Clocks not working right

[christiant]

My speedometer, fuel gauge and temperature gauge have stopped working. It happened on a hot day when the car was left at the sun, so maybe a solder joint has come loose. The whole instrument cluster was acting very funny before it happened, sometimes saying please refuel when I have half a tank and sometimes showing a reading on the speedo when stationary. It all happened within a day, had no issues before. Where should I start?

[brianh]

Have a look round the engine bay fusebox - if its melted this can be the result. Details on fixing should be in the reference library.

[christiant]

Thanks, I did check it has been meted before but someone redone the contacts and never had a problem. I did take it apart and clean the terminals, still the same...

[brianh]

Have the thicker wires been soldered? The cause of the melting is usually down to a bad crimp on the wire, soldering should fix it long term, cleaning alone won't do.

The only other thing i can think of to look at is to check the plug is properly connected to the cluster, it may have come loose somehow (head can do that particually if it wasn't seated properly to start with).

Most of the gauges will retain whatever reading they were at when the cluster is disconnected - I've had one showing half a tank of fuel despite being sat on a shelf, so would suspect you have a bad connection somewhere, only real common points are the ecu and the cluster wiring, Would suspect the cluster end more likely to have been disturbed than the ecu.

[christiant]

I ordered a replacement junction box along with the cable to the battery, will solder all the other ones when that arrives but for the sake of tracking down the problem it is definitely all connected. How to take cluster out to check? I've taken a lot of them out before on different cars but this one seems like it sits right behind the whole dash... What it does is it reads half a tank but constantly says please refuel, and the speedo doesn't work. The rest of it works fine. Yesterday it was reading a funny ambient temp, but today somehow that sorted itself.

[brianh]

Drop the steering wheel down to its lowest setting, theres 2 screws on the lower edge of the bit it sits inside, once those are out it should be more obvious what needs to happen from there (you can't see the screws easily under normal circumstances). Think there is more detailed instructions in the reference library on here.

[christiant]

Thanks, I figured it out. The whole panel to the right holding the center console needs to be moved a bit to access one of the screws and mine broke because it was cracked... Anyway there was two connectors on each side. They looked fine but took them off anyway, sprayed some contact cleaner and put back together. Still the same... Read it for codes it came up with intermittent open circuit for the fuel sender but that is because I had that off recently. I guess I will be taking the actual cluster apart to check for bad solder joints or look for a replacement. It needs to be coded to the ECU right?

[brianh]

The other place you can get problems with wiring, is the joint in the passenger footwell (believe its under the carpet). Might be worth a look there, not sure if it would affect what your seeing, but worth checking out all the same. Especially if the rear washer has been leaking in the past.

[johnnyroper]

That splice joint is for fuse 32 services,not sure if your issue related to f32 supply?
There is a write up in red library about it.

[christiant]

So I changed the junction box, turned out it was a fault in the cluster because I just replaced it and it works fine. However the one I got is UK spec, my car is EU spec other than that same cars as of equipment engine and year. I did the soft coding but the speedo reads wrong now... So from what I read i figure I need to dump the old eeprom from the old cluster and upload it to the new one. What options do I have for doing this?

[brianh]

The only time I've messed with that sort of thing was on a mk IV golf, had to use vag-tacho and vcds together (Don't think VCDS lite will do what you require either from memory). That was swapping a dead cluster for a working one of the same model though, where the immobiliser had to be synced with the cluster (not something that matters on the Galaxy as Ford don't do it in the same way).


Is it just the speedo reading in MPH rather than KPH or does it indicate the wrong speed as well?

[christiant]

Ive done the soft coding with vcds lite and switched everything to kms, changed the location from UK to Europe and the rest matched. It now reads around 10miles or ~15kms more than actual speed and discovered cruise control doesn't work. The light comes on on the dash but nothing happens. Everything else works perfect...

[christiant]

Sorry to continue on with this tread but Ive read previous posts here, one with exactly the same issue as mine. From what I read I need VAG tacho to copy the eeprom file from the old cluster to the new one, from what I understand being a VDO unit this can be done with VAG tacho. But does anyone know which version as the galaxy VDO unit is a VAG part, but then it is unique to only the ford galaxy plant... None of the VAG tacho cables and software I found are listed as compatible with this particular unit, I suspect they would be but not sure... The one I was looking at is version 3.0

In the meantime I transferred the dials from the old cluster to the new one, and I fixed the cruise control by disabling it, cycling the ignition and enabling it again. Having done the soft coding its all in KMs now

[brianh]

Sorry to continue on with this tread but Ive read previous posts here, one with exactly the same issue as mine. From what I read I need VAG tacho to copy the eeprom file from the old cluster to the new one, from what I understand being a VDO unit this can be done with VAG tacho. But does anyone know which version as the galaxy VDO unit is a VAG part, but then it is unique to only the ford galaxy plant... None of the VAG tacho cables and software I found are listed as compatible with this particular unit, I suspect they would be but not sure... The one I was looking at is version 3.0

In the meantime I transferred the dials from the old cluster to the new one, and I fixed the cruise control by disabling it, cycling the ignition and enabling it again. Having done the soft coding its all in KMs now

If i can find my cable I'll give that a try on the petrol 2.3 mk2 I've got and let you know if it works. Will do it some point over the weekend if i can find the cable.

[christiant]

Thanks!

[brianh]

I've located the cable, its version 3.01 I've got. Unfortunately I can't confirm it actually works, as i get an error with the k-line shorted to ground when trying to use it. The cable did work last time I used it, but that was on a Golf, so I'd suspect its an issue with my car unless its just the wrong version.

[christiant]

Thanks, I already ordered a version 3.01, will see tomorrow if it works...

[christiant]

This Galaxy is turning out to be probably the worst car I have owned... Im sure mine is just bad but still
So I got it connected with the VAG Tacho. Pulled both eep files from both clusters. Uploaded the one from the old cluster to the new one and... It got bricked the same way the old cluster is. After that I re-wrote to original eep and it works fine, but obviously not right for my car. So basically I need a working eep to match my ecu and my car. Unfortunately I dont know anyone with a car like this so I cant copy one. If anyone has the same galaxy as mine 2002 TDI 115 manual and has a vag tacho I would really appreciate copying and sending a file so I can try to sort out my mess... Thanks

[brianh]

At least you have confirmed the lead works now. My image wouldn't help even if I could read it anyway, but at least the diesels are the more common ones so someone else may be able to help.

[christiant]

If anyone runs into this do the following:
connect to to the instrument cluster via vcds
go to  [17 - Instruments]
write down 5 digit number
and for the CAN coding go to
[19 - CAN Gateway] write down the 5 digit number
disconect vcds
Connect to dash via vag tacho
make a back up of the .eep file just in case
write an empty file to overwrite the existing file
cycle the ignition
click reset dash
then connect vcds again
[19 - CAN Gateway]
[Recode - 07]
enter the 5 digit number you copied earlier
[17 - Instruments]
[Recode - 07]
enter the 5 digit number you entered earlier and there you have it! the file gets rewritten by the cars ecu. I haven't yet fully tested it because I cant drive it as the engine is apart at the moment but it seems to be working. You may need to enter the mileage manually with vag tacho as it will be fully reset.