hi all,

great to be here. i own an Octavia 1999 model. still in mint condition. unfortunately lately i have had a proble with the instrument cluster. none of the analog meters work. Haynes workshop manual say the cluster is a sealed unit and cannot be repaired - however i have found it is not a sealed unit at all. as my previous occupation was in electronic servicing ( i am now a pensioner) i looked for a 'dry joint' - faulty soldering because occasionally the meters come alive. my diagnosis is either a dry joint or a broken print, because the meters coe alive if i twist slightly the circuit board. However i am unable to open one side of the printed circuit - the side where there are the needle pointers (the hands of the clocks). they just will not pull out to enable me to remove the dials.

i would be eternally grateful if there is anyone out there who has rempved the hands successfully without damage.

Kind regards

Godwin

Hello and welcome

i am afraid i cannot help you but if you post this in the Octavia support section i am sure you will get the help you need:)

Welcome to Briskoda

Hello and welcome to Brisky!

Hi and welcome.

You may find this link useful

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/technical-guides/skoda-instrument-panel-possible-fix/76004/?highlight=reed

Read it all the way through.

hi everybody. many thanks for your support and help. i have managed to pull out the hands of the instrument cluster (very hard...one must be very careful not to damage the dials) and removing the dials. this left the printed circuit exposed and i was ablt to carry out some soldering. faulty soldering was on one of the sockets.

instrument cluster now working fine but for some reason the "motor" driving the temperature guage went open circuit and this is the only instrument not working.

any ideas where i can get hold of one? i was thinking of buying a used speedo of some other model just to use its "motor". i am still interested in buying a used instrument cluster, in case i get any more problems with it.

thanks and regards,

Godwin

You should be able to use the gubbins from any VAG car facia of the same basic vintage as your Octy.

welcome to brikoda.

Hi Godwin,

When you sent me a message I did not realise that you were new to the briskoda site, and so a very warm welcome to you. What a beautiful place to live i.e. Malta, compared with dreary old Britain, where I am living. You are so fortunate.

I have sent you another personal message, about your instrument problem which may also be of help to you.

Another little tip for you, is to click on search at the top of this screen and type in, the word 'instrument' and it will bring up articles from other members as well as some from me, about these quite common problems, with the instrumentation.

You could also try typing in dials, gauges, needles, etc.

In Britain we have a yearly vehicle Ministry of Transport test MOT for vehicles over 3 years of age since registration, and I am not sure what the situation is in Malta, and whether you have something similar.

Any way in Britain, strangely enough a vehicle will not fail the MOT test if the speedo, etc is not functioning, but it is illegal to drive on the public road without it working. Little bit of a anomaly there, I would say.

Hope you get your temperature gauge, motor problem resolved.

Best of luck Soviet.