TLDR: Using cruise control randomly & suddenly makes the fuel level readout completely out of spec, sets the speedometer & tach to current setting as a baseline readout where "0" newly represents the numeric value *before* the error was induced.
------------------------
Hi all, apologies in advance if I'm repeating an old question since I searched the forum but couldn't find any threads about this topic. There were some related posts but nothing I could find with this same mix of problems.
Some other internet searching suggested the VSS, but after resetting the cluster the readouts are normal and the cluster functions normally so I'm certain it's neither of those, and some kind of error resulting from the cruise control module. The story...
My girlfriend has a 2000 2.0 GL Beetle, automatic transmission, with 84k miles on it. Cruise control speed holds steady, no bouncing around or shakiness to the needle.
Two days ago while driving at ~35 MPH with cruise control on, I tapped the brakes lightly due to a road hazard and continued on. Suddenly, the speedometer and tach (RPM) needles stuck in place. (Fuel gauge not visibly affected at this point).
Since the car was driving fine after I turned CC off, I brushed it off but she was worried about it so we pulled into a parking lot and consulted the manual to see which fuse would reset the instrument cluster. After about 10 minutes of the car being shut off and pulling & replacing every possible fuse (including all of the small ones not indicated in the manual), I turned the ignition to the On position without starting the car and the cluster went back to normal. I was able to verify that it had reset because the trip meter was back to 0.0 and it tracked subsequent distance correctly.
Yesterday while I was driving at 65 MPH, I engaged cruise control again. At some point after about 30 minutes of driving with no problems, I noticed that the fuel gauge was in the 6 o'clock position and slowing making its way clockwise. Since you're familiar with Beetles, you know right away that the fuel gauge only goes from about 10 to 2 o'clock and anything outside of that isn't in spec. We pulled over to get gas after 50 miles since we had no idea how much was actually in the tank. When I shut the engine off, the gauges all went to 0. I did the ol' fuse pulling trick again but it didn't work. (Subsequent research after getting home indicates that waiting 10-15 minutes was necessary; probably so the cluster capacitors could die down?). I filled it up with 5 gallons.
For a moment the fuel gauge read full, but it went right back to 6 o'clock. When we got on the highway again, the speedometer reported the needle position X MPH + 65 MPH, which was the speed at the time of the error. For example, it stayed at 0 until I got up to a fast speed, so if the speed limit were 65 on that section and I almost kept up with the fastest car going over 75 I could see that the speedo was reporting about 10 MPH. I verified this by timing the mile markers.
When we got home I found a couple of Youtube videos about replacing the cluster. We have had questions about it in the past, including a high-pitched squeal, so looked to it as the first problem. The video instructs to find the small fuse labeled 7.5 amps and pull the one at the bottom of that column. Another forum post suggests to wait 10 minutes. I went to the car after an hour, and immediately heard the gauge needles reset to 0 after replacing said fuse. We took it for a drive today and all is normal. No reason to believe that the VSS or cluster is faulty since the issue is 2 for 2 upon engaging the cruise control (she never uses it and it would have been 8 months since I last did).
Thanks for reading about this minor ordeal. If you've gone through a similar situation or have suggestions I would love to hear them.
------------------------
Hi all, apologies in advance if I'm repeating an old question since I searched the forum but couldn't find any threads about this topic. There were some related posts but nothing I could find with this same mix of problems.
Some other internet searching suggested the VSS, but after resetting the cluster the readouts are normal and the cluster functions normally so I'm certain it's neither of those, and some kind of error resulting from the cruise control module. The story...
My girlfriend has a 2000 2.0 GL Beetle, automatic transmission, with 84k miles on it. Cruise control speed holds steady, no bouncing around or shakiness to the needle.
Two days ago while driving at ~35 MPH with cruise control on, I tapped the brakes lightly due to a road hazard and continued on. Suddenly, the speedometer and tach (RPM) needles stuck in place. (Fuel gauge not visibly affected at this point).
Since the car was driving fine after I turned CC off, I brushed it off but she was worried about it so we pulled into a parking lot and consulted the manual to see which fuse would reset the instrument cluster. After about 10 minutes of the car being shut off and pulling & replacing every possible fuse (including all of the small ones not indicated in the manual), I turned the ignition to the On position without starting the car and the cluster went back to normal. I was able to verify that it had reset because the trip meter was back to 0.0 and it tracked subsequent distance correctly.
Yesterday while I was driving at 65 MPH, I engaged cruise control again. At some point after about 30 minutes of driving with no problems, I noticed that the fuel gauge was in the 6 o'clock position and slowing making its way clockwise. Since you're familiar with Beetles, you know right away that the fuel gauge only goes from about 10 to 2 o'clock and anything outside of that isn't in spec. We pulled over to get gas after 50 miles since we had no idea how much was actually in the tank. When I shut the engine off, the gauges all went to 0. I did the ol' fuse pulling trick again but it didn't work. (Subsequent research after getting home indicates that waiting 10-15 minutes was necessary; probably so the cluster capacitors could die down?). I filled it up with 5 gallons.
For a moment the fuel gauge read full, but it went right back to 6 o'clock. When we got on the highway again, the speedometer reported the needle position X MPH + 65 MPH, which was the speed at the time of the error. For example, it stayed at 0 until I got up to a fast speed, so if the speed limit were 65 on that section and I almost kept up with the fastest car going over 75 I could see that the speedo was reporting about 10 MPH. I verified this by timing the mile markers.
When we got home I found a couple of Youtube videos about replacing the cluster. We have had questions about it in the past, including a high-pitched squeal, so looked to it as the first problem. The video instructs to find the small fuse labeled 7.5 amps and pull the one at the bottom of that column. Another forum post suggests to wait 10 minutes. I went to the car after an hour, and immediately heard the gauge needles reset to 0 after replacing said fuse. We took it for a drive today and all is normal. No reason to believe that the VSS or cluster is faulty since the issue is 2 for 2 upon engaging the cruise control (she never uses it and it would have been 8 months since I last did).
Thanks for reading about this minor ordeal. If you've gone through a similar situation or have suggestions I would love to hear them.