Instrument Cluster – clock/ date
 

Hello there,

I have seen some posts on other forums about issues with the readout of the clock/ date and odometer area of the instrument cluster. Specifically some of the digits were fading out.

Could the ambient temperature have anything to do with this? Reason I ask is that yesterday weather was pretty warm 17-19 degrees C and I noticed that some of the digits to the left side of the clock/date appeared to be fading out. At first I thought that this unit was breaking down and thought here we go again need to contact Ian and co.

However this morning temp 7-8 degrees C all is perfect again and crystal clear.

Is there any scientific reason for ambient temperature to play tricks like this? Or is this simply the start of a problem where this part of the instrument panel will breakdown altogether?

Cheers,

B

Mine does the same, and it seems to be linked to when the car has warmed up and there is more heat around too, but from what I gather some people have the right hand side do it instead and some the left like you and me, which is even odder. It hasnt seemed to get any worse since I've owned the car

Yes, its a common fault on early facelift cars from about 1998 to 2000.

Its a VDO problem apparently, and it also affects some BMW's etc too.

It always seems worse at higher temps, during summer etc, but is quite ok during winter.

There is no known fix, although we did consider the feasibility of soldering on a new LCD panel from a donor unit to see if that would work, but never got round to trying it.

Changing out the cluster is a pain as the facelift cars have the immobiser built into there, and the mileage would need correcting.

Expect a £1000 bill from Audi to change the cluster out :eek2:

.... hence, most folks live with the problem...

Thanks Ian,

As always very good advice. I'll live with it.

B