dash lights and gauge problem

Only the works i did earlier in this thread so its possible but they looked pretty good to me.
I do suspect it could be the steering column contacts as i also have issues with my indicators being intermittent …
I will try and pull the relay then reconnect like [mention]Briano1234 [/mention] suggested.

Also just to mention again that position 3 on the heater fan switch isnt connected. I was looking at the Haynes wiring diagram and ther seems to be a shared green/red wire between this circuit and the intermittent wiper switch. Could that be a factor?

The wipers could be that the lever got mashed, and your contacts are stuck or bent.  

I have a how to on that
Is it my Wiper switch of my windshield pump acting up? | Volkswagen Owners Club Forum

Interesting..my wipers did go weird in that the passenger side one went out of time and kind of fell off the side of the screen. I figured the nut had just come loose so I tightened it up. But will check out your suggestion.
Thanks again

Kudos again [mention]Briano1234 [/mention] - I gave the steering column wiper contacts a little wiggle and hey presto - well behaved wipers again. Clearly not your first rodeo


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So wipers sorted
Odometer working
LCD upgrades to instrument cluster
New earth added behind
New earth added cam cover to coil bracket
And oil temp vdo gauge added

Only issue left now is that my clock lcd (non mfa) is still randomly coming on/off/distorted. I did pad out the long connector as per the guide when working on the instrument cluster. Was hoping the new earths would help…
New LCD screen needed..?


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the 'strange fitting' you mention is a holder for a bulb, you push it into the socket and jobs a goodun. then the holder pushes into a hole in the back of the switch/panel/whatever you're trying to illuminate

for the lcd check the permanent live feed to the cluster, its the red wire and fed from fuse 3 if its ce1 type fusebox. check the pin is tight and clean in the cluster plug, look for damage on the copper pad in cluster itself. pull that fuse, check its in good nick and refit. also see if wiggling helps, could be socket is loose or dirty

Ah that makes sense [mention]rubjonny [/mention] as I was missing a bulb on the RHS of the heater controls. Stupidly in my haste I cut it out so will need to solder it back in now .
Do you know what spec bulb it is as mine was missing?

Thanks for the tips on the clock. Will give that a go.
Appreciate your reply


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off hand I cant remember the code, but people often call them 'grain of wheat' if you still have the holder pop into local motor factors and see what they have

also if your car is pre-88 with black headlight switch plug, your dash lighting feed is unfused. I recommend adding a fuse between the switch and the rest of the dash harness

after 88ish the switch and wiring was re-designed so the dimmer wheel is fed from the same fuse as the number plate lights, and the headlight switch plug is red so its easy to ID

rubjonny said

the 'strange fitting' you mention is a holder for a bulb, you push it into the socket and jobs a goodun. then the holder pushes into a hole in the back of the switch/panel/whatever you're trying to illuminate

for the lcd check the permanent live feed to the cluster, its the red wire and fed from fuse 3 if its ce1 type fusebox. check the pin is tight and clean in the cluster plug, look for damage on the copper pad in cluster itself. pull that fuse, check its in good nick and refit. also see if wiggling helps, could be socket is loose or dirty

Ya know I keep forgetting that there were 2 types of heater panels over the years, the one for the early Scirroco's had a removable bulb where as the newer styles had a fixed bulb so when it went bad you had to replace the whole panel..

Hear is a good fix for that with super bright LED's
88 Cabby Heater Control With Non-Removable Bulb ... Mod? | VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum

Then I also forgot about the time my cluster started to act strange until I found the foil pad on the B+ was folding back on itself when I would re-connect it, and until I got it out of the car did I see what was happening.

Back in the days of a 1mb pixel camera.


A little super glue under the pad and all was good to go.

another thing you can get these days is copper tape, search for the stuff which is conductive both on the front side and the sticky side. then you can stick that over whatever copper you have left to repair the board without needing solder

I used some to repair an edible ink cartridge of all things

Popped into local motor factors as suggested and Bulb is Lucas LLB286. 88 pence!
My car is a 1980 so luckily bulb holder just pops out the heater fascia.
Thanks for the tips on the clock too. I put my dash back together yesterday so can’t face taking it straight back out again! I know it’s not a huge job so will see how the clock fares and then redo that pin if necessary.
Thanks again for all the advice both!


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If you take the trim off.under the driver side you can get to the cluster plug, unplug and check that way

Hi to all, I have a Golf MK1 1.1 (1975) and I am in the process of rebuilding it. I have completely rebuilt the engine, suspension and brakes and am in the process of rebuilding the interior.

The car has previously had a dashboard and instruments replaced with a newer model (1980). Since I am in the process of rebuilding, I found the original dash and instruments and installed them in the car. The problem I'm having is this:

I have no light on the dial, the rest of the dash has the light working normally and
When I plug in the plug into the dial and with the ignition switch off, the turn signals stay on and repeating the clicking sound quickly, as soon as I turn on the switch everything works ok except the dial lighting.

Is it possible that I have misplaced the power wire (black) with the ground wire (brown) or the light wire (blue gray) in the plug that connects to the dial…? Or is there a short somewhere behind the starter switch…?

Any thoughts…?

ok so you plugged a 1975 clock set to a 1980 wiring loom?

the pinout is slightly different:
https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?threads/fusebox-faq.219775/#post-1945626

rubjonny said

ok so you plugged a 1975 clock set to a 1980 wiring loom?

The other way around.

The Car is 1975, (the wiring loom is 1975) it was connected 1980 clock and now i am connecting the original one 1975.

I think there is a short circuit somewhere because the turn signals work even with the ignition switch off.

I solved the dial lighting problem, the bulbs were burnt out…  

ok cool. check the pinout as per my FAQ. the wiring was probably swapped around on the cluster plug to suit the new cluster

for the turn signal issue, check the hazard switch. the black/blue wire should be ignition live, red/white permanent live.

if you unplug the hazard switch, do the indicators still work? if not (and they shouldn't!) loop a wire from the white to the black/blue and indicators should only work with ignition on

OK I solved it.

I found the short circuit somewhere on the back of the fuse box and replaced a blown fuse. I also checked every single connection and wire. It was pretty messy. Now Everything works as it should.

Thanks for fast response and the  link you placed on your previous post.