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shot cluster and replacement options by upchuck on 08 Oct, 2007 11:19
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i'm running a ce1 na diesel out of an 85 golf in a 87 jetta shell that used to be a gasser. and my cluster seems to be shot: the indicator lts for the hi beams and turn sig don't work, the fuel guage is intermittent, and the odometer has never turned as long as i've had it.
it's not easy to find a replacement ...so, i wonder if it would it be easier to use a 87 gasser ce1 cluster, or a ce2 cluster from a 92 td jetta?
i've already spliced on this car to hook up the back end and interior from the 87 jetta to the fuse panel and engine harness from that came with the engine from the 85. :roll: so i'm not aftraid to cut this thing up. its not like i'm gonna make things worse becasue it's always been a little rough. which is why the problems don't surprise me. but i don't know yet if its much more than just figuring out the wires and splicing them up.
both have tachs which would be cool to have. but the gasser tach conversion kits i've read about seem like a bit more than i want to deal with, but would getting the setup needed to make the ce2 td cluster tach to work be any easier? one negative i see in the gasser cluster is it lacks a glow plug and water seperator lt. i suppose i could rig up a separate lt in the dash? or i wonder if the OXS lt on the gasser ce1 cluster could be rigged up - it's in the same spot as the glow plug lt was on my na diesel cluster! has anyone done this? i guess either way it would be good to get some vdo guages to mount in the console for temp and oil pressure. it would be nice to have a closer reading than what the stock cluster gauges give you for temp and oil pressure.
anyhow, i'd love to hear any comments and suggestions from anyone out there on what you think is the best way to go here... THANKS
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#1 by Op-Ivy on 08 Oct, 2007 13:16
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CE2 Clusters are fairly hard to come by, at least in my experience. Sell the CE2 and look for a CE1 in a local JY.
I agree, the gasser tach rewiring looks a little tricky
Matt -
#2 by Vincent Waldon on 08 Oct, 2007 20:25
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When I was getting near the end of my rope waiting for a good diesel shell to show up I did some thinking about a gasser swap.... in particular, electrical stuff like the cluster. I came up with four general ideas:
1) Dakota Digital makes a tach converter box that takes the W signal and turns it into something the gasser tach will understand. I believe it's around 60-70 bucks... gets you a working tach but no glow plug light... and the gasser tach goes up to 7000 which is a bit of a waste on a diesel.
If you can solder there are lots of spare slots for extra LEDs on the A2 gasser cluster... . while I was there I was going to add extra lights for "rad fan on" and "backup lights are on" (I find the A2 tranny switches are both expensive and unreliable) etc etc etc.
2) Aftermarket 2" VDO tach next to all my other gauges... they make a couple of models that are diesel compatible. Again no glow plug, and a waste of space gasser tach... or clock I suppose.
3) Find a CE2 diesel cluster and do the swap. Here's the wiring for both the CE1 and CE2 clusters... should be pretty straightforward to map them:
http://mysite.verizon.net/macman2625/electrical/electrical.htm
I managed to find a CE2 diesel cluster some time ago and still have it available if that helps.
4) Hold out for a CE1 diesel cluster. if you can wait about a month, for instance, I'll have one available when I part out my 86 TD Jetta... an 94 A3 is being built up in my garage as we speak.
Just some thoughts when I went thru the same dilemma,
Vince -
#3 by upchuck on 08 Oct, 2007 22:59
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Hey thanks Vincent for the link to the wiring info!
It's interesting to me that the OXS light in the gas cluster is wired in the same spot as the glow plug light. I have the old gasser ce1 cluster kicking around, seems like it should work then with no further adjustment - funny I don't recall hearing anything about this with all the browsing on this and other sites I've done to research. Anyway, I'll have to give it a try this weekend - if nothing else, it should help me troubleshoot to be sure it really is my current cluster that's failing and not some pita rusty connections some where. -
#4 by upchuck on 14 Oct, 2007 10:34
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:idea: so i hooked up the gasser cluster and discovered that the OXS light (at least in this one out of an 87 gli - my 90 golf doesn't have this) does work as a glow plug light, just fyi.
for me, swapping in the cluster took care of the hi beam and the turn sig indicators lights but the fuel guage is still intermittent to completely out (need to check connections i guess) and it also appears to be my 3rd vw mk2 cluster without a functional odometer :roll: , that's a bad combo: odometer and fuel gauge both out... so i'll have to try another.