Mk2 Scirocco electrical gremlins

[Capriblue85]

Hi everyone.. first post for me after buying the Capri blue Scirocco that was on eBay last week. The car is mechanically and body wise sound. The aging electrics are the issue.

The first electrical problem is the rev counter, when the ignition is turned on the gauge immediately reads maximum 7000 rpm and never moves until the ignition is turned off. I can't trace this problem, even with every wire off the dizzy and coil the needle still deflects straight to maximum. All other gauges work as they should. Any ideas?

Second are the panel lights. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't. Occasionally one side will light and not the other.

Third is the hand break warning light, I changed the fuse for one of the correct rating and the light and rad fan came to live. But soon after the light sometimes works and then others it won't.

Fourth are the headlights, sometimes these won't come on and the relay can be heard clicking. I assume this is just the relay as the heater fan also dies at the same time. Which relay do I need to replace?

And lastly (for now) is the coolant tempreture warning light. It has a mind of its own. Sometimes will stay off. Other times it will just continue to flash all the time after the ignition goes on. Other times it will come on after 30-40 minutes. Level ok and gauge normal.

Hopefully you guys with more scirocco experience can assist in tracing these faults. And hopefully it isn't too serious.

Many thanks, Daniel

[Jerry Atric]

Electrical gremlins are a night mare....but some of the things you describe may possibly be attributed to poor earth connections. Certain parts of the car have earth wires including the engine block so wherever the earth wires run to, make sure there are good contacts , clean up if necessary. The panel lights? Well, on my older 'rocco, the rheostat is very temperamental and can sometimes be on , other times off....a "wiggle" of the rheostat switch usually manages to bring the lights ( panel ) back on.

Good luck with solving the problems and keep us posted as to how you get on.

[GTXTRA]

Whereabouts are you based Daniel? Maybe near another Rocco owner who's handy with the electrics.

Great that the car has found a good home.

[Capriblue85]

Whereabouts are you based Daniel? Maybe near another Rocco owner who's handy with the electrics.

Great that the car has found a good home.

I'm just outside Peterborough.. the car is more than usable just that sometimes things work and sometimes they don't!

I have just removed the instrument cluster, which has part of the pcb bare near the bottom. Just a small piece of metal exposed. Is this likely to be a problem?

Sorted the hand break light by removing the light from the dash and spreading the pins on the lamp holder.

Removed the fuse box to find one snapped connection on the idle controller. Car now ticks over a little smoother. But there is another connector (green and black) wire that goes to now where. Can't see a connector that looks like it recently had a connector on it.

Any help would be great.

[unknownmale]

I would have expected an earthing issue, but if the rev counter is reading full and you have some other issues such as blown fuses this sounds more like a short to ground/ short to positive rather than a bad earth.

The route I would go down is to pick one issue and trace it. You'd need a pin out for the connectors on the back of the clocks to trace. Dash wiring various slightly year to year, and depending on engine time/ MFA etc.

But I think with all models the rev counters positive feed is direct from the coils -ve terminal. So first step would be to unplug the connector off the terminal, turn the ignition to on and see if the counter drops. If it doesn't I'd imagine there is a short to positive somewhere in the loom, or possibly in the PCB.

You could check the PCB visually to see if there are any burnt tracks or other damage, you can check the dash loom for any exposed wiring. You can also check the feed from the coil on the dash connector connector.

A few things to check, i've not experienced that issue so it's a lot of guessing, but might help you. If you have access to another set of clocks that would be a quick test!

[PeteGLi]

Fourth are the headlights, sometimes these won't come on and the relay can be heard clicking. I assume this is just the relay as the heater fan also dies at the same time. Which relay do I need to replace?

The headlights do not have a relay in their circuit. The relay you can hear clicking is probably the X-relief relay, but if it is clicking, then it usually means it is working.

The problem may be that your ignition switch is worn. Turn the key to on, but without starting the engine. Turn the headlights on try dip and main beam. If it will not hold main beam, but will only flash, try j j j jiggling the key. If the lights go on and off as you do that, then you need a new ignition switch.

[Capriblue85]

Hi all.. just an update. I have had the fuse box out, cleaned the crown Earth connectors. No visible issues there and the gauge still reads maximum.

I have removed the cluster, no visible black scortched areas visible. No breaks in wires found.

I have removed and replaced the ignition switch. Which again made no difference.

Cleaned main earth from battery to frame.

Cleaned ground strap, bracket and mounting for coil. No change.

Is there anyone local to Wisbech area that has a spare set of gauges that I could try please?

Can't find anything wrong!

Only odd thing was a green wire to no where behind the fuses. With a white female plug. Any ideas?

[mark1gls]

I'm not good with electrics but more info here, Mk1 golf cabriolet have the same running gear and electrics as Mk2 Scirocco

https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.ph ... g-layout_2

[james butler]

ive seen the problem with the rpm counter before on bills car and when we changed the clocks for a set i knew worked the problem went away so i think its most likely your clocks arent working properly.
your handbrake light should be live and earths through a switch under the handbrake lever so i would unplug it and earth it out to test if the light comes on. the switch often has a bad earth causing these issues
like has been said the headlights have no relay unless some ones been tinkering so the main suspect would be the headlight switch themselves as they can play up when theyre on there way out.
mine brought the lights on when turned off when it was giving out and promptly started to smoke:-(

[Capriblue85]

Hopefully putting this one to bed... got a set of clocks on the way. Everything else seems to have been fixed with a quite clean of the connections. Only thing that has stopped working since taking it to bits is the full beam and flashers. I'll check these again when I take the steering wheel of again

[mark1gls]

You can bulk out the connection for the instruments and get a better connection.
Remove the plastic surround on the connection





Then wrap some electrical tape around the plastic tag sticking out to the instruments and the will thicken up the connection.


Also check the earth cable is in good condition and if you have a MFA (computer) in the instruments check the brown earth lead in the engine bay connected to the back of the rocker cover, if that brakes it causes alsorts of strange stuff in the instruments e.g. Rev counter dies when you turn the lights on etc....

[james butler]

nice bit of info there mark1gls

[mark1gls]

Pictures from my Mk1 but the Mk2 has the same sort of connection but it's at the bottom.

[Capriblue85]

Afternoon all.. finally fixed most of my electrical bugs.

Replaced the rev counter and that now works.

Hand brake warning light now working

Lights seem to be fixed.

Only new problem is the high beam. Stopped working after I took the gauges out? Any ideas?

[james butler]

loose connection on the stalks
take the lower cowling off the steering coloum and make sure its connected up ok