Mk3 Volkswagen Instrument Cluster Repair

How to re-solder the commonly broken connections found on many Mk3 Volkswagen instrument clusters. If you are experiencing an intermittently failing cluster or a cluster that doesn't read at all, this may be the solution for you. If hitting bumps or smacking the cluster causes any changes, you probably have broken connections on your cluster's PCB. With a small soldering iron and some thin solder you can easily repair your faulty cluster. This can be done without removing the faces. It's kinda like playing the game Operation.
**WARNING**
Soldering can be dangerous and you are working with sensitive electronics. Please do this at your own risk.
Check out my website at: lucidautowerks.com
Questions?
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[@Ajcr5050]

Oddly satisfying to watch, cool little edit!

[@LucidAutowerks]

Thanks man! Thought I’d try a little something different with this one.

[@RichDasix]

Hi LucidAutowerks, Can this so called cracks cause that my temp needle is never rising to 90 degrees celsius? I have owned my VR6 for 13 years now, have done loads of repairs to it, have changed this winter the whole cooling system because I need to change a lot of things and also flushed the engine out (hoses, thermostat, waterpump, every seal, crackpipe, every sensor to brand new factory ones by my manual) and still is not rising to 90 degrees celsius. The car is a VR6 Vento 92 OBD1. Also the speedo is only showing the actual speed I'm doing once I turn the lights on. Any ideas about that? Thank you a lot!

[@ramiel-meligy6739]

Hello Dear, My Seat Ibiza 1994 cluster stopped working while we were repairing car wiring when ignition is off only digital screens are working (clock and kilometres), and after i turn ignition on everything stop working is this a common issue? can you pleas help

[@mikejf4377]

What was wrong with it before, I’ve got a intermittent speedometer. Nice video.

[@LucidAutowerks]

Thank you. I honestly don’t remember what was wrong with this one. Soldering the contacts fixes all sorts of problems like intermittent gauges and lighting.

[@mikejf4377]

@@LucidAutowerks thanks, nice video.

[@TheDickMan_]

Great vid. My speedometer works for me after i turn on the car when its cold but after 20 mins or so of driving the speedo starts to act all weird bouncing all around and sometimes goes to 0 mph and wont move. I have an error code that says its the vehicle speed sensor. Do you think its possible my speedo soldering connections are bad?

[@LucidAutowerks]

Peter North it wouldn’t hurt to check the solder. Just about every cluster I take apart has cracked solder besides the newer Mk3.5 Cabrio. It could also be a problem with the speed sensor on the transmission. Possibly there is something wrong with it and when the exhaust heat starts getting to it there is an error? Do you know what the details of the code were? Was it like “short to ground” or “no signal”?

[@TheDickMan_]

Lucid Autowerks P0501 - vehicle speed sensor A range/performance. Thats the only thing that shows up. Just confusing because speedo works but after heats up it acts funky. Im thinking the heat inside the engine bay might cause this. Thanks again for your help.

[@bryanalejandro7385]

hi, can you tell me what type of bulbs used for the cluster?

[@gabrielimazsongs]

B8.4d if you’re still looking

[@hughwilliams3442]

Do you take cluster in for repairs?

[@LucidAutowerks]

Sorry, not at this time. I’m working or building a bench tester for checking the clusters and maybe then I’d be able to offer a repair service. I currently don’t have a working Mk3 to test them in.

[@nonsookeke3396]

Great video. I hope to get a solution for my mk3 continuous blinking temperature light even as the water level in the expansion tank is normal. I hv swapped the circuit board with someone else's to see if it blinks but it didn't. I put back mine and it keeps blinking. Please, what should I be Looking at to resolve the mystery? What capacitor should be looked at and what so I solder to solve the continuous blinking. Thank you.

[@LucidAutowerks]

The contacts in the coolant ball itself are most likely coated with a residue and not conducting well enough to read coolant. You need a new coolant ball. You can get the light to stop blinking by unplugging the connector on the coolant ball and jumping the two wires together.

