Intermittant Instrument Cluster problem.
 

Hi All,
Hope every one has been well.+++
It's been a while again since my last post but we'll save that for another time.
My issue is with the instrument cluster on my ’97 2.8 sport (ACK, CJY), on a couple of cold mornings when the ignition is first switched on there is no life from the instrument cluster, i.e. No dials, no DIS, no fuel gauge or temp. gauge? This naturally scarred the crap out of me so I disconnected the battery earth for a minute and reconnected it and hey presto the display returned to normal. I'm of the thinking that I may have a dry joint on the cluster PCB?
First point of call was to give my self a heart attack by calling the Stealers who said it needed a new instrument cluster at around £1000! Because apparently it needed to be coded to the car?!? I then did the sensible thing and checked the A8parts shop which has a note for preface lift cars saying that they
don't need immobiliser coding.
So to my question: what is the deal with buying a second hand unit?
Apart from getting the mileage corrected is there any other "coding" that needs to be done? I'm assuming the part numbers have to match but apart from this, is it just plug and play?
Sorry for all the Q’s can’t get access to my Elsa win and ETKA as PC is temporarily buggered.
As ever any help appreciated.

Ska+++

Hi Ska....

Preface its a straight swop over, in fact, your car should start and run with no instrument cluster in place at all.

There is some very basic coding that ought to be done, but its mainly for facelift cars and covers things like whether you have sat nav, tyre pressure monitoring etc...

Mileage correction on the PF can be done over the diag port also I believe, so you can get the mileage back in sync afterwards if preferred. +++

...and he arrives at the speed of light!+++
Hope your well Ian, so I guess its just a case of getting the part number of the back of my unit then? or do you have one for my car?

Doing well thanks, but mega busy !!

Part number off the back, or using Vagcom should do the trick to be sure as there are a few variations of cluster. Worst case *should* be able to get it from your reg no.

You'll need to speak to a8parts to see what they have, but I'd be surprised if they didnt have a couple or more clusters in, so might be able to get a reasonable mileage match...