Has anyone ever retrofitted a trip computer ?

frank gallagher

Hi, just wondering has anyone ever done this / had it done, my Audi a3 doesn't have one and previously having one in my other cars makes it feel like I'm missing something , is it a hard or expensive job, I'm presuming I'll need the display/wiper stalk and some garage with diagnostics

pippip

Its not too hard a job, can even be DIY if your confident and have the right equipment. I don't know the particulars but your roughly looking at the following:

You'd need cluster (red or white) with DIS,
new wiper stalk,
possibly new steering cu & slip ring,
mileage correction for new cluster
vag coding to get all working.


Basically involves switching cluster and wiper stalk (steering wheel and airbag need to come off) and then re-coding the ecu.

sebastianlieken

pippip wrote: »

Its not too hard a job, can even be DIY if your confident and have the right equipment. I don't know the particulars but your roughly looking at the following:

You'd need cluster (red or white) with DIS,
new wiper stalk,
possibly new steering cu & slip ring,
mileage correction for new cluster
vag coding to get all working.


Basically involves switching cluster and wiper stalk (steering wheel and airbag need to come off) and then re-coding the ecu.

yeahh.... that doesn't sound like a complex job at all... :rolleyes:

MrDerp

Do your homework if you're changing your instrument cluster.

My wife's car failed her NCT over an abs light not coming on at ignition. After much too-ing and fro-ing, we discovered that the wrong Peugeot instrument cluster was in the car, and (inexplicably) the signal sent by the BSI unit for the abs light was unmatched to this model of Peugeot 206 cluster.

The instrument cluster had previously been replaced, under warranty, by the garage she bought the car from. The dash light wasn't previously part of the NCT, so it passed it's next NCT, but failed 2 years later. The garage was out of business by this time, and we ended up buying a new cluster, though both were genuine Peugeot 206 parts.

I don't know if Audi have such shenanigans, but I'd be very careful buying a cluster with a different part number, and I'd want a statement from the vendor that it could be used on your make/model (or an agreement from the vendor to take it back if there was any issues). Before you put in the new cluster, make a note the startup light sequence, and test its play back with the new cluster when you install it.

Bejubby

You can buy a trip computer which plugs into the obd socket and does other stuff aswell

http://www.scangauge.com/

bazz26

If you have a smart phone then why not just download a trip computer type app?

kirving

Since the most accurate way to measure fuel usage is at the pump, and all the other functions of a trip computer could be handled by a dedicated sat-nav device, would it be worth getting one instead?

ironclaw

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Since the most accurate way to measure fuel usage is at the pump, and all the other functions of a trip computer could be handled by a dedicated sat-nav device, would it be worth getting one instead?

As Kevin said, Would actually probably be easier to note the fuel you use and install a small race trip meter (Or just note the odometer). The accuracy would be well and beyond any in-built trip meter.

Dord

What year is your car?

If it has an ODBII port then you could use a Scangauge II. Simple to fit, just plug it in.

frank gallagher

pippip wrote: »

Its not too hard a job, can even be DIY if your confident and have the right equipment. I don't know the particulars but your roughly looking at the following:

You'd need cluster (red or white) with DIS,
new wiper stalk,
possibly new steering cu & slip ring,
mileage correction for new cluster
vag coding to get all working.


Basically involves switching cluster and wiper stalk (steering wheel and airbag need to come off) and then re-coding the ecu.

right, thats a little out of my depth, does anyone do this and would it be expensive ?


have a smart phone and looked at the other options, but if im going to get it done id prefer it to look somewhat stock

Dord

What year is the car?

frank gallagher

Dord wrote: »

What year is the car?

2007 audi a3 1.9 tdi

Dord

The Scangauge II will work then as your car has an ODBII port. I picked mine up on Amazon UK and it cost around 140 delivered. I got it sent to Parcel Motel to avail of the free Amazon shipping in UK.

Here's a picture of one



You can easily fit it without any big changes to your car. I've just got mine stuck on the dash. It comes with velcro. I've seen some people have fit it in a single DIN space also. That looks quite neat.

George Dalton

frank gallagher wrote: »

2007 audi a3 1.9 tdi

Buy and fit DIS type wiper stalk. Activate trip computer functions in Instruments via diagnostics. Job done.