Mk7 Golf TSI & TDI - Observations and Questions

[Jondalar]

Our 110 TDI has a strange phenomenon happening, only happens during daylight hours with the headlights on auto or off, not on. The lighting for the speedometer and tachometer dulls to such a degree that they are very hard to read. There seems to be a relationship between driving through a shady area and then back into the sun. Sometimes the central digital display between the speedo and tacho also dims. The dealer "could not fault it" and had "never heard of such a thing in over 30 years", when I insisted (why do service people have such a problem listening to women still, as my wife had said the same things) he said they would need to pull the dash out and would need the car for 2-3 days. Anyone else experienced this? This is what it looks like: https://youtu.be/diX0XHYx5AA

Cheers,
Karl

[Guest001]

Our 110 TDI has a strange phenomenon happening, only happens during daylight hours with the headlights on auto or off, not on. The lighting for the speedometer and tachometer dulls to such a degree that they are very hard to read. There seems to be a relationship between driving through a shady area and then back into the sun. Sometimes the central digital display between the speedo and tacho also dims. The dealer "could not fault it" and had "never heard of such a thing in over 30 years", when I insisted (why do service people have such a problem listening to women still, as my wife had said the same things) he said they would need to pull the dash out and would need the car for 2-3 days. Anyone else experienced this? This is what it looks like: https://youtu.be/diX0XHYx5AA

Cheers,
Karl

Yeah my Passat does that as well Nothing to worry about Same as when your lights are on auto and you drive into a tunnel I did have an instance when coming out of Ikea's under ground car park I went past a bay that had more light and the dash lights went out.

I realised later it was the extra light that probably caused it as i went past

[Jondalar]

Yeah my Passat does that as well Nothing to worry about Same as when your lights are on auto and you drive into a tunnel I did have an instance when coming out of Ikea's under ground car park I went past a bay that had more light and the dash lights went out.

I realised later it was the extra light that probably caused it as i went past

Thanks for the reply Hillbilly, the problem is that this is occuring when it is still very bright out and means that my wife has trouble seeing what speed she's doing. Do you know if the sensitivity can be adjusted?

Cheers,
Karl

[agentthumb]

Has anyone here with a 1.4 tsi had issues with wastegate actuator arm and had a clip fitted by VW?

I have recently picked up a rattle in second and third around 3k rev on boost, I think that's the issue. Want to know how everyone else went


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest001]

Thanks for the reply Hillbilly, the problem is that this is occuring when it is still very bright out and means that my wife has trouble seeing what speed she's doing. Do you know if the sensitivity can be adjusted?

Cheers,
Karl

No idea I can still see mine as the needle is sort of visible Where is the sensor mine is in the back of the mirror I think so you havent got some baby booties or something moving around covering it at times have you

[Guest001]

Has anyone here with a 1.4 tsi had issues with wastegate actuator arm and had a clip fitted by VW?

I have recently picked up a rattle in second and third around 3k rev on boost, I think that's the issue. Want to know how everyone else went


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It might be valves bouncing LOL there is a fix for the wastegate.

[agentthumb]

Thanks for the reply Hillbilly, the problem is that this is occuring when it is still very bright out and means that my wife has trouble seeing what speed she's doing. Do you know if the sensitivity can be adjusted?

Cheers,
Karl

Hey Karl, is your car tinted by any chance?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jondalar]

Hey Karl, is your car tinted by any chance?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah sure is

[agentthumb]

Mk7 Golf TSI & TDI - Observations and Questions

Yeah sure is

Ok. I had this issue too, and the fix lies in VCDS tweak.

The phototransistor that controls dashboard lighting sits in the tachometer between 6 and 7 in the form of a small circle (as you have discovered in your video). It changes lighting of the dash dynamically based on difference of lighting in and outside the car. Window tinting messes with the factory programming.

What I found is the dashboard would dim out completely late in the evening, and only the needle would be visible.

Before we go any further, the dash is meant to be black in the dark when the switch is in the off position. This is a safety feature to remind people to turn on their lights. In auto, the headlight is meant to come on early enough to change the lighting behaviour of the dash. With your car, like mine, the headlights aren't coming on early enough to change the lighting behaviour.

There are two ways to address this.

1. In the infotainment screen, go to menu, settings and bring up the lighting settings. Change the headlights to come on "early". Depending on the level of tinting, this may address your issue. My tinting was too dark for this to work alone. If this doesn't work for you, set it back to default and move to step 2.

2. VCDS tweak, grab yourself a cable and change the phototransistor X curve setting. I'm on the bus now, but can share the values that worked for me when I get home. Let me know if you have a cable


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jondalar]

That's great thanks so much. I don't have a cable currently so have tried the first suggestion.

Cheers
Karl

[agentthumb]

That's great thanks so much. I don't have a cable currently so have tried the first suggestion.

Cheers
Karl

No worries. Let me know how it goes. I see you are in Narangba, I'm happy to do the vcds coding for you if you are willing to drive to Warner


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rawcpoppa]

Ok. I had this issue too, and the fix lies in VCDS tweak.

The phototransistor that controls dashboard lighting sits in the tachometer between 6 and 7 in the form of a small circle (as you have discovered in your video). It changes lighting of the dash dynamically based on difference of lighting in and outside the car. Window tinting messes with the factory programming.

What I found is the dashboard would dim out completely late in the evening, and only the needle would be visible.

Before we go any further, the dash is meant to be black in the dark when the switch is in the off position. This is a safety feature to remind people to turn on their lights. In auto, the headlight is meant to come on early enough to change the lighting behaviour of the dash. With your car, like mine, the headlights aren't coming on early enough to change the lighting behaviour.

There are two ways to address this.

1. In the infotainment screen, go to menu, settings and bring up the lighting settings. Change the headlights to come on "early". Depending on the level of tinting, this may address your issue. My tinting was too dark for this to work alone. If this doesn't work for you, set it back to default and move to step 2.

2. VCDS tweak, grab yourself a cable and change the phototransistor X curve setting. I'm on the bus now, but can share the values that worked for me when I get home. Let me know if you have a cable


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Been looking for something like this about two years now! Can you share where in vcds this setting exists?

[agentthumb]

Been looking for something like this about two years now! Can you share where in vcds this setting exists?

No worries. But first, credit goes to DV52 for developing the tweak, and you can find more reading material about it here: How to change instrument cluster illumination - without turning-on rotary light switch (Thanks DV52, Don)

While Don's values improved my instrument illumination, it didn't resolve the issue i was having with it blacking out just before sun down. So what I did was I halved Don's suggested values, and that did the trick. Note: I have 30% tint and I live in QLD.

So here's what you need to do:

1. Follow Don's instructions here to locate the correct adaptation channels:http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...ml#post1124686

2. Replace Don's values for X1 - X5 with the following values:
X1: 00 00
X2: 00 05
X3: 00 0A
X4: 00 14
X5: 00 32

And Bob's your uncle

Let me know if you need more help with this

[Rawcpoppa]

Much thanks. It's really for a friend's b7 Passat but hopefully it works in a similar way.

[agentthumb]

Much thanks. It's really for a friend's b7 Passat but hopefully it works in a similar way.

No worries. Good luck with it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk