights do not seem to be affected.

When the headlight switch is on, the cluster lights dim, along with the rest of the interior lights, according to the rheostat position. Interestingly, the light sensor makes not *just* the MFA dim and brighten, but the rest of the instrument cluster lights as well! It's most obvious when you rheo the lights all the way to their dimmest, and then shine a light directly into the light sensor...the whole cluster slowly brightens.

How about that chit?

And I'll bet you *anything* there's a byte you can change that will alter *that* behavior as well. So that, say, the cluster lights are *always* subject to the rheostat or are never *ever* subject to the rheostat. It just hasn't been found yet, I'm sure.

--Chris

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ARBY
Is all this on the half-height clusters as well, or just the full height?

Both, I'd guess, but I've only tested mine. It's a half-height. 1J0 920 926 F with late-model Passat (R32-type) speedo and tacho faces.

--Chris

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nihilator
Both, I'd guess, but I've only tested mine. It's a half-height. 1J0 920 926 F with late-model Passat (R32-type) speedo and tacho faces.

--Chris

I just did mine today and it operates as exactly as Nihilator described.

I have a full height FIS R32 cluster.

I also had to disconnect the battery after programming to enable the new features. Is there another way to get them to kick in without doing that?

graeme86
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

Quote:
Originally Posted by digifant_gli
So then basically, we have covered the code for the welcome message, instrument lighting and.....is that it?

There's another one I forgot.

In IMMO-II clusters, you could go to an adaptation channel to set the fuel consumption fudge factor...the one that is used to calculate the fuel economy that shows up in your MFA or FIS cluster. (Other people have noted that there's an offset setting available for the fuel gauge needle...that is NOT what I'm talking about here.) They took the ability to change this out of the IMMO-III clusters, but the fudge factor is still there in the code.

It's located at 0x0145 in my 1J0 920 926 F. Chances are it's located in the same relative vicinity in other MFA or FIS clusters. By default it reads "64", which is a hex number that translates to 100 in decimal. Moving that number up or down will supposedly alter the calculation for fuel economy, but I don't know which way is which. In IMMO-II clusters, it had a range of 85 to 115 (decimal), and could only be moved in increments of 5. It may or may not be the same for IMMO-III clusters.

And it may not even work. I haven't had a chance to play with it at all, I only had the opportunity to look for it and note where it was. Therefore, a big YMMV on this one.

--Chris

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

I've got an IMMO-II cluster (1J0 920 925 D) here at my desk right now. It's Adaptation channel 03. The standard is 100%, range is 85% to 115%, and Ross-Tech's label file says it's in increments of 1%, not 5% as I said above. However, I get an error when I try to increment it by anything other than 5%...it only tests correctly when I use 85, 90, 95, etc. Ross-Tech may have gotten their label file wrong.

Switching to an IMMO-III cluster (1J0 920 926 FX), I see adaptation channel 03 is not available. My guess as to why it was removed: either people were using the adaptation channel to misrepresent their fuel mileage when reselling their cars, or VW was tired of answering questions as to why it didn't jibe with real-world mileage.

--Chris

PS-- ARBY, it's still adjustable...just not with a VAG-COM. :-)

Nihilator
Veteran Member

[Occams_Razor]

This fudge factor for mpg has come up before:

Here is full post:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=111362

The interesting bits on how the fudge factor works are mainly here:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread...=111362&page=6

and

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread...=111362&page=8

Just need a few hex to decimal conversions to try out.

graeme86
Veteran Member