Date:         Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:01:45 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jack Lowry <jack_lowry@cmsinc.com>
Subject:      

Here is a repost of a message I wrote in June on how I was able to reduce my problems.

But now it seems that my gauges are reading high as opposed to low.
This is probably caused by a cracked ground at the gauge regulator as opposed to a 
cracked +12v at the regulator that caused my original low reading problem.




Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 14:00:06 -0400
>From: Jack Lowry <jack_lowry@cmsinc.com>
To: "'vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu'" <vanagon@lenti>
Subject: Euro van gauges
Message-ID: <01BB521E.24588C60@jack-pc.cmsinc.com>

I had this problem for quite some time.
In a the second issue of a somewhat thin (and expansive) newsletter called 
the EuroVan update
there was an article about what's wrong and how to repair this problem.
The article also indicated that the cost to repair at the dealers is about 
$500.

Don't try this if you are uncomfortable with your soldering abilities.
Steps to repair: (I'll keep them short because most the people that hang 
out here seem to know
which end of a screw driver to hold.)

1. remove steering wheel.
2. Remove cover around the steering column.
3. remove turn signal and wiper switch from the column (there are 2 or 3 
screws to do this, do not remove the
torx head screw. You may also have to remove some wires from the switches.
4. remove black plastic inside of gauge cave. (two screws at top)
5. remove plastic face over gauges (two screws one on each side of cover)
6. Remove tach ( It Just plugs in)

The problem is related to three solder connections in a row at about the 
2:00 position in the hole where the tach was.
These connections need to be reheated with possibly a little solder added. 
There are some voltage measurements
that have slipped my memory that can also help to tell if you have a bad 
part or just broken solder connections.

I resoldered mine several weeks ago and have experienced improved 
reliability of the gauges, but now I seem to be having a problem with the 
tempeture gauge is running a little higher than I seem to remember from 
last summer.


Needless to say you are on your own with this fix, if you break it don't 
blame me.
I will happily answer any further questions about my experiences with this 
repair.
(I'll also get the measurements together and post them)

As involved as this sound it takes about an hour to do the total job.