New Cluster, Wrong Speed, speedo cable gear? Help.

[Soot Sandwich]

I swapped a cluster over with a tach on my 1.6NA, now my speedo reads 10mpg slower at highway speed.  What can I do?

[theman53]

probably MPH lol.
How do you know, GPS?
The cluster as far as I know should have 0 to do with the change in speed. It should only show the input from the cable. There is a red, white, and green gear on the end of the cable that tells it what speed to spin the cable. That spins and the speedo turns and shows the number...Maybe the cable didn't get pushed on all the way?

[Soot Sandwich]

Oops, I did mean MPH, sorry.  I am certain I pushed the cable on all the way, I heard a resounding click.  I know that my speed is not right because of GPS (although that isnt exactly accurate) and the cop radar signs that show my speed. 

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Check your speedo face. Under where it says kmh/mph there will be a number like 1540 ... 1575 ...sumpn.

If the number from your old original speedo is different from the new speedo - there is your conflict.

If that is the case, you can swap your former speedo into the new cluster.

What year model is your old cluster, and is it a diesel cluster ?

[rs899]

I have the same problem, but its because I swapped transmissions and ended up with a different final drive.  I need to locate a red speedo gear.  If yours is white, you may want to try to find one of those too.

Rick

[theman53]

MKI auto haus on ebay had red speedo gears, but they were pricey.

[rs899]

Yeah, a piece of plastic for almost what I paid for the car..

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Yeah, a piece of plastic for almost what I paid for the car..

Have you tried contacting brokevw.com (tranny guru) ?
He might have used gears for sale.
If not, he gets Good prices on OEM VW parts from factory.
Might be worth checking into new/used from him.

The number on speedo face under kmh/mph is the number of revolutions it takes to register a certain distance - which goes hand in hand with speed calibration also.

If you can't find a gear affordably, you might find a different numbered speedo.

[lord_verminaard]

I got my red gear from Impex, I think it was less than $20.00.

Brendan

[Soot Sandwich]

Checked the clusters, 1540, 1540 on both.  So that rules out that being the reason...I am certain the speedo cable is in all the way...If it wasnt that would mean it would have to be slipping? and the speedo would be jumping around?

[VWCaddy]

So is the speedo reading slow, jumping around or both?  Not really clear from your posts. 

Also, when you say 10 MPH (assumed) slow, is that 10 MPH slow at all speeds, or is it off a certain percentage at different speeds.  That is is the error 10@25, 10@50, 10@75, etc. or is it off 5@25, 10@50, 15@75, etc.?

If off a fixed amount, try resetting the speedo needle, it may have been removed at one time and put back on the splined post offset.  I did that on mine and simply moving it over one spline fixed it.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

... try resetting the speedo needle, it may have been removed at one time and put back on the splined post offset.  I did that on mine and simply moving it over one spline fixed it.

I was thinking that too after his last post.
Gauge face/needle may have been removed at some time on the tach cluster. If its a gasser cluster with upshift indicator, you have to remove the needle and face to do some of the odometer gear repairs.

And you never know what other reason it may have been removed in its lifetime.