Mk1 speedometer woes and solution!

[JLPAWLICKI at aol.com (JLPAWLICKI@aol.com)]

I wanted to share with the list what I learned over the past few days with my 
77 Mk1 Scirocco. First the symptoms:

Speedometer did not work. When driving off from a stop, the needle would 
immediately take off and go from the 10 mph position all the way around the clock 
and pin itself at the 6 o'clock position until I would drive the car in 
reverse and it would come back to 10 mph (rest). I took the speedometer cluster out 
and took things apart. There is a spring that was broken behind the needle. I 
pirated one from a later model Rabbit cluster. Be most careful not to distort 
the spring. It installs the same way it came out. Patience are the key. The 
speedometer now works, but the odometer does not turn. Back to the drawing 
board. This is a VDO speedometer. I threw a Motometer in and it works fine for now. 


In addition, my gas and temperature gauges did not work at all. I did some 
research and found out that the voltage stabilizer on the back of the cluster 
could be suspect if both gauges do not register. As it turns out, the printed 
circuit board had a 1/4 inch of circuitry missing (melted away?). I soldered in 
a jumper and all is well. FYI, it seems that voltage stabilizer (looks like a 
transistor with three prongs and a heat sink) came out in 1977 and seems to be 
compatible all the way through the A2 clusters. If any questions, just check 
the numbers on it (TCA 700). 

Lastly, not cluster related, but electrical. I had one headlight working and 
then on the other side, just one highbeam. If you are missing 12v at the 
headlights, check the fuses and or replace with new ones. There are 4 in a row on 
the left hand side 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the fuse box. My four looked fine but upon 
further inspection, they were corroded. The new ceramic fuses (8A) did the 
trick!

Thanks,

Jim 77 Scirocco Stage I
http://members.aol.com/jlpawlicki