Gauge cluster issues...

[AutoXinE30]

Newbie to E30's and wasn't sure where to put this so bear with me....

Ok so my car is an 89 325is (production date 10/88 )and my cluster has been acting goofy lately. The speedo and tach work fine but the coolant gauge is pegged out and sometimes the fuel gauge pegs out (I can tap on the cluster and the fuel gauge goes back to normal)

Now I got lucky and found an 89 325i in the junkyard with miles real close to mine so I nabbed it, brought it home plugged it in and the fuel gauge and the coolant gauge work but not the tach or the speedo... I even swaped over those coding plugs on the bottem of the cluster to see if maybe that made a difference, but nothing.

There are only two physical differences I can see in the clusters and I was curious if maybe they were the issue...



Above is a picture of my cluster and the junkyard cluster.

My original cluster says VDO and has the yellow plug in the center.
The junkyard cluster says Motometer and has a maroon color plug in the center.

Both the VDO cluster and the Motometer cluster have stickers on the back of the cluster with "1385581" on them.

I know that the green plug is for the speedo, the blue plug houses the tach symbol but is the yellow/maroon plug thing being different affecting the speedo/tech?

Can I swap the speedo and tech from my old cluster into this cluster?

[jlevie]

Based on the description of the problem, I'd suspect that the solder where the fuel and temp gauges mount to the main PCB needs a reflow. As far as I know, one can swap a Motometer cluster for VDO cluster of similar vintage, but I don't know if parts can be swapped from one to another.

[AutoXinE30]

So I took both clusters apart and ironically enough, both the Motometere and the VDO clusters use Motometer SI boards (or the VDO cluster has been swapped once already) But I found that the batteries on both of the SI boards have leaked everywhere and there is corrosion everywhere and there is damage on the opposite side of each board.

The one with the orange batteries came from the motometer cluster, the red batteries came from the VDO cluster.








So I guess that means I need a new SI board right? Unless there's a possibility of fixing either board...

[speedhop]

that is nasty looking...try new batteries and if that does nothing then switch out the board with a new one.

let us know how it works out

[AutoXinE30]

that is nasty looking...try new batteries and if that does nothing then switch out the board with a new one.

let us know how it works out

It looks like there's corrosion on the board and damage on the opposite side too :(

Where do I get new batteries for this thing from?

[Jordan]

Both of those SI boards can be fixed, but unless you want to replace the batteries only to find the surrounding components were also damaged... then I would just buy a new one from Programa.

[jlevie]

I'm with Jordan. Replacing the batteries is most likely a waste of effort. Just get a new SI board.

[lordofthewaters]

Based on the description of the problem, I'd suspect that the solder where the fuel and temp gauges mount to the main PCB needs a reflow. As far as I know, one can swap a Motometer cluster for VDO cluster of similar vintage, but I don't know if parts can be swapped from one to another.

Yes they are interchangeable. VDO and Motometer speedos, tachs, gas, and temp gauges can be mixed and matched without issue (well no issues from having a VDO gauge in a Motometer board for instance, issues with old parts may arise however).

If you've got some NiCad rechargeable batteries, or wanna buy some, I say go for it. A couple of batteries is less expensive than a new SI board, and if it works, you're in the gravy as they say. If not you're only out an extra couple of bucks and when you buy the board the extra price of a couple of batteries isn't gonna make a difference.

[ACHTUNG]

Both of those SI boards can be fixed, but unless you want to replace the batteries only to find the surrounding components were also damaged... then I would just buy a new one from Programa.

you're back!

[ACHTUNG]

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