[@nonsookeke3396]

@@LucidAutowerks I did unplug the connectors from the coolant ball and probed the connectors but the light kept blinking. I removed my 240speed instrument cluster circuit board and swapped with a 220speed instrument cluster circuit board and the light didn't blink continuously on the 220speed cluster. It just blinked for 4 seconds on the 220speed cluster and that was it. I unplugged the connectors on the expansion ball to check the 220speed cluster, the light blinked, then i plugged back the connectors and it stopped. I believe my circuit board is faulty but the actual fault to tackle is what I don't know how to go about it. I need assistance if any to resolve the issue.

[@LucidAutowerks]

Unfortunately I do not know enough about the boards of these clusters to be of any help. Your best bet would be to contact Matt Litke of Clusters by Litke. You can find him at: facebook.com/ClustersbyLitke/

[@nonsookeke3396]

@@LucidAutowerks Thanks a lot. I will reach out to Matt and update you.

[@nonsookeke3396]

I did reach out to Matt and after explaining to him, he said it could be a bad connection to the cluster or that the cluster is bad. So he advised an outright replacement. Thanks for your help so far.

[@KRAMPUS_G60_16V]

Hello, my MFA is most of the time not displaying numbers, just the illumination is glowin and numbers are half dead. Once in 100 times it displays correctly. Could be loose solderin connection?

[@j.m.5995]

Could be i had a similar issue but it was actually caused by a broken burnt trace on the PCB. Took me a while to find but once repaired it fixed the problem

[@KRAMPUS_G60_16V]

@@j.m.5995 I'll check it out detaily once the nicer wearther hits. Thank you man! :) Friend of mine resloldered connector on PCB and it worked fine untill I put it alltogether, and stopped working then again....

[@bledianleka369]

Hi mate! Just asking before I attempt this. My Passat b6 standard cluster has the following problems: - The cluster turned on and off multiple times -After 10 minutes it worked properly. Never turned off again. -The light however (LCD screen, clock, dials etc.) dims and turns very bright without reason every few minutes. -It works properly though. -Even if the car is off, it does the same, so I guess it is not the alternator.

[@j.m.5995]

My cluster is halfway dead. All 4 gauges do not work and the little display screens don't come on. Warning lights illuminate when the key is on then turn off. Ie light self check is ok. Turn signal lights plus hi beam indicator work as well as cluster lighting is all good except I don't have working gauges or displays... Anyones input would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking it's a problem with the 5V circuit/rail. Possible voltage regulator not working, maybe. I would hope it's not the main computer chip. Anyone's input would be appreciated.

[@ramiel-meligy6739]

almost same here, did you figure out the problem ?

[@j.m.5995]

@@ramiel-meligy6739 i have not but I'm experimenting further. I'm going to swap some chips around from a working board

[@j.m.5995]

@@ramiel-meligy6739 I have repaired my cluster and everything is working except for my ambient temp display on the MFA. Lmk if you need advice as to what to look for

[@ramiel-meligy6739]

@@j.m.5995 Thanks bro, just let me describle what my problem exactly is KM counter & clock (digital) are working normally when ignition is off but all guages don't work, and when i turn ignition on all even digital displays go off somehow i was able to partially solve the problem by connecting one of the ground wires in cluster cable with external ground, and this helped to keep digital displays to be working while ignintion on, but still all guages not working if that was you problem, please let me know how you solved it thanks again

[@j.m.5995]

@@ramiel-meligy6739 Could be a few different things. Feel free to Email me [e-mail]. I don't want this thread to get too long. I can't promised I'll be able to get it fixed for you but I can pass on what I learned from all the research I did fixing mine.

[@tylerdurden5005]

Why would you do that? What is wrong with it to begin with?

[@LucidAutowerks]

Usually when the cluster acts up and the gauges don’t work it’s because the solder is cracked. Commonly when you hit a bump or smack the dash and there is a change to the cluster it’s because of broken solder connections.

[@pablogracia6165]

Kite mis motes de la ahugas I lo arme I ya no jalaron k paso

[@pablogracia6165]

Mi tablero es de un jeta a 4 k ai k aserle carnam

[@LucidAutowerks]

If it is for Mk4 VW please contact Matt at facebook.com/ClustersbyLitke/. I am not knowledgable with Mk4 instrument clusters.