Hey guys,

 

Recently purchased a 2000 Octavia Estate with a 1.6 AKL engine. When I purchased it, it had some issues, which I've been solving, one of which being that the instrument cluster was faulty. The only thing that worked was the fuel gauge. After further inspection, I noticed that one of the previous owners had disassembled the unit, probably due to the classic speedometer failure, and had completely ruined it in the process. The housing was broken and parts were missing, so it wasn't worth a salvaging attempt. 
I got my hands on a new unit from similar vintage 1.9 TDi, installed and coded it and now everything works but the speedometer - the fuel gauge fluctuates heavily during driving, but I understand that behaviou is generally found in tandem with speedometer issues. I can live without the speedometer, but it would be nice to have if it's possible.

I've tried googling the topic, but with the prevalence of soldering issues within these units, it's hopeless to find info on my specific topic. I've gone through the fuses, brake light- and reverse light switches, which are fine and pulled the pinion gear out of the transmission, pictured below. Looks fine to me.

Are there further tests I can do to identify the issue, or is the cluster from a 1.9 TDi not compatible? I forgot to mention earlier that both cars were fitted with manual 5 speed transmissions.

 

 

Edited 9 May, 20179 yr by Dudurin

For some reason I can't edit my post. I forgot to mention that the new cluster was confirmed in working condition prior to the swap.

Had the car hooked up to VCDS Lite earlier today and it doesn't show any codes from the speed sensor. I wanted to perform an output test as well, but VCDS Lite can't do that, unfortunately.

Any ideas?

 

I wanted to add this to the OP, but I can't because editing is limited to one hour after posting. A bit silly, I must say.