Author Topic: Help with Temp / Gas Gauges not working (Read 5101 times)

TijuanaTom · « **on:** December 14, 2008, 02:25:52 pm »

I recently bought a used diesel rabbit pickup truck with 135,000 miles on it. However, both neither the Gas / Temp gauges work... and the mechanic I took it to said he believe the circuit board had gotten hot and a new / used one would be needed.. I wonder if anyone else has any suggestions please.

Thank you.

Quantum TD · « **Reply #1 on:** December 14, 2008, 03:02:43 pm »

Your mechanic is probably right. The gauges themselves rarely give out. Obviously, the first thing to check is that the wires to the senders are connected. But usually, when both are out, it's the circuit panel on the back.

1stVWparts.com still lists them as available, but who knows if they actually are. They don't update NLA parts unless somebody actually tries to purchase it.

TijuanaTom · « **Reply #2 on:** December 14, 2008, 03:12:47 pm »

Thanks for the reply and suggestion... I'm gonna go check out their site.

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #3 on:** December 14, 2008, 03:19:12 pm »

Those two gauges share a common voltage regulator on the circuit board and its pretty common for the regulator to either go south itself or develop one or more bad connections to the circuit board itself.

If you search for "voltage regulator" here I suspect you'll find more info and some pictures of what to look for.

TijuanaTom · « **Reply #4 on:** December 14, 2008, 03:29:17 pm »

Thanks Vince.. I appreciate the help.

madmedix · « **Reply #5 on:** December 15, 2008, 04:15:16 pm »

That's a beautiful example of a Caddy too. Nice.

I added some guages to my Jetta and one of the things I did (after reading what Vince did to his) was to install an aftermarket temp guage with a switch so I can read either engine temp or oil temp on the same guage. If you've got a lot of hills around, worth the accuracy. I find my stock guage does the "whoops, too late" style of reading hot..

Cheers,
Andy

TijuanaTom · « **Reply #6 on:** December 15, 2008, 06:02:55 pm »

Thanks for the compliment.

I wonder if you could show me what kind of gauge you installed in your Jetta? I think I'm gonna install one just to be on the safe side.

madmedix · « **Reply #7 on:** December 16, 2008, 05:37:58 pm »

soon as I can find my camera....

madmedix · « **Reply #8 on:** December 18, 2008, 03:49:29 pm »

Okay, here's a look at my "mad max" style guage package (not to mention interior..exterior..hell, it's a commuter!). They're 2" units I had lying around fitted into pvc and angled at 22 degrees left and 15 degrees up (I'm 6'5") so they're easier to see. I also put in multi-colour LED lights and the same for the climate control area. Sorry for the bad pictures, there's a nasty wind storm goin' on right now and it's freakin' cold...

Here's a shot with a flash:

Haven't dealt with the open spots yet between them...far left is a small toggle switch that lets me choose which sender for the temp guage to read. Above that is my glow circuit lamp (see Vince's site to pimp your glow circuit) and I added a two-position relay-driven over ride switch for the two speeds on the rad fan...(well, I had the dash out already...so....)

Cheers,
Andy

Powjetta · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2008, 03:12:26 am »

Did you get the guages working? I have several instrument panels for the mark 2 and the flex board behind them looked to be a problem area. You should get a bentley manual to work on these.