Intermittent instrument panel failure

Can anybody help?

I have a 1.0L Polo on a 97 plate which has an intermittent fault on the instrument panel. The dials and such stop working temporarily, but the engine is still running, and I believe the indicators on the panel still work.

It mainly effects the speedo, fuel indicator gauge, and temp gauge which just stop working, this will happen for a few seconds and then kick back in again. Given that, I tried checking the connections on the back of the panel but these seem fine and somebody suggested it could be due to a dirty battery terminal so I checked these aswell.

If anybody has any ideas please let me know,

Thanks

Ian

Hi Ian,
I've got a 1.4 Polo from 2000. Mine does a similar thing, only my rev counter stops working and the oil light likes to flash.
I got mine checked out at a number of garages, a few VW Specialists and a few car electrics specialists, none of them know the cause of it, but they did all tell me one thing.

The Polo, ever since around 97, hasn't liked the cold much, and below 8'C the electrics are prone to playing up, this could be your issue too, I don't know, take it for a spin on a nice warm day, see if it happens once the engine is up to temp. I think it's a genetic problem with the Polo - But I might be wrong.

Zed wrote:

Hi Ian,
I've got a 1.4 Polo from 2000. Mine does a similar thing, only my rev counter stops working and the oil light likes to flash.
I got mine checked out at a number of garages, a few VW Specialists and a few car electrics specialists, none of them know the cause of it, but they did all tell me one thing.

The Polo, ever since around 97, hasn't liked the cold much, and below 8'C the electrics are prone to playing up, this could be your issue too, I don't know, take it for a spin on a nice warm day, see if it happens once the engine is up to temp. I think it's a genetic problem with the Polo - But I might be wrong.

I have a 1 ltr polo from 1997.Mine used to do the simliiar thing wherein the counters would suddenly stop working. The problem was with the alternator .It use to overcharge the battery (You can test this yourself . The voltage will definitely show more than 15 volts. Another test could be to switch on the heater ,lights blower etc. you will find the counters working). The battery use to leak and emit fumes. Changed the alternaor and everything is okay now

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malcolm

I have a VW golf 97 and im finding when i put the key in the ignition I hear a clicking / relay type noise coming from the back of the dashboard display. At the point I hear this noise the dashboard display fails for about 2 seconds then works properly. Please can you let me know if my problem is similar. Could it be a sign that the coil needs replacing or the battery is at fault. regards