VS Berlina dash warning lights flashing

[6h84eva]

Got a VSII Berlina that will periodically have an issue with the instrument cluster.

Driving along, the LCD screens go back to the state the car is in when the ignition is off (ie: nothing in the middle or left screen and the odo reading in the right hand one) and then will go back to reading everything as normal, but the fuel, overspeed and water temp lights are flashing.

Note: on a VSII, these three lights are the first ones to go out when the ignition key is first switched on before starting the engine.

There is no drop in power, the engine stays running and powers along as normal, the lights are on fine, all the gauges stay working - just the LCD goes back to 'off' state, then comes back on with those three lights flashing below it. Makes no difference what is turned on or off or whether I'm accelerating or decelerating.

Has started this today. Anyone struck it before?

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

ABS unit fault? The level 3 cluster doesn't have the same warning lights as the level 1 and 2 does it? If that's the case then flashing LCD's would be how it shows an ABS fault.

 

[6h84eva]

Level 3 dash that this beasty has (and is standard in Berlina) has it's own ABS light. The LCD display does not flash - only the three lights mentioned.

The LCD display goes blank in the left two windows and has the odo reading in the far right (as if the ignition was off) and then after about one or 1.5 seconds it goes back to reading as it normally would when driving, but those three warning lights are now flashing.

I stopped on the side of the road and did #1 in the book of IT Standard Troubleshooting Tips (ie: turned it off and on again), restarted and drove on, but it did the same thing.

Note - there is no burning smell and everything else in the cluster is working fine. I'd think it was the LCD display itself (as two of the LCD display's backing bulbs have blown and I can't find replacements - nobody over here has them) but for these three lights flashing in a place not directly connected to the LCD itself.

 

[Bryce_VS]

Resurrection!!


I have this problem now. So i need to replace globes?..

 

[88GreenVN]

Resurrection!!


I have this problem now. So i need to replace globes?..

The trip computer is dropping power for some reason I'd say - the pink black wire supplies power when the ignision is turned on to power up the lights and the 2 other screens (the ODO is on all the time via the orange white wire) I'd be looking for a fault in thiat side of things - I doubt a globe will be the issue.

 

[6h84eva]

Nope - I found the answer myself about 3 months after this post. As nobody seemed interested, I didn't post it.

I had taken the dash out to replace the bulbs in the LCD, but found that I had been supplied the wrong ones, so put it all back together and back in the dash. Then this 'flashing lights' thing started about a week later. What it was, was a loose / bad connection between the LCD module and the rest of the dash cluster. I found I was able to fix the flashing light issue temporarily by getting shitty with it and belting the front of the cluster with the back of my hand. When the problem reappeared, I repeated the 'fix' and thus after several repetitions, got a true idea of what was causing the issue. Pulled the cluster out again, physically made sure all connections were good and put it back in the dash - problem went away for the 3.5 years from the time of this post until I sold the car recently.

So, if it reappears, belt the cluster in the face and see if it goes away for a bit. If you're not into that, pull the cluster, undo / reseat all the flat wire connections and pay specific attention to the one that goes from the LCD to the cluster (at both ends). Had a mate who had this issue and his went away after a couple of 'love taps', so.......