My very own update thread by BaseDrifter

9 minute(s) of a 155 minute read

Oh glorious day!!! I do believe I found the source of my speedometer woes.

I started by checking continuity of the wire going from the VSS to the cluster, all was well. Next step was to check the connections within the cluster to see if the signal was passing from the blue plug to the yellow plug. I pulled out the cluster.

All looks fine and dandy...

Wait a minute..whats that?!?

Cheeky bastard!! Could that possibly be the pin for the VSS? Yes it is, T26/6, blue/white wire that goes out to the CC module and ECU.

Now, is it merely a coincidence that the green paint you see there is right next to my bent pin? That green paint is from the pick n pull when I pulled the cluster. The only thing I can imagine is that the paint pen slightly bent that pin. All was well for a number of months until the last time I pulled the cluster when I did my big rewire. It must have got shoved over when I plugged in the yellow plug last time.

I bent it back into place and made sure it was as straight as could be with a magnifying glass.

What I can't figure out is what pin it was shorted to. It was touching the opposite pin, #22. However I couldn't see pin 22 in the wiring diagram for the cluster processor. The wire is brown, so maybe it's just a ground.

I haven't driven the car yet since I've got the bumper off for realignment while I replace the fog light hardware. Tomorrow I'll give it a run and hope for the best. I cleared the vehicle speed signal implausible code tonight for hopefully the last time.

So after months of having the CEL on and a speedometer that worked 1% of the time, $100 in parts, at least 15 hours of diagnosis/labor, the fix took 5 minutes...

In other news, I pulled the lower grilles, sanded out all the rock chips and painted them. So far they look great, the color is a perfect match to OEM.

Bah, not that hard to get to since all the connections will be loose (not caked with grime.)

Today I restored my fog lights. I used a pneumatic right angle random orbit sander and went 60-80-120-220-320-600-1000-1500. I followed that up with the little sanding pads and compound from a Turtle Wax restoration kit I picked up for $8. All that was followed by the included base coat and sealant.

Before:

After:

The sealant is still drying, so hopefully they stay looking that clear once it dries.

10-16-2013

I spoke too soon and now I'm paying for it. My speedometer still doesn't work. I'm truly at a loss now. I'm ready to set this car on fire.

The sensor is new, the magnetic ring is new. A cluster output test shows the speedometer making its full sweep.

I hooked up vag com and it showed 0 km/h for the speed. I switched the HVAC unit to display vehicle speed and it also shows 0 km/h.

I swapped ECUs with no change in readings.

I double checked and the speed sensor is indeed plugged in. (I unplugged it to check wire continuity. I only checked the signal wire, not the ground though...)

On a slightly different but kind of connected note..

I pulled the cruise control module to take a look at it, all the solder joints look fine. Also, my module doesn't have the "little red capacitors" as shown in some of the articles about fixing the module. If I can muster the mental energy I'll test the plug outputs tonight. Not that I think that will fix my speedometer woes, but should confirm that I need a new headlight switch (which I already have to replace since activating my left turn signal turns on the high beams.)

10-19-2013

Smacked the cluster a few times, no results. I drove ~50 city miles today and the speedo didn't work once. Not surprised. It seems to work better on the freeway...

My G1W dash cam arrived today and I'm mighty impressed. It is MUCH smaller than I anticipated and super light. The mount it came with seems to be well made with easy to use but secure adjustments. I have it mounted just below my rear view mirror right now, I may move it further behind the mirror later. I wasn't able to record anything since my 32gb micro SD card hasn't shown up yet, but the picture quality looks great, even at night time. For $50 I'm really really impressed. With all cheap things though, it's the long term reliability that usually comes into question. Only time will tell there.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

10-21-2013

No worries smitty. Tomorrow I may do some work on it, not sure yet though.

Here are a few pictures of the G1W camera installed. I've been having some memory issues with it. I have to restart the camera to get it to start recording again, a bit of a pain in the ***...sometimes it'll work for 5 minutes, other times 2 hours. We'll see how it does. When it does work though, it works very well.

Here are some videos I've taken with it.

SUV running a red light and a compilation of "incidents" from driving last Saturday night.

10-24-2013

I believe I've found the source of my VSS problems..it was the Meyle VSS replacement.

I pulled the known to be working VSS from my dad's A4 and replaced it with the Meyle one. He drove it for 10 miles and reported intermittent function, and a CEL.

I put his VSS in my car and my speedo has worked perfectly for 30 miles now. No codes stored.

That should've been one of the first things I tried. I had faith that the Meyle unit would be good. Oh well!

10-25-2013

Yeah this incident has swayed me away from their products going forward. I've got their 12 piece HD control arm kit installed and it's been good for 3 years now, but I'm starting to get a little clunk from the right front corner. I'll have to check out the CAs.

I also didn't think it could be the sensor since the symptoms were identical between the failing OEM unit and the replacement Meyle. Drove another 50 miles yesterday and haven't had a single code pop up, speedo works as it should.

Now I can focus on my front brake rehab.

Need to get:

Brake pads - Hawk HPS? - $120 (still not locked on a set of pads yet, for every good review of aftermarket pads there seems to be a bad one as well)
OEM brake fluid reservoir - $85
Brake fluid - Not set on a brand yet, $20-30
ECS stainless front lines - $50

Caliper stuff:

Seal kit (price per caliper) - OEM is $25, aftermarket is $11.
Guide bushings (per caliper) - OEM is $25, Meyle is $12
Guide pins (need 4) - Bremmenparts - $7 each