Scrambled LCD on 2005 TDi..

[slpopp]

Has anyone ever seen thier dash LCD display scrambled? If so, was the cause of the problem found? I have a 2005 NB TDI w/DSG and had the dash scramble on me 3 times. The dealer replaced the entire instrument cluster about a month ago, but about a week ago it did it again. The dealer doesn't know what could be causing it. The display only scrambles while the car is not running, and it will un-scramble when the door is closed - even lightly (to try to figure out if something is loose). The dealer called the VW tech support a few times and are waiting for them to call back. I will try to post a picture but I don't know if I'm doing it correct.

[from Margaritaville...]

now THAT is weird! Maybe it's Quaktar

[ChristopherC]

My 04 TDI has the same problem. It's scrambled as I climb in and it unscrambles once the door closes. Since the car runs fine otherwise I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of taking it to the dealership.

I'll try and get a picure of mine. It'd be interesting to see if they're the same. Pieced together maybe is spells out the locaton of hidden treasure or something LOL.

[slpopp]

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the last time the display scrambled, but that time it only took the door being sensed closed to unscramble it. I was at a casino and didn't want to leave my car door wide open while I went back to the hotel room the get the camera. It would be interesting to see if the diplay is the same or different. That might help determine the cause of the error (bad instrument cluster or software glitch in the ECU). I believe this last time though there was a lot more gibberish being displayed.

Oh Well.......

[slpopp]

My LCD scrambled again this morning, didn't get a picture of it but I have pen and paper in the car to write down gas milage info so I was able to sketch it out, it is different from the first time before they replaced the instrument cluster. Banging on the dash and instrument pod will not reset the scramled characters, but shutting the door enough the make the interior lights go out will reset the LCD back to normal.

To the best of my memeory, this intrument cluster has displayed the same scrambled characters both times it has happened.

Oh Well, back to the dealer I go, hopefully they have heard something from the main office by now.

[Whitacre]

i think its nothing to fret about. My 2.0 does that. sometimes the words "service" are off to the side. I couldnt say exactly what it is, but i think its just a diagnostic type thing maybe. Mine didnt use to always say service, but ever sinve i've passed 60k on the gasser, it has service on the bottom corner but only when its scrambled like that.

My car runs fine, and i dont even bother with it. Im sure its nothing.

[Pelican18TQA4]

Mine does this just about every time I get in the car. Sometimes it will unscramble when I close the door, sometimes it won't until I start the engine. It's no big deal IMO because it's never done it while driving.

[digitalputty]

Isnt there a recall on the 2006 cluster?

[Fixxser]

TDI 2004
I too get this scamble sometimes. I am thinking maybe it is part of the alarm system scrambling the code to the remote and this is just a sign to let the user know.

[Jeremy Toaster]

My 1998 does this, but I have had tremendous electrical issues. Mine has nothing to do with my door either. It will go in to "Predator" mode while on the hwy. Also the gas gauge is incorrect 100% of the time and the mileage will freeze for like 10 miles or so, then catch back up randomly.

I've actually had the fuse box replaced 3 times and the fuse panel on top of the battery actually melted in half!

[slpopp]

The new cluster the dealer put in back in February still scrambles in the hot (+80F) weather. But now it has only been scrambling while I am turning the key forward (going from OFF to GLOW position).

The service manager thinks it is because there is so many electronic devices on the car that the voltage may dip (spike) just long enough to cause the LCD to scramble and then return to normal. If this is the case I will have to ask him why it stayed scrambled long enough for me run and grab my camera to take a picture of it the first time, and grab a pencil and paper and jot it down the second time.

If it is voltage drops or spikes, that's bad news for a car with so many on-board computers. I guess it shouldn't take too long before one of them can't recover. The frequency that the scrambling is occurring is increasing lately.


As a side note, maybe the problem will go away when I replace the POS 380CCA factory battery with a real one(640CCA or better). Kind of retarded that the Cold Climate package doesn't include a heftier battery, something that is good for more than 2 attempts at starting when it is below -10F.

[AirbusMech]

Lcd displays will scramble in temp extreems more so in extreem cold and also in a low voltage condition. i think based on some of your past comments about the displays correcting themselves when a door is shut i would look for a loose wire wither a power wire or a ground.

[TheSpatulaOfLove]

04 TDI, same issue.

On occasion, I've tried NOT closing the door and just putting the key in and jiggle. I have a feeling my ignition control module may be the cause of the voo-doo odo.

My next trick will be the door skin to see if somehting is wonky there.

[Pelican18TQA4]

Interestingly, I haven't had this problem in a few months, not once.

[jbear]

My '05 New Beetle TDI has been in for the scrambled odometer numerous times, and they have discovered that something is frying the cluster. It has been replaced three times. It may not seem like a big deal, but with in three hundred miles I know that the check engine light will be on. I currently have a little over 15,000 miles on my car, and it has been in the shop for a check engine light more times than I have fingers to count! This last time the odo scrambled I was in the dealership within three days for the check engine light. VW offered to make my next payment for me, but when I asked who they were going to make the payment to they were at a loss. No one at VW customer service had looked at my file well enough to know that I paid cash for my car!

[Pelican18TQA4]

Originally Posted by jbear

My '05 New Beetle TDI has been in for the scrambled odometer numerous times, and they have discovered that something is frying the cluster. It has been replaced three times. It may not seem like a big deal, but with in three hundred miles I know that the check engine light will be on. I currently have a little over 15,000 miles on my car, and it has been in the shop for a check engine light more times than I have fingers to count! This last time the odo scrambled I was in the dealership within three days for the check engine light. VW offered to make my next payment for me, but when I asked who they were going to make the payment to they were at a loss. No one at VW customer service had looked at my file well enough to know that I paid cash for my car!

Bites the big one, that's for sure.

In VW Customer Care's defense, they probably have no access at all to your purchase information and probably have no idea if you financed your vehicle or paid cash. VW Credit and VW Motors are two separate companies, as is the case with most captive finance companies and their manufacturing counterparts.

[jbear]

If VW was actual looking into the files of my vehicle all they would have to do is have the vin number. Also the dealership had a copy of my insurance, since I was in a loaner, showing their is no lien. It does not sound like they reviewed anything to me. I was sent home, after a week with a loaner, with a new odo (3rd in six weeks), a cooling temp. sensor (4th), cooling flush (3rd), and the dumping of a code for the aerial antenna (3rd). All of this when the complete cooling system was replaced adn rewired not 600 miles ago. By the way this is the third time my car has required the services of a VW engineer. Will this ever end? Because this is not reliable transportation

[Bolko]

Just chiming in to say that when my 98 2.0 gets a stuck/garbled odometer, I can just rap my knuckles *hard* at about 2 o'clock on the cluster housing and it will come back to life. I assume it's a bad connection or something.