Instrument Cluster Fault

[6RKent]

Hi all

I haven't posted on here for a while but would appreciate some advice or help on this problem.

The car is a 2011 Polo 1.4

The needles on the instrument cluster should permanently illuminated red when the ignition is switched on but in my car there is a fault when randomly they are not illuminated red. As an example, I drive 30 mins to work every day, this morning the red needles illuminations switch itself on and off again 4 times, very randomly and sometimes when the car is stationary so it's not a loose connection that means that every time I hit a bump it switches on or off. The needles can go 10mins or so un-illuminated.

Although it's not a big issue at the moment, it will become an issue when I start to drive the car at night as I won't be able to see what speed I'm going.

Anyone else had a similar problem and how did you resolve it?

Do I need to replace the instrument cluster? And if so will it need to be configured with the current mileage etc. or is this stored elsewhere so that the cluster can be swapped easily (plug n play)?

Thanks

[6RKent]

Can anyone even tell me if I get another cluster, that it will be a simple swap (plug and play)?

[hornmeister]

I think there's a light sensor that controls illumination brightness. Have you got anything like a satnav of phone mic that might be covering it? Not sure where it's situated in the instructions I'm afraid.

[6RKent]

Thanks for your message.

It's definitely not the light sensor, the white lit dials work perfectly (they are lit when in bright sunshine and not lit when it's dark which is normal behaviour I believe). It's literally just the red needles that are randomly not working and then all of a sudden start working again.

Here's a pic of what I mean, notice the white lit dials but needles not illuminated:

[alexperkins]

With only 24k on the clock, I would say your eligible for VW to fix this under goodwill outside of warranty as it shouldnt fail so soon!!

Have you had your services done at VW? Im guessing you are outside of warranty now

[6RKent]

I had thought of that. The trouble is that it's intermittent that it will be my luck that it goes in and they work flawlessly for them. Having said that it has been reported by the previous owner and VW couldn't find the fault (or more like the fault couldn't be seen).

The car went out of warranty in January but has been serviced every year by VW, worth a shout?

[alexperkins]

Id give it a shot - you have a photo as proof. Thats a good start

[6RKent]

I just called them. They will look at it and then they will decide if it can be done as a gesture of goodwill. But, they want an hours labour (£70) just to look at it initially.

I think I will be better off investigating whether I can simply get hold of another Instrument Cluster and swap them over (plug and play), providing the mileage etc isn't held inside the unit so it would then require re-coding.

I notice on another thread on here that people have been upgrading the cluster but it doesn't mention what's involved - http://www.uk-polos.net/view ... 05#p478443

[alexperkins]

Mileage is held by the unit, and itll likely need recoding to your car due to the immobiliser. From what I recall its not a straight swap

[6RKent]

That's not what I wanted to read.

I've just popped an email off to these guys to find out how much they charge to repair it - http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/

I do have a genuine VCDS cable so would it be something I could code myself? If people are upgrading the cluster surely it can't be too difficult or expensive.

[calvinw1]

Hi, speaking from experience it's 100% not a straight swap, it needs to be coded to the immobiliser (which can only be done with dealer software not VCDS). Plus you have to bear in mind that only NEW clusters can easily have the mileage adjusted ( think it's 100 km before it is locked) , and this can only be done once. To have a second hand unit mileage corrected you're still talking £100 or so from a third party.

To be fair £70 labour isn't that bad when considering the cost of a new instrument cluster + coding , or a second hand one + coding + mileage correction. If it is covered under goodwill I'd expect they'd give you the £70 back anyway.

[6RKent]

Thank you for your reply Calvin, very useful.

I have been quoted by Cluster Repairs UK (http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/) that the repair of the unit will cost £100-£120 and they will give me a 2 year warranty.

What do you think of that?

Personally I think this would be the quickest and possibly cheapest fix as it is never clear from VW what type of goodwill they will offer and by that point I'm already £70 down. Plus I can see them taking longer than the 3 day turnaround that Cluster Repairs UK are offering.

[alexperkins]

That seems reasonable

[6RKent]

The only downside is that I have to remove the cluster myself and ship it to them but apparently they send instructions on how to do this.

Will I get any VCDS errors for unplugging and re-plugging in a cluster?

[alexperkins]

You may get an airbag fault, but that can be cleared with a VCDS scan