Who wants Plasma Gauge faces form racing24de

[s2_bo]

S2_bo,

Can I sneak in for a full set?

This will make for a nice first project when I aquire an S2 in the very near future...

Kudos for all the hard work son!

Yes no problem, there are plenty more still available, ill add you to the list.

Thanks.

Bo

[Azman]

Bo please remember to stick a set aside for me and I will be all sorted in the next few months just thrashing stuff out throught the solicitors at the mo.

Cheers Dude
Aaron

[hiltoa]

...anyone mentioned that to remove the old gauge faces you need to remove the needle? on some models it cant be done nicely (glued). I hope someone will prove me wrong...

In Skull's defence, I thought I'd have a practice by changing the colour of my 80 2.0E avant's clock to blue. For best effect (and for investigative purposes) I decided to remove the orange insert within the clock itself, which meant I needed to dismantle the rev counter.

Yes, Skull - the needle was a woofwoof to remove, and I ended up pulling the shaft out with the needle still attached.

Now I have a lovely blue clock (via an LED and resistor wired into an original bulb holder) but a non-functioning tacho, since when I reinserted the shaft it felt loose, and had lost it's smoothness of movement. With the engine idling, the needle climbs a little, but then doesn't respond to changes in RPM. Boohoo.

I will return to it tonight and let you know if I manage to fix the tachometer, but I'm expecting a fairly intensive stripdown of it's inner gubbins .

If anyone's BTDT, it would be good to have tips, and for all us guys getting plasma dials - I will try my best to provide a straightforward solution for the worst case scenario.

[AUDI9020V]

Looks like iam gonna have to get to the local scraper and see how we get round the problem of the tacho,there loads of audi`s up there so i will sit in a car and take apart and rebuild em so i know.i will do some pics too.ps cheers bo hope to see em soon then.john

[s2_bo]

In Skull's defence, I thought I'd have a practice by changing the colour of my 80 2.0E avant's clock to blue. For best effect (and for investigative purposes) I decided to remove the orange insert within the clock itself, which meant I needed to dismantle the rev counter.

Yes, Skull - the needle was a woofwoof to remove, and I ended up pulling the shaft out with the needle still attached.

Now I have a lovely blue clock (via an LED and resistor wired into an original bulb holder) but a non-functioning tacho, since when I reinserted the shaft it felt loose, and had lost it's smoothness of movement. With the engine idling, the needle climbs a little, but then doesn't respond to changes in RPM. Boohoo.

I will return to it tonight and let you know if I manage to fix the tachometer, but I'm expecting a fairly intensive stripdown of it's inner gubbins .

If anyone's BTDT, it would be good to have tips, and for all us guys getting plasma dials - I will try my best to provide a straightforward solution for the worst case scenario.

Sorry to hear that - i hope we can come up with some sort of a clamping tool to hold the shaft while the needle is very gently disengaged.


@ AUDI9020V any additional pics would be great. i will also compile a guide so they would come in very useful for that.
Thanks.

Bo

[desmo888]

I heard of applying some concentrated heat to the top of the shaft. This melts the glue a bit then the needle will pull.
I have done this with limited success. I can talk to a speedo repair guy and see what he says.

[hiltoa]

Well, the tacho's working again...
However, I'm afraid my promise of a straight forward solution was premature...

Here goes:
If you are unfortunate/clumsy enough to pull the shaft off the tacho with the needle, you need to try the following or you will be left with a non operative rev counter.

1. I'll assume you have taken the dial off by now, after calming down from your rage at the folly explained above.
2. Turn the cluster over, and unscrew the two larger screws on the back of the tacho. This will release the inner workings of the tachometer into your sweaty palm.
3. Disassemble gubbins as below:
rev_exp.jpg
4. The bit we are interested in is the white unit with copper windings. When you push the needle shaft into this, it locates in and pushes through a central 'floating' bush, which is driven by the windings that in turn moves the needle. Now it's hard to be sure without sacrificing the unit, but it seems there is also a tiny damper that the needle needs to locate in beyond this central bush. Unfortunately, when you wrenched the shaft out, this damper will have fallen loose and be rattling about free. Only a miracle would allow you to insert the shaft into the damper without the next cunning step...

