How do I recode 'new' instrument cluster to my car

[GH77]

Hello again,

I've got a hold of an instrument cluster to replace my own which is showing signs of wear and tear. Both are from FL cars, my own being a 3.7 and the donor being a 4.2. I understand from reading other posts that the immobiliser is built into the cluster and that I need to get it coded to suit my own car otherwise it won't be wanting to start. Couple of questions:

1) Do I just walk into Audi dealer and ask for my car's immobiliser code?
2) Do I then fit the 'new' cluster and use VCDS / VagCom to give my 'new' cluster my own car's immobiliser code?

Doubtless these two questions will raise others so I thought these would be a good place to start.

Thanks.

[notorious]

Don't know direct answer to your question, but it may be that clusters are not directly replaceable because of difference in engines, gearboxes, etc. They **will** have different software versions and God knows what errors you can expect in future...

If you're doing this swap only to renew overall condition of your current cluster please consider putting both clusters on the table and transplanting 'glass', dials, displays and other cosmetic stuff to your cluster from donor, leaving your native cluster electronics in place. There are writeups on internet how to open audi cluster and transplant basic stuff. If you need help with desoldering/soldering tired displays etc. there are plenty of people who can help you with this for cheaper than going to Audi with coding immo questions.

[GH77]

I am thinking that all the information is given by the ECU and the cluster is therefore simply a means of displaying that information. My reading so far has suggested this to be the case but I appreciate that reading a bit doesn't make me an expert. Can anyone else confirm / deny?

Also, replacing bits and pieces won't suffice in my case, I don't think. There is bleeding in the uppermost display, the handbrake light isn't working, the mileage is bleeding out as well and I'm wondering if the lack of 'low oil' warning lamp is related to the other cluster faults.

[steamship]

With regards to question 1, the answer is no. Can't speak from experience of the A8 instrument cluster, but been having a nightmare trying to get my 01 A4 back on the road (so I can sell it). Injection pump went, so got a replacement. Mechanic fitted it, but can't code it to the engine because we apparently need the ECU pin from both my car and the donor car. Tried Audi UK, Audi Germany and local dealer. Said for £80 they could connect it to their computers and see what they could do. You're likely to have a similar issue with the instrument cluster. BTW I read somewhere that the D2 FL cluster doesn't store the mileage, so that needs encoded into the replacement one. Mine has bleed in both the main display and the mileage one. It also has an intermittent illumination issue, but my main issue with it is the range and mpg figures being screwed. This is what it tells me I can get from a full tank:

[ainarssems]

1) No no they cannot give you code even if they wanted to . Their equipment connects to server and download codes as needed, operator never see PIN.
2)With PIN you pair ECU and immobilizer so that immobilizer allows ECU to run.

You should be able to extract PIN with VAG Commander or VAG tacho but I think it does not work on all A8 instrument clusters.

There should be no problem going from 4.2 to 3.7 or other way round, changing to/from V6 would require coding change but that's only 5 min job with VCDS.

I don't think Audi dealer will code used instrument cluster.

Other options are to de-solder EEPROM chip from old cluster and put in the new one or re-map ECU so that it works without permission from immobilizer.

BTW I read somewhere that the D2 FL cluster doesn't store the mileage

Yes it does, and mileage can only be coded onece on new cluster while it has done less then 100km. On second hand cluster only option to change mileage is to read data from EEPROM, modify and write back modified.

[ainarssems]

Mechanic fitted it, but can't code it to the engine because we apparently need the ECU pin from both my car and the donor car

Joys of 2.5 TDI, ehh?

You only need PIN for you cars immobilizer, You login, go into adaption and tell immobilizer to learn ECU and pump ID's. It just store those numbers in immobilizer memory that it is OK to allow start with this ECU and this pump.

[IT]

Its really not a straight forward operation you're attempting here, just in case you'd not gathered that already

Prefacelift was a doddle, immobiliser wasn't in the cluster, and VAG tacho etc could extract it anyway. Even the mileage was correctable with some ease.

FL they really went to town on the security and Audi main dealer is your only route to get the cluster coded in. If you can find one friendly enough, who really wants the hour or two of £150/hour business you're in luck, otherwise its game over. It has been done before - But the D2 is not something a main dealer has practically seen through their doors for some time now, so dont expect them to really have a clue what you're asking for.

I've never seen the mileage actually corrected on a FL cluster. Its been talked about, but never actually seen it achieved. It is a chip out / eeprom rewrite job on a bench. There is no easy VCDS style correction for mileage on a FL D2 that I've ever seen. Once a cluster has over 100km's on it, the mileage is locked in.

I'm not 100% convinced a 3.7 and 4.2 cluster is a straight swap. It could well be (I've not checked), but the common issue between swapping UK clusters is the red line marking, but I guess thats transferrable. If the donor cluster is foreign then you have all sorts of other cosmetic problems like mph/kmh and local symbols etc.

It will be interesting to see how you get on, but unless you get the mileage sorted (which will be tough) then all you're going to do is devalue your car because as soon as the mileage and history no longer tally people lose a lot of interest.....

[GH77]

Okay everyone, thanks very much for your input. It seems like this was £10 not well spent.

Steamship - I especially like how your photo has the handbrake warning light beaming at me. Something I've not seen on my own car for a very long time. Thanks for the memories

Just to get some value from my tenner, can I temporarily swap the clusters, switch the ignition to '2' and see if any of my warning lights burst back into life on the new cluster without doing any harm? I'd be doing this purely to find out if my cluster is at fault or if it is the sensors / switches etc causing the lack of display. Is this temporary swap advisable / not advisable?

Thanks

[Goran]

You could try contacting one of the tuners, MRC, Shark, etc, I'm sure they can do all sorts of wonderful things with the code on the cluster chip. Probably wont be cheap though.

[ainarssems]

£50 should be enough for somebody to swap EEPROM chips or to remove immobilizer function from ECU