Mk6 Diesel Tacho Upgrade Instructions

[white_van_man]

Ok had a couple of pm's lately asking for details on how to upgrade the diesel dash to tacho and upgrade to white dials, so here is brief guide of what needs doing.

 

 

Mk6 Diesel Tacho Upgrade...

 

 

Ok first up is to buy a td/tdi clock set (90% of these have the letter D on the tacho which makes them easier to identify)

 

 

1st option - Black dial TD/TDi instrument cluster...

 

this set is a straight swap into the dash, all you need to add is one wire... the wire needs to be run from the top (spare terminal) on the alternator up to pin8 on the blue instrument cluster connector* The wire can be routed up the inner wing and through the speedo cable grommet.

 

*best way to add a wire to this connector is to get a terminal with few inches of wire from the blue connector then open back of your connector and slot it in then join it to the wire you ran up from alternator. (pm me if you need a terminal for the blue connector i have a few here spare)

 

 

2nd option - White dial GTi/Si/RS clock set...

 

ok the ideal option here would be to find a white dial diesel cluster as fitted to some special edition td/tdi models but these are pretty rare so heres what you need to do..

 

buy a GTi/Si/RS white dial instrument cluster, then remove the tacho from the white dial cluster and the tacho from the diesel cluster, now you need to swap the white dial and red needle onto the diesel tacho and replace that into the white dial cluster.

 

then as in 1st option you need to add the extra wire from alternator to blue connector

 

pic of white dial dash in my tdi van...

[Hagar]

Thx for that Matt, i know i am one of the guys been bothering you lately me bad!! lol but thx again for all your help m8

[white_van_man]

your more than welcome mate

[fox3]

Couple of questions,

 

Is the D on the speedo above the needle?

 

Where on the alternator does it clip on, the top threaded bolt bit? I cant find another terminal

 

And is the connector easy to get out of the plug?

 

Just got a set of clocks on ebay, Wahey!

[white_van_man]

Is the D on the speedo above the needle? - on tacho.. its just by the centre of the needle

 

Where on the alternator does it clip on, the top threaded bolt bit? - yep thats the one

 

And is the connector easy to get out of the plug? - unclip the 2 tabs at each end of the plug and the back flips up then just push in the new terminal and click closed.

Edited August 13, 2007 by white_van_man

[fox3]

Cheers mate, speedo's arrived this mornign!

[fox3]

Cheers mate, speedo's arrived this mornign!

[fox3]

Just tried it on the terminal A and nothing happened, is that the right one or is it one of the other numbers?

 

Edited August 20, 2007 by fox3

[white_van_man]

hi steve, looking at the pic i honestly don't know, it was just the top terminal on mine, i'll go try get a pic of my vans alternator for you...

[fox3]

Cheers mate, didnt dare try it on any of the charging terminals!

[white_van_man]

hi again steve, this is a terrible pic, not much access really unless i jacked the van up to get a shot from underneath, anyway here goes...

 

so yeah its got plastic round it so looks like terminal A in your photo. how long did you leave it connected for? as it can take up to 10seconds from first time its started to kick the tacho into life.

also you def have a good connection to pin8 on the blue connector?

[fox3]

Only tried for a few seconds, maybe not even 10...

 

I know mines got a new alternator, wonder if its missing the terminal?

 

The connection to pin 8 is ok, I think...

 

I'll give it a try and post back...

 

Its not ment to go on the terminal F is it?

[white_van_man]

no terminal f is the connection for the dash (the bulb that comes on and goes out when you start) to say that alternator is working.

 

the tacho wire definately connects on the spare terminal, i would give it a try on terminal a again and see if it works, make sure to leave for few seconds and rev the engine a little to kick it into life should work then.

 

also the tacho works on variable voltage which is what the alternator puts out so you can't short it on the wrong terminal

Edited August 24, 2007 by white_van_man

[fox3]

Yay! Got it working, for some random reason, it needs to be on the terminal at the bottom on mine, lol!

 

 

Its a little eratic when you let off the gas, it fluctuates abit, suppose its just because its the alternator?

 

 

Thanks for the big help!

[white_van_man]

cool glad you got it working, not sure about the fluctuation must have to put that down to the alternator