Speedo Not Working

[peasey]

good evening everyone, im wondering if anyone can shed some light on my problem of my speedo not working? the exact problem is i have no needle movement on the speedo and it doesnt clock up the miles on either of the digital displays but after reconnecting the battery it does do the dial reseting action and everything else works perfectly.i have checked the mulitplugs on the back and found no probs.someone mentioned in another post that it could be the speed sensor that was causing them trouble does anyone know where its postioned?im assuming its on the gear box some where and is there any way of checking this out?I should mention at this point that its a 98 vw sharan 2.0 auto.i dont really want to change the dash as im sure in my own mind that things are ok up there as i get the reseting movement after dissconnecting the battery and also dont want to buy a new unit only to find that the problem is still there.any help would be fantastic as im really at a loss as to what it is.thanks in advance.

[johngalaxy]

Hi Peasey,

 

I have the same problem on my Galaxy, The dials are not working and the digital read outs have stoped. I have had the cluster tested and there is no problem on this front. I had a blown Turbo which i got fixed and the speedo did not work after that. I did read that someone had problems with their speedo and they mentioned that their rear passanger window stoped working, this also happened to me, the very same problem. I have come to the conclusion that it has earthed somewhere either by the turbo reving out of control or the wires leading to the door touching each other. when i was reparing them there were a few sparks. I brought it back to the garage and asked them to check that they put all the plugs back in correctly. They checked the main fuse plug thingy near the gear box and there was noting out of place.There are block socket fuses behind the cluster. I am going to order new ones as a shot in the dark excercise. Other than this i am at a loss. If you have any luck please let me know.

 

thanks and good luck

 

John - Galaxy

[peasey]

hmm thats food for thought i too had the window problem due to a melted wire from the fuse box which i fixed so i recon you could be on the right track here i have seen the socket fuses youre talking about but it never dawned on me that they were related im going out later to investigate this and have another good rake round under there.I never did get to the bottom of why the wire melted so a bad earth could well be to blame(fingers crossed)so all things being equal you and i could have working speedos by the weekend touch wood,thanks for the input mate

[MrT]

This may not be of much help but I seem to remember (I think it works on the Galaxy) that if you have climate control, a certain combination of buttons will put you in a test mode allow you to see the speed in the climate control display. If you can see a speed here, the sensor will be working and it will be the speedo that is faulty.

 

Certainly through VAG-COM you can see the speed that the engine management detects and also if the speed sensor is faulty you may see an error code.

[peasey]

thanks for the reply mrt but it doesnt have climate control only bog standard air con,but im still waiting for a break in the rain to go out there and continue investigating

[peasey]

well just for the record i still havent got it sorted so i reckon its auto electrician time,i cant stand being defeated like this but i want the thing to work and i just know its going to cost me a shed load.i will keep you all posted on his findings and if he fixes it.thanks people for the input.

[big_kev]

The speed sensor is attached to the gearbox on the side near the front of the car.

 

Probably above the starting motor.

[madnorton]

Any news on any of your stories guys?

 

I have just bought a galaxy with the speedo not moving issue and intending on fixing it pretty soon.

 

I naturally assumed it was a dodgy connection or a cable replacement?

 

Because of the fact its illegal my boyfreind says it needs to be fixed urgently.

 

Any news or advice?

 

Regards

 

Madeleine

[cerlywiggers]

Hi guys,

thought i was share my story too

when we first bought our galaxy the battery was flat and the speedo dials didnt work at all. charging the battery and putting it back into the car it worked find.

the battery kept dying on us and every time we jump started the car none of the dials worked. is thisthe kinda thing thats happening to you guys?

 

since having a flat battery nearly all the time we worked out that our alternator was dying which is now replaced, and we havent had a flat battery since.

 

could your problems be gearbox related as our gear box has now packed up and left for the scrap yard!

 

am very insterest in what your problems were???

[Saif Rehman]

could your problems be gearbox related as our gear box has now packed up and left for the scrap yard!

 

am very insterest in what your problems were???

 

The original post was well over a year old, i doubt it very much they will back to answer your query. You tend to find it a lot on forums that new members ask questions and if the problem is sorted then they disappear like thin air!

[mk7975]

good evening everyone, im wondering if anyone can shed some light on my problem of my speedo not working? the exact problem is i have no needle movement on the speedo and it doesnt clock up the miles on either of the digital displays but after reconnecting the battery it does do the dial reseting action and everything else works perfectly.i have checked the mulitplugs on the back and found no probs.someone mentioned in another post that it could be the speed sensor that was causing them trouble does anyone know where its postioned?im assuming its on the gear box some where and is there any way of checking this out?I should mention at this point that its a 98 vw sharan 2.0 auto.i dont really want to change the dash as im sure in my own mind that things are ok up there as i get the reseting movement after dissconnecting the battery and also dont want to buy a new unit only to find that the problem is still there.any help would be fantastic as im really at a loss as to what it is.thanks in advance.

 

 

Solved problem on 1999 galaxy tdi, no speedo or cruise. The wire inside the rubber sleave located at the back off the engine going to the speed sensor at the top of the gearbox was at fault. It runs up tha back off the engine around the right hand side off the head into the round multi plug connector just in front off the head. About the level off the head gasket on the right. If you put a multi meter on the speed sensor plug and the other end in this plug you may find this fault. 3 wires on the plug, blue and white wire into multi plug, black wire into multi plug, green wire with brown stripe is the earth going to 10mm nut on the front of the multi plug bracket. I found the earth was brittle and rusty coloured all inside its rubber sleave from engine heat over time. chopped the earth from the speed sensor plug up to the 10mm nut on the other end, fitted new earth and bingo all working. As the speed sensor is plastic and multi plug plastic the fault was no decent earth.

 

Sorry to be long winded but tried to help people with no or little knowledge where to locate wire. the speed sensor wire is inside a tin foil type protection blanket on top of the gearbox at the back, easiest way put arm from underneath the car from the middle onto top off gearbox, no need to remove plastic pan but unplugged it and pushed it up towards the turbo air intake pipe the got it from the top of the engine by removing turbo air intake pipe.

[Trislander]

Similar fault myself now lost speedo and fuel gauge up and down bleeping away if less than half a tank in. Literally just happened now. It did happen few months back and mechanic sorted by cleaning the sensors and up until now not been an issue. Is it the abs sensor??

[smartycar]

I think from memory the speed sensor  signal is on pin 9 of the cluster plug (haven't got the wiring diags to hand at the mo), if it's not working the oil warning bleeper goes off at around 20 mph, check for continuity, also check the plug contacts with a magnifying glass as they are small and deform not making a good joint. Again from memory I think pin 17 is also a source of speed for the GALA signal so you could piggy back a wire from here to the other