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Date:         Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:12:07 -0800
Reply-To:     mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Help troubleshoot my instrument cluster
Comments: To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <4d1b79350902212104x2d11568dma20db8ccbffaccad@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

The 80-84 have a similar weakness but even worse.

They have 2 brown wires coming from 2 pins on the 14 pin connector. For these, cut both browns leaving a just few inches hanging from the connector. Twist those together and extend them with another piece of wire. Put a ring on the end and screw it to bare metal nearby. This is the new ground for the cluster 14 pin.

The 2 long brown cut ends running down into the dashboard wiring need to be connected together so some things down the line will still work.

Mark

Jim Felder wrote: > Mark, what about the 83s? > > Jim > > On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 10:30 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote: >> VW combined many instrument cluster items to a single ground wire on the >> 14 pin connector. Then they combined that single ground wire with a >> bunch of other dash ground wires all into one final wire which then runs >> to the main ground star. When everything was working fine, say for 15-20 >> years, this combined ground system was ok. Now we are past that point. >> >> You likely have a bad ground for the instrument cluster. When a ground >> gets flaky, some of the anxious electrons look for another path to get >> home. Sometimes they try to flow backwards into a wire for something >> else if that looks like their best escape route. That can make other >> things on those escape routes act screwy. >> >> The first simple step is to put the instrument cluster on a dedicated >> ground wire. Just cut the brown wire to pin 3 of the 14 pin connector, >> leaving a few inches. Splice some more wire to the cut end that is now >> hanging from the 14 pin connector. Put a ring end on it. Screw that ring >> down to bare metal in the dash area. Hopefully in a spot where it will >> be noticed if someday in the future someone is checking out another >> problem with the ground. You don't need to do anything with the other >> cut end of the brown wire going down into the dash. Tape it off if it >> makes you feel better but do not attach it to anything. >> >> (pin 3 of the 14 pin connector is only the ground wire for 85-91 >> clusters, and the rare 84 tach cluster) >> >> If that step does not solve the problems the biggest thing left is the >> spring pins in the 14 pin connector itself. They can loose their tension >> or get bent from being plugged in and out. If you look closely into the >> open edge at the spring pins you can see if the brown wire's pin has a >> problem. With care and good light you can put a touch more curve in the >> pin so it sticks up into the opening slightly more to make stronger >> contact. This will make the curved edge a tighter fit when it is plugged >> back onto the cluster. >> >> Mark >> >>


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