Ok, made some progress on the cruise control loom today:
I figured out all the parts needed, including the terminals I wasn't sure about. (plus some random stuff for the fog lamps) and went in and priced them up. There's good news and bad news. Bad news first.
Cruise control isn't 100% plug and play. Whilst it's 95% plug and play, you'll need a soldering iron. The existing kit on the market is available from kufatec for £98 posted. Instructions on how to retrofit cruise control using the loom supplied in that kit is here:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/ ... eFRm9xZNxw
As you can see, that isn't 100% plug and play either, you need a soldering iron to add some wiring to the fusebox. The main hurdle is accessing the T11a plug, which is in the bowels of the dash. I spent a couple of hours earlier today trying to get to that plug, and was unsuccessful, even with my skinny girl hands and arms. I actually managed to slice one of my fingers open in the process too
So, unless you fancy removing the
entire dash, it's almost impossible to get to that plug. However, I propose a solution. The wire that needs to be added to this inaccessible plug goes to pin 14 on the ECU. I suggest removing the ECU wiring harness in the engine bay and tapping into the wire that goes to pin 14, solder another wire onto it and insulate this with heatshrink. Then, run this new wire through the firewall (through a gap which a wire for the ABS controller goes) and connect this to the harness instead.
It sounds more complicated than it is, here's the condensed version. - it takes about 15 minutes to do. You need to remove the airbox from the car and then unplug the ECU harness and add another wire to it and run that to the interior.
So, instead of soldering one wire, you'll need to solder two. However, I can quite easily modify my proposed version of the harness so you don't have to add a wire to the fusebox. I can add a plug and play OE VW housing adapter with terminals - unplug the connector on the brake pedal switch, plug this adapter into the brake pedal switch and then connect the original brake pedal connector to this adapter.
That just leaves you with the wire that goes to the ECU. You can chose what to do with that. You can either try and access the T11a connector in the dash and add the wire to the plug, or you can do I said and add a new wire to the ECU.
Now the good news:
The parts to actually build the loom don't cost too much. The brand new indicator stalk on the other hand costs around £70. The kufatec harness and stalk come in at £98 delivered, for cars with and without MFD (multifunctional display / trip computer), and will not work with the 1.2l engines.
I propose preliminary pricing at £90 delivered for cars with MFD and £85 delivered for cars without MFD, comprising of a brand new genuine VAG cruise control stalk and custom made wiring harness using genuine VAG parts
The harness would be similar to the kufatec harness meaning you'd need a soldering iron and would have to add a wire to the fusebox. The brakelight switch adapter would add a few pounds to the cost, but would make this a true plug and play kit if you can get to the T11a connector. However, personally I feel running a new wire from the ECU is an easier option. That's what a number of firms (I won't name names) chose to do when retrofitting cruise as well.
Feedback is welcomed and appreciated. My supplier said if I can get a few orders in, they would give me a generous discount on part, which I would pass onto you.
I'll have another go at getting to the apparently inaccessible T11a plug and report back.
Thoughts please.
Ash
Also, I can't figure out the part number of some of the terminals without having seen them in person, so that's another no go.
