996 cluster question

[badassdubs]

I was given a '99 996 cluster about 7 years ago from a guy that had a speedo shop. The cluster was replaced with a U.S. cluster

since the car was brought into the U.S. from Canada for resale by a dealer. I just stored it away until I finally found a use for it.

I am putting the cluster in an '80 vanagon that I am also putting a water cooled v6 in. After countless searches for connectors for

this, I found out that they no longer make the plugs for this cluster. After contacting my friend who is a long time vw parts salesman,

he came up with a number for the 26 pin plugs for a vw. A little trimming on the detents on the sides and I was in business. Acquired

the pins and the crimper and it came to life.

I know. Get to the point. My question is...can the electrical speedo be converted to read in MPH. The reason I ask is because

if you look closely you can see the MPH display next to the KPH readout. If so, can it be done inside the housing or does it have

to be done through the computer. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[logray]

Actually I think your connector kit is Porsche P/N PNA-721-043-600 or PNA-721-04-300-020 . Pretty sure the first one on a 99 cluster.

As for changing the KPH to MPH or back, with the ignition on, hold the clock adjust button and turn to the left for about five seconds. (or it might be right for five seconds, and you might have to hold the button it in too if that doesnt work.)

Edited October 1, 2011 by logray

[badassdubs]

HA!!!!! I knew it. That was way too easy. Thank you. Very quick reply also. I appreciate that. A turn to the left for a few seconds did it.

As far as the connectors go, I did find that part # but every where I looked it said no longer availble, so that is when I turned

to my friend for help. Thanks again.

[logray]

Try to buy it, I hear it is still available from a few dealers. You might have to try a few dealers.

Another option is to try a Porsche wrecking yard. Try one close to you, but you could also try one of the online ones such as www.dcautomotive.com or http://www.911pcar.com/. They will pull stuff for you. The second link the guys like to deal with you and while I haven't had problems with them I've heard of some problems with larger purchases. But a cheap connector, you probably aren't looking at much money.

Another thing you could try is to just roll into a Porsche dealer. Go back into the garage and try to talk to a mechanic. If you're friendly enough, some of them might have the much larger kits and just pull out what you need - even though the parts counter or service guys will tell you no.

You have to send a pic of it in your Vdub BTW.

[badassdubs]

You have to send a pic of it in your Vdub BTW.

I put it in the dash to make sure it would fit and was surprised how well it fit.

I'll post a pic of it when it is finished. Thanks for your help.

[badassdubs]

I'm finally getting to the point that I can install this. I'm ready to put the fuel tank in so I figured I

better make sure the sending unit worked first. I can get the fuel light to go out and the needle

will raise about a 1/4" and thats it. I was using the vanagon sender but thought that it might not

read correctly so I obtained a 996 sendeng unit and it reads identical to the vanagon sender.

It seems to be a faily simple circuit, so I'm wondering if I missed something somewhere. Like

something needs to activated on another circuit, but I'm not seeing that. I am hooked to the blue plug.

Pin 24 analog ground and pin 20 fuel level sender. Thoughts?

Edited December 16, 2011 by badassdubs

[logray]

Off the top of my head, the cluster requires calibration using a Porsche factory computer (PST2 or PIWIS) and exactly 12 liters of fuel at time of calibration. If the sender is too far out of calibration (for whatever reason) it will not allow you to calibrate.

I'll try to dig through some more stuff in the next few days in case someone else doesn't respond.

[badassdubs]

I've read alot about the fuel systems regarding the 996 and all of their issues. Also about the calibration. But that is run throught the ecu which I don't have.

There has got to be a way to bypass that and run it as a regular sending unit. The resistance is almost identical between the vanagon sender and the 996.

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully this issue can be solved.

Edited December 18, 2011 by badassdubs

[badassdubs]

I took the cluster apart and tried to go directly to the back of the gauge but to no avail. Looks like I am going to have to get an aftermarket gauge, gut it and put it in. The only issue with this is that they all swing backwards. My remedy is to change the gauge face to read full on the bottom. Unless somebody has a better idea.

I hooked up the water temp and it works as advertised.

Next issue. I can't get the speedo to work. I took the speedometer transmitter from a 944S trans I had laying around and hooked it up. Nothing. Tried for about 2 hours last night and finally gave up. So this morning I called three different gauge manufactures and told them the issues I was having. They all said can't be done. Send it to us and we will gut it and put in our gauges. Only $1100. meh So being the type of person I am, I decided that they were all wrong and tried a different approach and here is the result. 8 mph is as fast as my cordless drill can go. Almost there now. Just the tach.

[logray]

Hah! Nice work so far.

[judgejon]

when you're finished with this project, consider putting a classic Porsche emblem above the VW or Vanagon emblem on the rear end. If my memory is correct, I think Paul Newman had "911S" badge on the back end of his racing VW bug, with a 2.0 from a 914S inside I believe.

Or maybe you could have an emblem made up like "Vanamera."

Great work so far. Very cool...

[badassdubs]

when you're finished with this project, consider putting a classic Porsche emblem above the VW or Vanagon emblem on the rear end. If my memory is correct, I think Paul Newman had "911S" badge on the back end of his racing VW bug, with a 2.0 from a 914S inside I believe.

Or maybe you could have an emblem made up like "Vanamera."

Great work so far. Very cool...

Thanks guys. I already caught hell from a few porsche people when I badged this. :thumbup:

Built it about 8 years ago as a father son project. All work done by myself with my sons help. It has been in PVW magazine twice and on PowerBlockTV.

It is no longer two-tone. I painted it nimbus grey, put in a rear mounted turbo along with a DIYAutoTune Microsquirt ecu.

[Airrik]

That V Dub is crazy!

[badassdubs]

Thank you.

Edited April 28, 2012 by badassdubs

[badassdubs]

Getting closer.

The delay in the tach and water temp gauge is from the wrong water temp sender. Soon to be fixed.

Made my own gauge faces to match the van. Bright orange and ivory.

[logray]

Impressive!

[SprintStar]

Getting closer.

The delay in the tach and water temp gauge is from the wrong water temp sender. Soon to be fixed.

Made my own gauge faces to match the van. Bright orange and ivory.

How did you make your own faces? Do they light up with backlight? I'd like to learn. Please teach! :-)

Sprint.

[Rmon]

On the VW 26 pin connector, do you have the part number? I have a 2002 Boxster and one of the connectors has broken on one side. It still snaps in but I am afraid that with time passing it will weaken and break.

Thanks

[987_RDC]

You might want to call Palo Alto Speedometer and talk with the knowledgeable folks there.

They can update your cluster to correct mileage.

Edited December 6, 2012 by 987_RDC