[CRD99]

I recently went to drive my Passat and noticed the speedometer needle was sitting at 5mph and the temp gauge indicated 200 degrees.

I think in all the five years I have owned the car I have never seen the gauge above 190 degrees. My understanding of the gauge is that it won't actually move off of 190 degrees until the coolant reaches 210 degrees. Since the fans come on at 205 degrees they should have been running. Initially I thought of a stuck thermostat but the fans would have turned on in that case. I tested the fans by engaging the AC and they were working. After sitting for a bit longer (with the AC off) the fans did come on by themselves as they normally do and then turned off.

So my next thought would be the coolant sensor that seems to go bad in the AEBs quite often. But the speedo needle has me thinking it is a cluster problem.

Since the last time I drove the car the cluster has not been apart at all. The last time I took it apart was about six months ago and the needles were all set to the correct positions.

I'm going to try checking the actual coolant temperature with my VAGCOM this weekend. Driving the car had no affect on the coolant needle position. Who knows maybe the thing will fix itself since it broke all by itself.

 

[Boris]

Jesse that's not B5 cluster, what cluster is that?

 

[didgeman]

great inbuilt boost guage tho .. me wants ..

 

[2.8lB5]

The boost gauge is from http://www.IMPconcepts.com

I don't think I have ever seen a problem like that. Does it sit at 5 when the car is powered without the ignition being on, or just when the car is running?

 

[danteshors]

Everything else in the car work? My B5 cluster freaked out once and the horn wouldn't work nor the turn signals. It ended up being a fried ignition switch. Good luck whatever it is!

 

[didgeman]

looks fantastic but not the easiest mod ....
not sure i have the confidence to rip my dash apart.

 

[CRD99]

Thanks for the compliments on the cluster! I made the boost gauge myself using the kit from IMPconcepts and the dry transfer lettering from another CB5 member.

I bought a cluster from a 2002 Passat and combined the two to make my cluster. The gauge faces are original from my Passat ('98s and early '99s only have marks every 10mph) and the gauge rings are from the 2002 Passat. I actually got the idea from b5bel.

I still have the original gauge faces from the 2002 Passat that I could use to make another boost gauge to sell. I think the 2002 faces would fit in a 2000 or newer Passat since they are DBW. Do the DBW Passats have the big screen in the middle or did that start with the 2001.5s?

Anyhow, I am going to check the resting position of the needles when the car is off. The car isn't doing anything else weird. It just seems really odd that all of the sudden both needles would be off like that. Hopefully some diagnostics with the VAGCOM will solve a couple issues.

 

[sj2000passat]

Ignition switch or wire harness

Do the gauges ever jump? if so check the wire harness.

 

[CRD99]

Good call but the needles were steady the whole time I drove the car (about 8 miles). I am going to try a little troubleshooting on Sunday. I sure hope it isn't a problem with the board behind the gauges.

 

[RL331]

Hmmm...make sure you don't run out of gas - you might only have a 1/4 tank left.

 

[CRD99]

Well I've only gone 171 miles since my last fill up so hopefully not! I have a habit of resetting the mileage every time I fill up. My MFA is incorrect now that I am running larger injectors and I've never trusted that fuel gauge very much.

However it would be bad news trying to push my Passat after running out of gas .

 

[CRD99]

Well it must have been a random glitch. Everything was back to normal today when I started the car. The gauges all rested at their zero positions with the car off and on. I ran a full VAG diagnostic and everything worked normally. Maybe I'll just chock it up to the ol' B5 keeping me on my toes.

Once I get some time I'm going to try messing with the adaptation on my MFA for the fuel mileage. Even though the adjustment is only 85 to 115 percent I should be able to get it close.