Audi tripple VDO gauges install guide

Hello

Just finished up installing the trio gauges in the centre console and did much searching along the way, so why not share my expierience on the matter..

Starting point is 1983 golf gl which is then a series 2 with centre console and 3 holes for gauges behind the blinding plate.



Remove the centre console unscrewing the 3 self tapping screws holding it is place.
Pop the blind cover off from behind and be careful not the break the pins. No picture of the empty console as is turns out..

Anyway I bought a complete centre console of a Audi 80 including the original loom, this is relatively easy to find and quite nice as the loom is easy to modify to the mk1 and it looks oem when you’re done.



Removed the gauge console and threw the rest away.



Then its of to modify the wiring loom to the mk1, the gauges and light needs earth, ignition/lightswitch I just shorted those as my car has daylight running lights anyway, this way the gauge turns on and the light is on when ignition is on.
When this is sorted all you need is the wiring for sensors, volt being quite obvius just find a 12v, I didnt bother with finding a specific point as I just want an indication of whether we’re good to go or not, leaving the oil temperature sensor and oil pressure sensor wires to be fed to the engine bay.
Above the fuse box theres a grommet where a bunch of wires go thru, there was room enough to feed a pulling wire from the engine bay and fetching my new wires from the cabin.
Anyway heres some pictures of the proces




Next up is to find the proper sensors and I had luck with these



Genuine VDO Dual sensor 0,25 bar warning light and 5bar rating for the gauge output with m10x1 threading found on ebay and the temp sensor 0-170 defrees blue version also m10x1.

Installed the temp sensor in the spare plug on top of the oil filter housing



Plug and play and thats done



Unscrew the oil pressure switch from the head


And install the new VDO unit. For some reason mine was simply unable to go all the way in, the old sensor has maybe been forced in, but I’m confident its the proper threading comparing to the old sensor, and anyways its completely tight with no leaks so I’m happy with that. I screwed it in by hand only so I didnt strip the head.



Now all thats left is to connect the old wire to the WK output and the new one to the G output and go for a test drive!

Helpful guide.

What's that fitted to the vacuum advance pipe work going to your dissy, looks like a 1 way valve and empty fuel filter? Not seen that type of set up before, is it standard?
Do you have points and condenser or electronic ignition?

mark1gls said

Helpful guide.

What's that fitted to the vacuum advance pipe work going to your dissy, looks like a 1 way valve and empty fuel filter? Not seen that type of set up before, is it standard?
Do you have points and condenser or electronic ignition?

well I've actually wondered quite a lot about the same matter, and it is some sort of vaccum control I guess, but i dunno tbo. maybe its to avoid over-pressure in the hoses? I dont think its a standard thing.
I believe it has electronic ignition.

next job on mine, gauges are in car for cosmetics at mo, need to get wired up…

believe I also have to loom that needs a bit of alterations….


do you ave any links to the sensors you bought?

Yes sir I have the links here
This is for the oil pressure switch 5bar rating 0,25 low warning and m10x1 thread. It works like a dream for me no flashing lights in the dash and shows the pressure in the gauge.
Actually not to bad pricewise compared to what other sellers charge for original VDO sensors.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VDO-Oil-Pressure-Gauge-Sensor-360-081-030-001C-5-Bar-/173231806207?txnId=1926123074007

The temp sensor is more easy to find theres a part no 049919563B that will lead you to it, and heres the one I bought.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TP-Oltemperatursensor-fur-AUDI-100-80-A4-A6-A8-VW-Passat-Variant-049919563B-/332272148379?txnId=1586233749014

Awesome write up, thank you!  

cheers buddy

Cheers guys, hope you get it all sorted!
I just realized that when doing what I did with shorting the light and ignition it takes away the ability to adjust the brightness of the lamps in the gauges, they’ll be fully on always. Didnt think of this before but as my dash light is always fully on anyways I’m not bothered with it.

Heres some pics from today showing some actual readings, when cold or at least not fully hot, the pressure is up and temperature low as you would expect but its nice to be able to see for yourself.



When engines fully warm the pressure is lower and temperature as high as it will get I assume on this gauge, about 90-100 degrees celsius. Pictures taken with engine on idle.



Very nice one thinks for himself, something is working

Hi there,

Why do you have 2 dials for the oil?

I know one is Oil pressure and the other is Oil Temp, but I thought they originally had Voltmeter, ammeter and Temp .

Cheers
B

You believe golfs with tripple gauges originally had an amp-meter? I’m not able to confirm this but I’m sure someone in here can, for me I’d rather keep my oil in check rather than my current and this is as said an original Audi setup.
For me having both temp and pressure is relevant as to verify if my oil has the right viscosity or at least is able to maintain pressure while at a given temperature.
Thanks for your comment!

One point to make is that if your clocks have MFA then you need a T-piece to allow you to run 2 temp senders from the top of the oil filter housing.

There really isnt much room at all and this is the only one I could find that would fit.
Its 1/8NPT as opposed to 10mm but it equates to less than 0.2mm difference in thread pitch so will still fit

I have fitted the triple gauges to my Golf 1.5 GL. Volts, Oil Pressure and Temperature. My instrument lighting is connected to the Grey / Blue lighting circuit controlled by the instrument dimming rheostat of the main light switch. You must ensure that all connections are good (solder / crimping or both) to prevent overheating of the wiring / switch.

As I stripped and rebuilt my engine during my restoration, I like the confidence that all is OK with the engine, particularly on longs journeys, AGM, etc.

