VW Polo Dashboard Lights

eric90000

Hello,

My 1996 VW Polo hatchback failed the NCT the other day, I got most of the stuff fixed but I can't seem to be able to fix some warning lights on the dash.

Most of the warning lights work fine and the panel light dimmer works fine, but for some reason the main beam/fog warning lights don't come on at all. I removed the whole instrument panel hoping to be able to change some bulbs but they just seem to be a strip of board soldered LED's.

Could this be a fuse problem or would I need to replace the whole speedo instrument cluster? If I need to change the whole thing out for a new one, whats the story with the mileage indicator and is it even legal to do that?

Any help greatly appreciated as I have an NCT retest coming up.

Thanks a lot,

Eric.

dickwod1

It could be a fuse problem, pull out each fuse one at a time remembering its location and look to see if the metal in the middle of the fuse is broke.

eric90000

dickwod1 wrote: »

It could be a fuse problem, pull out each fuse one at a time remembering its location and look to see if the metal in the middle of the fuse is broke.

Thanks for the fast reply. Just checked the fuses, they all seem to be ok, you can actually see the condition of them without even having to take them out.

I've actually just noticed the fog light indicator comes on but only when the ignition is on, when the engine is started it goes off again. Would this indicate a short circuit somewhere?

dickwod1

Yeah it could be a bad earth some where, look in the engine bay and check are all wires connected and tightened, and also check any relays you see too.

eric90000

ok thanks will do. do you think it might be a battery issue? pretty sure the battery is on the way out.

dickwod1

eric90000 wrote: »

ok thanks will do. do you think it might be a battery issue? pretty sure the battery is on the way out.

I doubt it if the battery has enough power to start the car and have the headlights on,

eric90000

had a look under the bonnet, can't see any wires that look loose. It's strange, no bad fuses, fog indicator works but goes off when engine starts. Full beam indicator doesn't light at all. I was dreading bringing it to an auto-electrician as its an old car and I can't spend much money on it but I'll probably have to at this stage. any idea how much something like this would cost to fix?

dickwod1

Where in Dublin are you?

eric90000

Ballinteer, near Dundrum. Know any good places to take it?

dickwod1

eric90000 wrote: »

Ballinteer, near Dundrum. Know any good places to take it?

In the past out your way (kinda) I used Kevin O'Sullivan Auto Electricians ...

Give him and a few others a buzz and ask for a rough price before heading out so you'll have a rough idea of what it might cost.

dougie-lampkin

The dash lights share the same fuse as their circuit on the Polo, so if your main beams are working and the light on the dash doesn't come on, it's not fuse related, either the SMD has failed or the cluster is failing. The fog light is internal to the switch, it doesn't have it's own fuse. It doesn't seem like a straightforward job for an auto sparks to be honest, although anything is fixable you'd likely be looking at a couple of hours labour.

You're probably handy with a bit of DIY if you took out the cluster and identified the lights as SMDs, so the simplest fix I can think of is to put in two new lights. You can get a pack of four for ~€8 here, and drill two holes in the dash (or even the cluster, if there's room behind one of the gauges). You should be able to find the fog and mains wires handy enough, they'll be coming out of their appropriate switches. I have a diagram here if you wanted to go down this route anyway.

It's not the most elegant of solutions, but if you're trying to keep a '96 Polo running and it just needs two dash lights for another year's motoring, I know what I'd be doing

eric90000

Cheers for the replies lads. I am actually handy enough with a soldering iron and basic electronics, I've soldered LED's before but never these tiny SMD's. Dougie, I can get a replacement cluster on eBay for about 20 quid delivered, but I'm not sure if doing this would alter the mileage on the gauge, which might be illegal and not NCT'able? Don't wanna buy it though if its not 100% the problem. Not exactly sure what you mean by drilling 2 new wholes, would this place the lights somewhere else on the dash, and bypass the SMD's in the cluster?

I'll give Kevin O'Sullivan a ring on Monday in the meantime and and see if he would agree on a cheap price.

eric90000

Rang Kevin O'Sullivan this morning, really nice chap, gave me some advice. He suggested I don't bring it to an auto-electrician because it'll cost 100 quid minimum to fix the problem, he suggested I buy a replacement speedo cluster off eBay and put it in myself. Only thing is I can't find one on eBay that exactly matches my engine size.

This one I found:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/VW-POLO-MK4-19941996-6N-1-4-1-6-HATCHBACK-SPEEDO-INSTUMENT-CLUSTER-6N0-919-910-L-/330657503297?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4cfcb91841

looks identical to mine and is off the same year/model polo, except its from a 1.4/1.6 and mine is a 1.0. I wonder does this matter or are they interchangeable? The code on my speedo cluster is 6N0 919 910, and the code on the one on eBay is 6N0 919 910 L (only difference being an "L" at the end).

Any advice?

dickwod1

Had a look on ebay.co.uk and this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41G1-VOLKSWAGEN-POLO-6N-1994-1999-VDO-SPEEDOMETER-CLOCK-PN-6N0-919-910-/150890117749?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2321c07a75 was there,

It has the same number as yours and various others had different letters at the end so they must be specific to the engine size of the car.

This one says UK p&p only so if your buying it you'll have to contact the seller and ask him will he ship to Ireland, If he says no set up a parcel motel account and get it that way.

Or any Irish scrap yard here ... http://www.partfinder.ie

eric90000

dickwod1 wrote: »

Had a look on ebay.co.uk and this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41G1-VOLKSWAGEN-POLO-6N-1994-1999-VDO-SPEEDOMETER-CLOCK-PN-6N0-919-910-/150890117749?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2321c07a75 was there,

It has the same number as yours and various others had different letters at the end so they must be specific to the engine size of the car.

This one says UK p&p only so if your buying it you'll have to contact the seller and ask him will he ship to Ireland, If he says no set up a parcel motel account and get it that way.

Or any Irish scrap yard here ... http://www.partfinder.ie

Cheers buddy, I actually got this one on eBay http://www.ebay.ie/itm/371043449522?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

only 20 euro delivered from England so very happy with that! had to ring the dismantlers and they found one in the warehouse and listed it on eBay for me to purchase. Thanks for all the help, I'll let you know if it does the trick for me (fingers crossed).

eric90000

Just to let you know, the new speedo cluster arrived today (really fast shipping), and it worked like a charm. Lights are working perfectly now so my old cluster was obviously failing. 2nd NCT on Sunday, fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the help.

dickwod1

Best of luck with the NCT.