Trouble shooting procedure instrument cluster

[Erik Lupo 3L]

My instrument cluster has gone haywire.

Pre history:

I had to loosen the dashboard to change my heater to one with A/C. Therefore I also removed the instrument cluster and the steering wheel. I am sure that at least the steering wheel was removed while the battery was disconnected. I also removed the floor carpeting to gain access to the firewall. The airbag controller is situated near the firewall, on top of the driveshaft tunnel, so I might have disturbed its connector and/or cables.

After reassembly, 4 or 5 warning lights come on, and Vag-Com lists the following error codes:

17 Instruments:
4 DTC's Found:
01314 - Engine Control Module
49-00 - No Communications
01315 - Transmission Control Module
49-00 - No Communications
01316 - ABS Control Module
49-00 - No Communications
01321 - Control Module for Airbags (J234)
49-00 - No Communications

These can not be reset.

The only other control module that has an error code is:
15 Airbag controller

1 DTC's Found:
01299 - Diagnostic Interface for Data Bus (J533)
49-00 - No Communications

This can be reset, but after checking 17 instrument again, the error code comes back.

How should I proceed?

 

[weedeater]

You did not say which year, so I will assume 2000 or newer.

I would confirm that the software coding is still the same in the cluster. I would confirm that the 'gateway' is also coded correctly. And I would recheck that I did not pull any pins out of the connectors when I removed the cluster.

 

[MOGolf]

Recheck that the connectors to the instrument cluster are fully seated.

 

[Erik Lupo 3L]

[ QUOTE ]
weedeater said:
You did not say which year, so I will assume 2000 or newer.

I would confirm that the software coding is still the same in the cluster. I would confirm that the 'gateway' is also coded correctly. And I would recheck that I did not pull any pins out of the connectors when I removed the cluster.

[/ QUOTE ]

The car is a Lupo 3L from 09/2000

How do I check if the software coding is still the same?

I don't know what it was before i messed with it.
As far as I can tell, the pins in the instrument look ok.
Are there any other places to look for connectors, apart from the airbag controller and the I-cluster?

Could I damage something if I borrow a cluster from another similar car?

 

[PTC]

All the errors you have indicate one thing.
You have bad CAN-bus connection. All of the modules for which you have "no comm" error use CAN-bus to communicate between each other. CAN-bus is two wires, you can recognize them because they are twisted pair to shield from interference. The wires are usually next to each other in the connector and usually same color with different colored stripes.
Try checking the CAN-gateway coding, if it's OK, check the CAN-bus wiring.

Also, go into ECU or Brakes and see if they too have all those errors. If yes, something is wrong with the bus, if they have none or only instrument cluster/gateway comm. error then you only have problem with wiring to your cluster or the cluster itself (CAN-bus gateway is located in the cluster and uses same CAN-bus pins on the cluster)

 

[Erik Lupo 3L]

I have no error codes on the CAN-bus controller (module 19), nor in the ABS controller.
I can see on the engine wiring diagram that J533, indicated in the airbag controller, is also in the cluster. I will look after twisted pair wires.
Thanks

 

[Eric Maurier]

Something worth checking as well: I have seen a blown unswitched power fuse for the instruments lead to the same errors in a Touareg (VW calls it SUVW; I'd rather call it POSUV), for which one of the few common points with your car is that it still has the gateway in the instrument cluster. Have you got the wiring diagram? If not, we can find them for you if you want.

 

[Erik Lupo 3L]

I don’t have the wiring diagrams that incorporate the instrument cluster, and generally my wiring diagrams are from 1999.
Correct diagrams will be appreciated. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Eric Maurier]

OK, can you provide detailed information about your car?
Engine code, model year, gearbox code...
Although it shouldn't matter much, I'd rather have them.

 

[Erik Lupo 3L]

I will get back to you with the codes.

Now I'm just very happy, because everything is working again.

I took the minus cable off the battery (again) and connected it to the plus cable for 20 hours.
I took out the connectors from the cluster and the airbag controller and plugged them back in.
I pulled gently in the cable to the airbag controller.
Then I connected the ground cable to the battery again.
And then the cluster was back to normal when I turned the key. Only the airbag light was on.
I then scanned the airbag, and reset the error code, then I did the same with the cluster.
And then everything was ok. /images/graemlins/smile.gif