However, I initially fitted the 0-170 deg C temperature and the 0-5 bar pressure gauges with the appropriate sensors.

I found that my oil pressure was too high when cold, a full scale 5 + deflection and about 2-3 bar idling when warm and the temperature hardly registering when cold and indicated about 80-90 deg C when warm.

This is probably because my car does not run as hot as say a GTI engine. Though I am concerned with Mopeds engine that the reading when warm is only 1 bar, I assume at idling. To me this 1 bar is only 15 psi, I would have thought a min would be about 25psi.

Of course there is nothing to say whether my system or Moped911s  system are accurate in their readings.

With most cars, I like my indications to be mid range /vertical of the instrument when running warm in normal conditions.

So I changed the gauges, again VDO, for a 0-10 bar for the pressure and a 0-150 for deg C for the temperature. Though I do not quite get the vertical visual indication. I get a better 6 bar when cold, 2-3 bar when warm at idling and mid range 5-6 bar dependent on acceleration / load and a better visual indication on the temperature of about 90 deg on the 150 deg gauge.

I do not believe that there has been an Ampere meter fitted to a Golf as standard. I recall fitting a Smiths one many years ago to an old classic, the wiring was very large for all the load of the car, less starter, to go through.

My gauges have saved two potential failures on long runs, the voltmeter showed that my system was not charging because the Alternator regulator had failed, a £20 replacement fixed that. In addition, the pressure gauge needle was shaking / erratic in its indication because the oil pressure sensor had become loose and leaking. Like Moped 911, I fitted the sensor, it would not fully screw down fully home on its tapered thread. I fitted plastic washer underneath to fill the gap.

Sorry I forgot to mension that I do not have MFA, I was not aware of the space-issue for those of you who doesnt have the empty space in the housing. Thanks for correcting.

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts Malcolm, its very appriciated!
You are completely right in your point on the temp gauge and if sensor 0-170 is at all suited for the mk1. as yours, my needle barely lifts of the stop when its fully hot. I was aware of this before starting my project and decided to live with it as this was supposed to be the original specs of the gauges.

I’ve heard others say that they have oil pressure off the scale of the 5bar gauge, however mine keeps within on cold starts and maybe the 1,6 just generally runs at slightly lower pressure if yours is at 2-3bar at idle warm. I was told by a local mechanic that pressure and revs should be roughly around 1:1000 and thats quite what I’m having in mine but I will monitor this in the summer when changing to a thicker oil viscosity. Ive never had low pressure warning alarm before or after the install.
Funny that your sensor didnt go all the way as well, and nice input with the washer I will definatly look into something similar to make it look more snug.

If your oil light does not come on at idle (assuming it does come on when turning the ignition on) then I suspect your pressure gauge is under reading.

I believe that there are two pressure switches on later cars, one low for idle (more than 1 bar) and one high for revs over 2000rpm to ensure that oil pressure is OK, if not a buzzer will sound.

My perception is that thicker oil does not solve the issue particularly on a GTI. I used a syntyhetic oil on advice for my 1.5, I think it is a 10/40, not the old 20-50 mineral oil, I also use the same oil in my 5 speed gearbox.

Oil light flashes on ignition as it should and then goes out, and I’m quite confident that gauge and sensor is properly matched, I mean if you buy a 0-5bar sensor, why would it not show correctly between 0 and 5 bar. But it would be hard to test actually.
I’m using 15w-40 mobil1 right now as service instructions recommend but I’m thinking of switching to fully synthetic 20w-50 for the season.

Do you use 10w-40 as your gearbox oil?

Hi, I lie, it is part synthetic 15-40 oil. It was used in both the Engine and Gearbox.

I had my gearbox overhauled during the car restoration, I was advised to use the part synthetic oil in the gearbox as the lifetime gearbox mineral oil can breakdown over time. Particularly after 20 + years.

You can buy it from Halfords. However, I have just realised that it would have been replaced during the annual services since 2014.

Yes, whilst I can do it myself, I want to maintain the service history.

I have to disagree with the gearbox oil choice, 75w90 is what should be in a gearbox.
I use fully synthetic oil in both my gearboxes and have done for about 10 years now, I do change my gearbox oil every 50,000 miles or 5 years.

Stuff I use, 2x 1l bottles is plenty for an oil change, just make sure you loosen the filler bolt before draining the oil and use the right hole to fill it up…

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-accessories/engine-oils-and-car-fluids/car-tranmission-oils/manual-transmission-fluids/?522776022&0&cc5_868


Everything you ever wanted to now about the 020 gearbox.
Welcome to BrokeVW.com

 Thanks for the info, I will investigate.

I have been running mine now since 2013 with no issues, due for a change next year, I think!

I don't work on a Monday and today is fine weather and dry, so I took Gary (theGolf) for a last drive before winter.

I know that I have a bit of a hybrid electrical circuit on my 83 Golf GL. My oil light does not flash initially when the ignition is initially switched on. It just stays on and when the engine is started, the oil light goes out.

I know this because when I first started the engine after strip down, I did not connect the HT Coil, but spun the engine to build up oil pressure and pump fuel to the carb.

It spun for a while before the red light when out. I then started it with the HT Coil connected.

So I confirm that my oil pressure at idle is 2.5 to 3 bar and is about 6 bar at speed when warm.

So, Gary is now wrapped up for the winter with desiccant inside keeping dry and with the battery on maintenance charge.