CE1 and CE2

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I've asked what CE1 and CE2 in relation to instrument clusters and connectors but no one answered. I just called a VW dealer and neither parts or service has heard of it before. So what is it? In quiring minds want to know.

[Rabbit on Roids]

ce2 has one plug on the back of the gauge cluster
ce1 has 2 plugs on the back. theres a bunch of other different things also. i cant remember if they switched to ce2 in 87 when they went to digifant, or if they switched it in 90 when they came out with the VR6. either way, there are lots of differences in the 2 wiring systems. ive never messed with CE1, all the cars ive owned with it i never owned long. my jetta has CE2 and it seems to be a pretty good electrical system.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I did more searching on this forum and CE apparently stands for Central Electric. Is this a term that is not used much except on this forum? I asked a sales rep at Germanautoparts and he's never heard of it either.

[Rabbit on Roids]

dude, just because someone works at a volkswagen dealership doesnt mean they love volkswagens and know them inside and out like most of us here. thats probably just a job to them, they dont go to work to enjoy being around vws..

[Vincent Waldon]

No big mystery, just an early and then later version of the wiring system ("Central Electric") used in the MK2 chassis, with the exception of some years in the US Golf.

It's only particularly important when doing cluster or fusebox swaps between MK2s, since the two different versions have pin outs.

All the gory details are here:

http://www.xjamiex.com/mk2resource/electrical/electrical.html

[TurboJ]

I remember hearing they switched to single-connector dashes in 1988/1989.

[Ziptar]

The CE1 to CE2 switch happened between the 89 and 90 model year. When the switch was made depends on the model, factory, production date and / or chassis number. My 89 Carat was built in Germany Oct. 1988 and was CE1. I swapped over the CE2 setup along with the engine from the donor 1991 EcoDiesel.




If you have a Bentley the schematics at the back will help you figure out a vehicle has or have a look the cluster or fuse box.

Fuse Box: CE1 will have round connectors on the back, CE2 are flat blade connectors.
Cluster: CE1 has two plugs, CE2 has one.

Lots of details here, http://www.a2resource.com/electrical/electrical.html