vtraudt

I finally took the instrument cluster out today.
MIL was not working, and speedometer in the lower left (0-40 mph) was dark.

One bulb with a separate 2 wire connector was missing. See photo below for that location. What is it for? Bought a 1.2V bulb from Autozone and inserted. Works.



The MIL (CEL) light was not working. I assume the MIL light location is the one in the center with 4 of the mini bulb sockets? Can the bulbs be removed (how?) from the socket? Will the standard 1.2V above fit?



One of the mini sockets was missing (forget which, since I took one good one out for show-and-tell), I assume the center one.

Does anyone have such a socket? Can't find it anywhere. I suspect the previous owner on purpose took them out to make the next poor buyer think 'see, no CEL light, everything's fine'.

turbo510

On my '96 the MIL is the wired lamp. When in doubt you can always remove the instrument module, take out the lamp in question, and hold the unit in front of a bright light to read the symbol.

vtraudt

It was the MIL! The one from Autozone worked in that location.

I am sure the seller removed it to hide the fact that the MIL was on(used car dealer; he REALLY pulled one on the lady that bought the car from him; from bad transmmission, to butchered seat mount, to butcher welded flex pipes, spray can paint job, not mentioning prior break in (different lock on passenger side, no key for it), to several other hidden issues).

I found a few more bad 'mini socket bulbs'; moved the bad ones into less important parts of the cluster. Found what appears to be the right ones on the internet and ordered 4 (thinking I need 1, before noticing at that I need at least 3; should have ordered 6 since S&H as usual is almost more than the bulbs (bulbs were $2.60/ea).

Strange thing:

the mileage display is now dark!!! Does it need to be reprogrammed with VAGcom? Or is there also a bulb to iluminate it?

turbo510

I believe that there is a bulb in there. Connection was probably marginal at the connector or bulb socket, or filiment was just weak and all the troubleshooting knocked it a little too much.

vtraudt

Thanks. I will swap another bulb in there. I took the green mini socket bulb out and checked it with DVM (no conductivy/Ohm). If the mileage display uses a bulb AND if the green one below IS this bulb, than its bad (and explains the dark display).

Loree-AudiUSAParts

So much easier out of the car!! Great graphics, just wanted to let you know have all the bulbs you might needs once you get done checking which ones work and which ones don't. Right there with you that prior owner was not the nicest. One thing to watch for is even if the bases are the same color does not mean they are the same amps. Careful not to overload or underload an application. Good luck!
Loree

vtraudt

Are you saying black, yellow and green are different Ohm?
Uups.

In this case, I need at least:
- 2 green
- 2 yellow
- 2 black

I have 4x W0133-1642714 on order, which are 1.2 Watt (12V x 0.1 A = 1.2 W, 12V/0.1A=120 Ohm), I assume those are the black ones.

Any part numbers for the green and yellow.

Do you have at least 2 yellow and 2 green ones?

PM your offer, shipped to 48114.

moloveshisaudi1254

Nice Graphics. The two empty locations shown on your cluster and the one empty location in the center are not used. The back light for the odometer display is the one the arrow is pointing to. The other empty location close to the yellow connector is (as said earlier) for the check engine light bulb(MIL). The MIL was wired directly to the ECU on pre-facelift models. If the MIL bulb was burnt out, the ECU might throw a code. You have to hook up the car to a VAG-COM anyway to see why your MIL bulb is on so when you do please do an auto-scan and post the code(s). As far as the bulbs go here are the values:

2.0 Watt (Green/Hex base OR Black Square base (Toshiba)) = 8 Ohms
1.2 Watt to 1.5 Watt (Usually orange hex base) = 12 Ohms
1.0 Watt (Black Hex base) = 16 Ohms

These are all approximate values. I recently replace a bunch of interior lighting and in the process recorded the values. You should be able to get a decent size pack of assorted bulbs for cheap. Same kind of bulbs are used in the climate control unit so if the display is going dark or the buttons don't light up order a pack. When starting the car in the dark leave the key in the ON position for a few seconds and turn on the headlights the instrument cluster should light up like a Christmas tree.

vtraudt

I am confused: The 4 locations in the center all seem to be 'important'. I don't recall what the 4 were for, but I thing to remember (cluster for now back in the car until I get 'orange' bulbs):
- low fuel warning (gas pump)
- low oil pressure warning (oil can)
- high coolant temperature (thermometer)
- brake; exclamation mark in circle with round side (something like "(!)")

By the way: the manual in my car shows a different cluster layout from what I have in the car. Between the speedo and tacho, it shows a rectangular display where I have the 4 warning lights plus 2 row display (PRND432 plus temp).

It also shows a total of 5 indicators in the speedo (clockwise: airbag, ABS, Brake, Generator/Battery, Safety Belt). My cluster shows 6 positions (next to the blue connector), one empty, 2 (first and last) dummies. Shouldn't at leas the 4 in between have bulbs, too?

vtraudt

This is how the display looks right now:
- Temp and battery voltage bulb dead (switched bad ones to this position)
- center square with 4: bottom left (I think fuel warning) empty (one bulb was missing, moved working one to more important of the 4 fields)
- mileage bulb (green) measured dead