ianbin2012

The old instrument panel has been like that since i bought the car a couple of months ago, the old chap i got the car off said it was working fine until the was a big downpour of rain and the roads were saturated.

Took off the small plug to the back of the alternator red/blue wire measured voltages with ignition off and on:- ignition off red to ground no voltage " " blue to ground no voltage ignition on red to ground 11.80 volts " " blue to ground 10.40 volts Ive also noticed when the engine is running the belt tensioner is jumping around. Forgot to mention it is a 120 amp alternator.

When the old panel was in the battery light/airbag light/glow plug glowed dimly all the time with this panel in the airbag light is lit brightly and the battery light glows dimly all the time. I connected a voltmeter direct to the main feed from the back of the alternator it was only putting out 13.40v which dropped when all electrics turned on.

Also is the alternator model specific or will any alternator from either petrol/diesel fit?

Back to the cluster, put in a cluster from a petrol model with one red plug on the back all seems to be in order now apart from the airbag light on, hopefully an easy fix. Alternator/battery light dimly glows all the time so i checked battery voltages:- battery:-12.70v Battery engine running:- slowly climbs to 13.80v Battery engine running all electical`s turned on:- drops to 11.08v revving the engine only changes it by 00.20v Is my alternator going bad.

Thanks for that , i also had a look through the posts for vacuum canister the 1z and ahu engines dont have them but the newer models do.

Don`t know if my galaxy should have one of these or not, it show`s in the haynes manual it does but i have not got one on the vehicle. 1996 galaxy 19tdi glx manual.

Right had a look through a lot of posts and came across one that mentioned the big round multiplug on the front of the block as quite a few wires run through it, anyway popped the bonnet and had a look and instead of different coloured wires looking at me i could see plenty of copper, most of the wires had rub marks on them exposing the copper core. Most of the wires are going to the components that are causing my faults. My next plan of attack is to strip down the wiring and re-solder/heatshrink the lot and fingers crossed it will hopefuly cure the problems.

Little bit premature with the celebrations, took car out for a drive speedo is far from accurate registering 60 when doing 30 also airbag light on, washer fluid level light on and battery light dimly glowing apart from that illumination lights dont flicker and no clicking from ecu. If i wasnt confused i`am now.

Will do, i will let you know.

Problem sorted, picked up a set of seat alabama tdi clocks from scrappy today plugged them in job done, they are a bit different from mine as they have the bulb failure/door open panel but they work. Only thing is know the airbag light is on(oh joy)more head scratching. So if your clocks are playing silly buggers try a cheap donor set first, saves alot of swearing and head scatching. Thanks for everybody`s input, information is a good thing.

Thanks for the offer of the clocks but i think i can get a set from the local scrappy for a tenner. I got the vac pipes from a local diesel/petrol specialist the type being motorsport silicone tubing 3.5mm and 5mm 2 metres of each for a grand total of 7 quid, thats a saving of 127 quid as quoted for the same stuff from frauds. They recommend this stuff as it withstands temperature and increase/decrease in pressure better than the cotton/rubber tubing and it`s also cheaper. I will get a set of clocks as soon as i can and will let you know what happens.

I would have a hard job to log the boost whilst driving as i used my desktop pc in the car to use vcds whilst the car was stationary if i wanted to use it driving i would need a hell of a long extension lead. Still havent had a chance to check battery voltage. Do you think it may be worth grabbing a set of clocks and trying them to see if it still happens. Do they have to be tdi clocks as they are quite hard to come by?

Ive changed the maf and it still happens but just as a test i disconnected the maf with the engine running and it made no difference whilst standing still but as soon as you start driving the car runs flat with no power, reconnect the maf all is good until you hit a hill and put your foot down.

Have you checked the rim`s of your wheel`s to see if you have dropped any wheel weights.

Its a 1996 1.9 tdi 90bhp manual glx 150,000 miles on the clock in good condition. Hope this helps. Vcds check address 01: engine labels 028-906-021-ahu-lbl controller-028-906-021-p component 1.9l r4 edc sg d3e coding 00000 shop#wsc00000 fault found 00553 mass air flow sensor (g70) 31-10-open or short to ground intermittent abs/eds ittae 04 g1 vdo controller 7mo907379a after doing a full scan this is what it came up with.

First question, yes all the time when driving. Second question, no the flickering lights and dancing gauges are random. Third question, no cluster goes nuts all the time. Slight inclines and hill`s power on/off happens. Yes flickering stops and just as if ignition just turned on. Haven`t tried shaking the engine yet. With the vcds connected it will check everything on the car with ignition on and started but it cannot connect to the instrument panel i just get a clicking noise coming from either the cluster or the ecu. I tried doing an individual check of the instruments but it kept coming up with controller not responding. Back to the turbo problem i noticed whilst having a rummage around under the bonnet that allot of the vac pipes seem to be in a bad way, so replacing all of them tomorrow. Ive put the carpet back down but it`s quite easy to get at the sender again.

Took tape off, plenty of wires but i can`t see the crimp`s you speak of or the small red/white wire. Some of the wires run front/rear under kick cover whilst the rest go under the seat to the alarm/central locking unit.

Apart from other problems whilst out driving today when i go to accelerate up an incline or hill, the best way i can desribed it is as if you are dabbing the brakes every couple of seconds. This only happens if you floor the accelerator ,if using only lightly it does not happen. On the flat or downhill no problems. When this happens i can hear the turbo spooling up and down. Could this be as simple as vac pipes or something a little more tricky?

Which bad earth to check, there seems to be quite a few around the car. I don`t know if it`s relevant but my washer controls work in reverse, instead of pulling the stalk towards you for wash you have to push it away. Sorry forgot to say in last post that the ecu clicks when the cluster is connected but does not click when disconnected.

Ok, i lifted the kick guards on both sides front and rear everything is dry as a dry thing and all wires are solid and intact. Yes it is back permanently, as soon as the engine is running the illumination lights in the cluster go on and off and the gauges flicker, when your driving the coolant -fuel gauge and rev counter flicker about whilst the speedo ranges from anything from 0 to 120 and anything in between. When you turn on the side lights the cluster lights stay on although the gauges still flicker and the glow plug light and the air bag light are lit very dimly.

I was taking the voltages from the fuel tank sender plug purple/black feed wire, brown ground wire anyway just to throw a spanner in the works filled up the car today so the needle was above the halfway mark this time it made no difference cluster still acting up. So it`s not the fuel gauge sender, back to square one. No ,no open door warning panel just a single red block connector into rear of cluster.

Also when you turn the ignition switch to the on position but without starting the engine should the instrument cluster illuminate even with the lights turned off?

Ok followed wires back to fuel tank both wires ok, disconnected plug to tank sender instrument cluster still not right, measured voltage at wiring plug with engine off 11.06 volts with engine running 14.60 volts why is there a voltage change should it not be constant.

Ok done what it said on the tin took out kick panel and glove box checked all wiring , all seems ok now gone onto drivers side and also checking tank sender wires back to gauge.