My gauge cluster went out and along with it went my AC, power steering and suspension controls. The tech looking at it thinks we can change the cluster and everything else will come back on because they are all connected and talk to each other. Is this possible?

 

Hello @355spider ,
This is the same issue you had back in February, and again on July 5th, we went through all kinds of information, but never received any update on the outcome from you, did the problem just fix itself again back in July, and now has reappeared, or has this been an ongoing issue since it reappeared in July ?

Do you have the Ross-Tech VCDS to scan the vehicle, if so, items to be scanned would be, number (07) being the control head (aka infotainment head unit), number (08) being the HVAC, number (09) being the central electrics, number (17 ) being the Instrument cluster, number (19) being the CAN BUS, number (34) being the suspension, and number (71) being the battery charger, scan all of the items individually for any faults, but also to see any faults in common, you really shouldn't be relying on any shop to tell you what they think the issue is, you should be scanning the vehicle yourself so you see it first hand, if you do not have the Ross-Tech VCDS or ODIS VAS 5054, then I highly recommend that you get the Ross-Tech VCDS, it will save you time and money, and give you piece of mind as to knowing the true faults, not a guess or throwing parts at it from any dealer or indie.

I suspect that you have either a loose connection somewhere, or low battery power, how many miles have you put on the vehicle, how often do you drive it, are they good long drives, not 20 ish miles drives were the vehicle then sits for a week or so, which brings us to the question of the vehicle being on a constant battery tender when parked for more than 3-4 days.

I would first do the scan, then have a good look at all battery terminal connections for tightness and cleanliness (corrosion), next, check both negative cables from each battery to where the mount to the body at each rear quarter panel area, then check the 3 hot leads at the firewall (2 large, 1 small) for the same tightness and cleanliness, lastly, if not second after the scanning and or batteries check, I would pop out the Instrument cluster to check that both the blue and green plugs are properly seated and locked into position at the rear of the cluster, you never know if someone has been in there and they did not secure the connections properly, as I recall, you also had an issue of no Instrument cluster lighting, therefore you could not see the speedometer or tachometer at night, what was the outcome of the issue ?

Johnny