Revised B4 MFA conversion article

[PitPassat]

I am driving around with a GLX cluster since 5 years and had not unleashed all the goodies yet. I had to replace my original cluster back then because it started behaving odd. Got the GLX for something like 30 bucks back then. So for all the time I drove around without a CEL and didn't even know it

Now that I am reading this thread I want to unlock the hidden functions as well. As far as I can see the MFA controller/wiper switch adds two keys to the system, one of which triggers the different displays, and the other one works as a reset button. Would anybody know, which of the terminals on the "V" connector are keyed with each other? Is it 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 respectively or 1/3 and 2/4?

I am planning on adding just a couple of simple push buttons to the blank cover next to the rear defroster switch.

Thanks for your help.

 

[RIP TDI]

#1 is ground
#2 is scroll and switches between open and ground.
#3 & 4 are trip mode & resets and are activated in tandem across 2 4-pole switches.

#3 & 4 tandem position schema is as follows:
Position 1 (Trip 1 reset): #4 to ground, #3 to ground
Position 2 (Trip 1 select): #4 open, #3 to ground
Position 3 (Trip 2 select): #4 open, #3 open
Position 4 (Trip 2 reset): #4 to ground, #3 open

 

[PitPassat]

Thanks, Chris. I will try it out later this week and see what I can accomplish.

Wolfgang

 

[Digital Corpus]

I've had a cluster sitting around for some time due to lack of time. I need to verify which type of vehicle it is from again because I forgot ('96 GLX I think) :/ In other news I plugged it in and noted that is has 112288 miles on it's odometer. I'm a few weeks away from 11000 miles myself so I don't need to send it out to get reprogramed! I just need to prep everything plan for the day off to do the swap and installation!

 

[G60ING]

Time for the happy dance. I have been looking for an OBD2 VR6 B4 cluster for over 2 years. I could have bought one for market prices of $50-$75 but thats not fun, I like the hunt and I'm frugile. I was searching my local pick and pull yard and no matter what the B4s were obd1, it made me furious. This past week I found a guy on craigslist that did a Vr swap from a 1997 B4 into a mk3. I traded him a new heater core that was given to me for the cluster...FREEBIE

Time to get a DakotaDigital Pulse adaptor. Thanks for the cluster build thread.

Has anybody checked to see if the unleaded fuel only will come off with solvent? I have a couple OBD1 B4 Vr clusters I may test this with.

 

[jollyGreenGiant]

Let me know about the solvent thing, I've been lazy and not all that keen about the sticker concept. Too bad there wasn't a nice stick on TDI logo that covered that whole spot perfectly and looked OE.

I can give you my DD settings if you want, I have to look. I do recommend a non shared ground, my tach gets a little twitchy sometimes at idle.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Quote "2. Remove all gauge needles and face plates. First, rotate each of the speedo, temp., & fuel gauge needles to their respective stops. While lightly holding each needle against its stop, mark a pencil line on the face plate where the needle points when at its stop. Now try to remove the needles. Using moderate torque, cautiously try to rotate them on their spindles when against their lower stops. Be careful here; some needles may have a very tight press fit and may snap off before they will turn, so use only moderate torque to try to rotate them. If the needles won't break free and turn with moderate torque, STOP. If they do turn, continue to turn while gentley pulling up and they will pop off. If they did come off, skip to Step 3."

Chris, excellent how to! I have some questions on the needle removal.

1. Are the needles press fit or do they have some kind of lock on them thus requiring the twist (I assume CCW) against the lower stop?

2. You say to twist using moderate torque against the lower stop. What happens if you twist past the lower stop? Does some thing break? I actually twisted past it's lower stop at 6 o'clock and it created a new lower stop of 5 o'clock (where I stopped twisting). I pulled at the same time but the needle did not come off. Maybe it's time to try a fork and pry it off?

 

[RIP TDI]

The lower stop is in the gear case. The spindle will stop rotating at that point, so if the needle is still rotating, continue rotating and pulling as far as you need to until it comes off.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Again: Is the needle a press fit? Or is it threaded? I already rotated it 90 deg while pulling and it feels like it was slipping. Can it be rotated an infinite amount without damage? Or have I already screwed it up? lol

 

[RIP TDI]

No, as I said, keep rotating as far as you have to. Its a press fit and you haven't hurt anything.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Thanks Chris! Do you know which pins are cluster input power and ground on the 2 cluster connectors? I'd like to do a quick reisistance measurement to see if there is a short or open circuit on those pins.

 

[RIP TDI]

On the 28a connector (the fully-wired one), 3 & 5 are grounds. 13 and 11 are power.

 

[dieseljunkie]

On the 28a connector (the fully-wired one), 3 & 5 are grounds. 13 is power.

I had to used a magnifying glass to see the numbers 14 and 28 on the fully wired black connector. There's no continuity between pins 3 and 5, which should show a short if they are both grounds? Chris, are the pinouts correct for a 96 Passat TDI cluster 3A0 919 910H?

 

[RIP TDI]

Did you check and clean both cluster ground points, one underneath the battery (pin 3) and the other at the rear corner of the head (pin 5)?

 

[dieseljunkie]

No I have not but I will later this weekend when I get back to the car. I have the cluster with me and my comments were with regards to the cluster. From you you are saying, pins 3 and 5 are not connected internally in the cluster, but grounded externally? Between pins 3 and 13 on the cluster, I get an infinite resistance reading with the DVM set on the meg ohms scale. Between pins 5 and 13, I get 7.3 meg ohms, if I reverse probe polarity, I get infinite ohms. It's not a dead short, which is good, but the resistance is too high to draw any reasonable current. Seems like it should be a bit lower in resistance for a good cluster?.

