instument cluster is tweaking out (pics)..

**chad86thai** · 05-31-2008 02:06 AM

ok so i picked up my first A4 yesterday. its a 98 2.8 and i LOVE it. drove it around all day yesterday and today! so far everything is good with the car.. it runs smoothly and nothing seems to be wrong.. the only thing is the cluster box. ive searched this forum and found a couple stuff but im not sure if its the same problem.

all the lights work fine.. only in the box in the center where it is suppose to show your current gas mileage, temp, trip distance, fuel light etc. nothing shows up.. there is a red background and you can barely make out what is on the screen, but it is very very dim. ill post some pics so you can see what i mean

the previous owner had the car for two years and said it was like that when he got it, but it never bothered him so he never fixed it. he said it tended to show up better in the morning when it was colder

now it doesnt really bother me either but eventually i would like to get it fixed so i was wondering how exactly that can be done. is soldering the only way or is it another problem? and if i have to take it to a shop, around how much does it cost? thanks in advance

**biketsai** · 05-31-2008 02:08 AM

This is completely normal in our cars. These things go out left and right and EVERYONE has dead pixels, or has had. If you take it to the dealership, it will cost around 6-800 bucks.

**chad86thai** · 05-31-2008 02:12 AM

damn thats the only way?.thats friken expensive. Well i guess its gonna be that way for a while then.. I spent all my money just to get the car.. id rather get coilovers with that kind of money anyways.. haha

**creechsa4** · 05-31-2008 02:54 AM

just look up ap specialties on this site, he should have an extra used 2.8 cluster for you. his name is chase. not that difficult to DIY, probably hour or 2 tops.

**chad86thai** · 05-31-2008 03:08 AM

hey thanks for that creechsa4, that helps me out a lot.. do you have a link or something on how to DIY?

**CycloSteve** · 05-31-2008 03:32 AM

Chad,

There is a DIY which sometimes works, sometimes not.

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=44713

It is worth a try if you are inclined towards a DIY and will not cost you any more than your time.

Steve

**seanko04** · 05-31-2008 09:33 AM

Good luck with the car. Quick question, I may be dead wrong but, I thought the cluster only came on 2000 and up B5 cars. Was your cluster already changed? But like I said I could be wrong since you have a 2.8.

**Jibberific** · 05-31-2008 09:41 AM

^^ my 99.5 has the trip computer with the screen but my old 99.0 didn't. I think it was an option on all b5's.

Anyway mine does the same thing. No dead pixels, amazingly, but it does get all faded and impossible to read once it gets above 90 degrees or so. Just gotta deal with it. It's an awesome feature other than that.