B5.5 Cluster Lighting and Cruise Mod

[jonlowe]

I was just able to turn on the instrument cluster lighting whenever the car is on, and make the Cruise control indicator only come on when the cruise control is actually set. I take no credit for the mod, I just attempted to apply what others had done to my particular model car. The instrument lighting makes the hard-to-see B5.5 cluster somewhat more visible in daylight, and the Cruise indicator change makes the indicator only appear when the cruise is actually engaged, instead of just turned on. For reference, I have a 2005 Passat GLS Wagon, TDI, North American region car. My cluster is part number 3B0 920 929 C.

To do the mods, you need a VAG Tacho 2.5 cable and software. VCDS will NOT do these mods. If you follow the instructions EXACTLY on the following page, paying particular attention to whether you have a US or Euro/UK car, you should be ok. EDIT: Be sure to follow the instruction to not close out the session between VAGTacho and the controller while you edit the values in the hex editor. Apparently the controller changes things when you log out, and you could get unexpected results if you download a modified eeprom file from a previous session. Some people had the Immo not allow the car to start and they had to recode their cluster to their keys.

http://www.users.on.net/~graeme86/clusterprog/clusterprog.html

Graeme's instructions are for a different model, but the addresses and specific bits were the same on my car, so I gave it a try. He says that the changes may not appear for several start cycles, but in my case the changes were there as soon as I cycled the ignition. His instructions are excellent, and I had no problem following them.

I got the idea to try it from this thread:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=399398

Disclaimer: This is all at your own risk. Make sure you trust your VAG Tacho cable and software before you start. I had previously bought mine to get my key code, and I knew it worked. Make sure you follow Graeme's instructions to the letter, and BACKUP your existing eeprom. If things go wrong, it's all on you and I accept no responsibility.

Jon

 

[Uberhare]

I've read several Passat clusters with vagtacho. Your not that far from me if you want to drop by.

 

[jonlowe]

I just used VDO new. I haven't used any VAGTacho cable other than the 2.5 version I have. Sometimes I have to try to connect more than once, but it always works. I don't do anything special as far as settings. Can you read the cluster ok with VCDS?

BTW, I'm going to emphasize in my original post to not close the connection with VAGTacho and the controller while changing the hex codes in the hex editor. Apparently the controller changes some values if you do, and the revised EEPROM won't work properly. You need to do everything in the same session.

Jon

I have the same car as you, but I have never been able to read the cluster with vagtacho, though my cable and software work fine on other cars. I have version 5 and my cluster is a VDO half pixel MFA. It always stalls when calculating the seed key and I get an access denied message. What were your settings in vagtacho? Did you manually choose the cluster or just use the "VDO new" setting?