 

[RIP TDI]

In your other thread you were given the correct advice: check ground points before you touch the cluster.

You did check the fuses I assume?

If yours is an east coast car, your secondary cluster ground may look this. Clean and/or repair all 3 terminals.

The primary ground point is less likely to be the culprit but clean it also.

 

[dieseljunkie]

In your other thread you were given the correct advice: check ground points before you touch the cluster.

You did check the fuse I assume?

If yours is an east coast car, your secondary cluster ground may look this. Clean and/or repair all 3 terminals.

The primary ground point is less likely to be the culprit but clean it also.

I did check the fuse (fuse #3 per the owners manual) and it was ok. I will go clean those grounds first before doing anything else. Thanks for those links!

 

[RIP TDI]

No, its fuses #21 & #16

 

[dieseljunkie]

No, its fuses #21 & #16

Thanks for the correction on the fuses, checked them and they are good. I put a test light on the cluster harness pins 13 and 3, 5 and got juice when the key is on so there is power going to the cluster. I cleaned the battery terminals and the grounds (under battery and on the transmission), took each lug off and wire brushed everything and put them back. None of the terminals were corroded. After all that the cluster is still dead except for the bottom row of color LEDs. Anything else I should check before condemning the cluster? I did get the tach needle and dial face off and nothing appears burned behind there. The Elmos chip is a 44 pin IC, I've read that's the regulator chip? With 44 pins I'd think it does more than just voltage regulation. Anyone have an internal schematic of the cluster by chance? I am on the lookout for a 96-97 Passat GLX cluster. I know you recommend the 5 spd version but will an auto one do? Thanks.

 

[RIP TDI]

Also check harness pin 11 for 12V+.

Did you clean the 3 small grounds on the head?

Auto cluster is OK but looks funky with the PRNDL window.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Just checked and there's 12V on pin 11. I looked on the head for the 3 grounds and the only thing with 3 wires on the head looks to me like 3 glow plugs on the coolant flange at the end of the head. That's not it right?

 

[RIP TDI]

The pics show them clearly.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Can't see pics on the phone I'm on unfortunately. Where on the head?

 

[dieseljunkie]

Found it! It's on a bracket on the head and not on the head itself. I'll clean it now.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Cleaned the 3 grounds on the head bracket but made no difference. Cluster still dead. With the 3 ground leads hanging, I measured from each lead to battery ground. The light brown/light green and dark brown/white wires were zero ohms but the dark brown/dark green wire was about 640K ohms. Don't know if this means anything or not. What do you think, Chris?

 

[RIP TDI]

The brown/white is the cluster ground.

Your cluster is DOA.

 

[dieseljunkie]

The brown/white is the cluster ground.

Your cluster is DOA.

Yeppers
But I have good news! I found a 96 Passat 5 spd VR6 cluster locally, picked it up at lunch just now, plugged it in and it works! The only thing the odometer is at 130k and the car should have about 145k on it per the previous owner. I have PO receipts from the VW dealer when it was last serviced and it was at 139k back in 9/08 a year ago and they drive about 6K a year. Is there a way to rig it up to roll the odo forward? What signals are needed? Road speed sensor only or is fuel consumption needed?

The yard I got the cluster from won't sell me just the MFA wiper stalk but the entire steering column for $50. How hard do you think it would be to sell off the parts that I won't need? How about a separate push button switch to cycle the MFA display? Is that possible?

 

[dieseljunkie]

Hey that's a good find. What tools do you need to pull the MFA stalk? Where is the OAT sensor and oil temp sensor located?

Salvage yard!!! I've been considering this mod for a while now and I decided to take a stroll through my local U-pull-it salvage yard to see if there may be any donor cars available. Sure enough, a 97 GLX was sitting there with MFA intact.

So I went home to get my tools - 30 minutes and $32 later, here's my loot!


If you can find a salvage yard donor car, you can snag the oil and air temp sensors as well as the MFA switch wiring saving you that much $$ and fabrication. Bonus - you can be a little heavy-handed in disassembling things on the donor so you'll know how it all comes apart once it's time to work on your own ride. Extra bonus - I even snagged a spare Relay 109 to keep in the console for a spare!

Oh yeah, I also snagged a used SGI-8 on ebay for $45. So I should only have about $90 in this when all is said and done. Huge thanks to Chris for all your work documenting this mod! Can't wait to get started!

 

[G60ING]

to pull the stalk switch you will need:

1. phillips to remove the steering column surround
2. 5mm allen wrench for the air bag removal
3. 24mm for the steering wheel removal
4. small flat screw driver for the three small screws that hold the switch in place

 

[G60ING]

One way to tell the OBD1 and ODB2 VR6 clusters apart when shopping for one if they are out of the car is the OBD2 cluster has the cut out for the 2nd plug. There are no pins in the 2nd plug hole but the cutout is there. the earlier Obd1 cluster does NOT have any cut out.

If the Cluster is still in the car its much easier to tell if the B4 is Obd1 or Obd2. All 1995 and earlier cars are Obd1 so look for a date on the car or look at the engine and hope that if the motor was ever swapped they did not swapping in a different generation motor. The OBD1 VR6 engines have metal valve covers and a less complicated throttle body(electrical switch wise).

OBD2 cars were 1996-1997 and have black plastic valve covers.

I think 1996 was a changeover year for OBD1-OBD2 and you should verify the cluster has two plug locations on it as this is the tell tale sign that the cluster is OBD2 and will make for an easier conversion.