Instrument cluster lights went out and now not working.

meyervw

So I went over a speed bumb and the cluter lights went out. I have lights at the hazard switch nd the rest of the van. I just don't have the 3 lights that light up the speedo and tach and center lights. So what is the common failier here. I tried the Bently but not much help. It seems if it were a gound more would be out, same with the power. I also noticed yesterday the speedo was inop for a bit then started working. This seems to me that the cluster wiring is on its last leg and a short is in that plastic circuit board. And its a 1987.
_________________
Spelling in my post may or may not be correct.
Gustav 1987 Wolfsburg Edition

?Waldo? · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject:

One of my vans does that on occasion. I've found that a "fonze" fixes it. Wink

Andrew

P.S. The speedo is completely mechanical and so totally unrelated to the lights.

vanaguy · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:58 pm Post subject:

Try nudging the dimmer dial on the light switch. The one in my syncro only works at full brightness, otherwise it's completely dark.

Perales · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:57 am Post subject:

It sounds to me more like a loose connection. Pull the dash shroud and make sure all the connectors are well seated, also check your fuses. The speedo is not electrical so is an unrelated event. Could also be loose. Do a SEARCH for the speedometer, there is lots of discussion here about fixing it.
_________________
-- 1987 Westfalia automatic (Captain Vino)

mightyart · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:05 am Post subject:

Check the switch, the older ones had a habit of melting at the dimmer wheel.

foodeater · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:04 am Post subject:

You should also check the foil, they can melt as well (like the one in my van did).
_________________
89 Bluestar-2.5 Subaru Powered-RIP
'84 Westy Tiico-daily driver-sold
'82 Caddy diesel-sold
'87 Vanagon Syncro-RIP
'81 diesel rabbit-sold
'82 Vanagon auto-RIP

hansh · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:29 am Post subject:

Mine also went out due to melted circuit ribbon. The PO had incorrectly wired a stereo and fried some negative "strips?" in attachment below the clock. It's not rocket science to pull the dash cluster on a Vanagon to see what is going on in there. I used narrowly cut pieces of tinfoil to rebuild the fried areas. Works perfectly now...except that I have to redo the tinfoil each time I decide to remove the cluster and disconnect the connector.
_________________
‘85 ej22
'84 Westfalia

crazyvwvanman · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:56 am Post subject:

I would blame VW as much or more than the PO. On 80-84 clusters VW daisy-chained the instrument cluster ground out to the radio power wiring. The ground comes into the cluster on 1 brown wire, gets used by the cluster, and gets passed back out on a different brown wire to other things like the radio. When a high current is passed through the radio ground it melts the blue foil of the cluster at or near the brown wire contact points as it passes through to the chassis. VW then FIXED this with 85-91 models by using a single brown wire to the cluster to provide a ground for it.

It is a simple matter to fix this by removing the second brown wire from the cluster connector of 80-84 and grounding that wire directly to chassis so the radio and other things do not share the grounds on the blue foil.

Mark

hansh · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:08 am Post subject:

crazyvwvanman · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:22 am Post subject:

The crazy cat lady analogy works well because like her I have way more VW vans that any sane person would try to keep. I hope to someday reduce them to what could be counted with the fingers on one hand.

The way I would deal with the cluster grounds on 80-84 is to cut both brown wires about 3" from the edge connector. Tie the two short 3" ends together and extend them with a thicker wire to a screw that attaches to the body. Then attach the other 2 long ends to just each other. Done.

There are other ways people might be tempted to do this but danger lurks!

Mark

crazyvwvanman is a great name. Kind of like Crazy Cat Lady. Thanks for that great information. The Samba is so amazing for gleaning new knowledge on these vans; what a resource. However, please be careful not to destabilize the time honored tradition of blaming a PO for all current problems that must be fixed. Very Happy

There is no stereo in my van right now and that ground is definitely something I'll change before I install it. You're absolutely correct that it is the brown ground wire (two connections at the top of that ribbon connection).[/quote]

klucz · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:25 am Post subject:

Is the green cigar lighter light out as well? If so, take out the headlight / dimmer switch (as Mightyart said) and have a look at the contact at the wheel. When I bought my Van some of the lights were out (can't remember exactly which ones except for the cigar lighter ring) and a little prying with a small flathead screwdriver in the switch got it working again.
_________________
84 Westy 4spd sold

RevKevin · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject:

Had similar issues on mine due to PO's stereo wiring. I checked, cleaned, and fixed several connections and wires under the dash while installing the new stereo and that seemed to take care of it.

Your speedometer works off a cable so the electrical issue shouldn't be related except to maybe give you and idea of where to start looking, the back of your cluster. Pull the cover off like you're adding brake fluid and make sure everything is connected properly. As everyone else has said there's not much to the wiring under the the dash. If you don't have one you're going to want a multi-meter or a test light, valuable tool to have.

You definitely wouldn't be the first VW owner to have electrical issues, I had an '80 Scirocco that had a set of dash lights that would come on about every other time I hit a large bump in the road, I never was able to track down that short. For the MK3s they started using a thinner, more brittle wiring. You hear all sorts of stories of people getting stuck with the top of their Cabrio down in the rain due to electrical shorts. Moral of the story is if you're going to get a VW built after '92, don't go for the electric window package.

meyervw · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject:

Found the problem. I removed the switch and cleaned the contacts and the surface for the dimmer. I put it back and have had no problems. It was real dirty.
_________________
Spelling in my post may or may not be correct.
Gustav 1987 Wolfsburg Edition

rlamb · Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:05 am Post subject:

dking81 · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:56 pm Post subject:

Gumby Alert!!

I've been following various forums to try to fix my 84's instrument cluster lights and I'm at a stopping point. Here is what I have verified...

1. Switch is good (getting 12V at instrument cluster connector)
2. Rewired ground on instrument cluster pin
3. getting 12v on copper/blue ribbon bulb connector
4. Bought new LEDs

Am I am missing something?


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

	Forum Index -> Vanagon	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page 1 of 1