[hiltoa]

5. Get yer drill out! You need to drill a tiny hole in the rear of the white unit so you can get in there and manipulate the tiny bush enough to get the shaft in (ooer missus). Tools I used were as follows:
1.5mm drill bit.
Tiny vice from the pound shop (normal vice would be fine, as would very steady fingers.)
Big huffin hammer drill (probably not the best, but my dremel is kaput at the mo.)
Fine electrical probe (from Maplin, but anything finer than the needle shaft would do)
Patience and great care!

Put the unit in the vice with the original hole facing downwards, CAREFULLY drill a hole bang in the centre, Beware - you only have to go in 3 or 4mm, tread carefully!
The hole should look like this:
rev_hole.jpg
The shiny bit is the side (I think) of the damper. Ignore the fact that the unit is shown as attached to the dial - I took this photo at a later stage.
Once you have access to the inside of the unit from the rear, continue thus;

6. Rebuild the Tacho (with the dial face attached but not the needle) and rebuild the instrument cluster, but don't attach the front cowl and screen yet, you need access to the dial still (you can also leave out the speedo and computer for now).

7. Another tricky bit - in the car, plug the yellow and blue connectors into the cluster, prop it up so you can see it, and reconnect the battery.

8. Start the car.

9. Being very careful not to touch the voltage regulator, or any other circuitry, hold the cluster steady and gently insert the needle shaft (with the black cover containing the little weights too) into the rev counter at around 1k on the dial. I'm afraid this is very hit and miss - press just hard enough so the needle is held in place - you will find that it drops slightly, hopefully to the usual idle speed. If you have VAG-Com you can obviously use it to be more accurate (I assume). It helps to hold the cluster at a slight downwards angle so the needle can move freely, otherwise the central bush can stick if the needle is pushed in too hard.

10.Once you are happy with the position of the needle, switch off the ignition and disconnect the cluster for the final fiddly bit...

[hiltoa]

11. Strip down the cluster (Don't take the needle out at any point from now on, as you've set it's position) so you are just left with the white central unit with the dial still attached, and the needle in situ.
12. Now you need to manipulate the damper inside the unit so that when you press the needle fully in, it goes through the damper. This is very tricky and is purely through guesswork and random GENTLE wiggling with the electrical probe through the hole you drilled. You will know when you 've succeeded because the needle will move smoothly and (with the weight attached) seemingly against gravity. If you manage it (I did a fair few times in the process of working out what was going on, so it's by no means impossible) get someone to pat you on the back and make you a drink.
13. Reassemble the cluster fully, return triumphant to your car, install cluster and vow never to mess with needles again.

By the way, I now know I needn't have taken the needle off to disassemble the clock, but hey, I've learnt a bit through my naivety. Yeyy!

For sh!ts and giggles - this is what my clock looks like now (with the rev counter working!)...
blue_clock.jpg

[AUDI9020V]

how did ya get the clock blue,and where in leeds is there that i can get some blue leds and resistors from,if ya have any spare any chance i can pinch a few off ya to do mine,i you can u can drop em off at my work.pm me .john

[s2_bo]

@Hiltoa, Great right up, really nice and detailed. I hope no one will have to do this but just in case they will now know what to do

@Audi9020V PM me your address i have some Blue LEDs and resistors you can have.

cheers.

Bo

[maciu]

hi all,

this group buy looks like neverending story

No chance of anything for the urS6 then!!! What do they use to make them?

yeah, what about a version for UrS4/S6?

Anyone interested?

I asked racing24 about them a couple times since last year but without any results
(except some promises).

[s2_bo]

hi all,

this group buy looks like neverending story



yeah, what about a version for UrS4/S6?

Anyone interested?

I asked racing24 about them a couple times since last year but without any results
(except some promises).

Hi,

When i spoke to them Regarding dials for other Sline models they said they could do it, But its not really feasible unless someone puts a large order in as they will have to design them from new.
I dont think there will be any other ones coming this way in a hurry as these ones have been a proper mission to get organized.
They will be well worth the wait though
Ta.
Bo

[maciu]

So I think I have to wait and pray for more plasma freaks who owns UrS4/S6...

Eventually I'll start later another group buy thread to draw only their attention.

thanks!

[s2_bo]

Sorry for the extended delay on this guys.

I really dont know why its taking them so long as i was promised a sample set middle of july.

Will update as soon as i know.

Cheers.
Bo