Cruise control light

[Trx-33]

As a lot of you with cruise control know, there isn't a light which indicates its actually on.
Ive had a look inside a cluster and there is a slot in the cluster where the light should be, the symbol on the printed sheet and what appears to be an empty slot on the PCB

Would it be a case of simply soldering an LED over the contacts and hey presto?

 

[Badger]

Give it a shot! I'll be very interested to know if it works.

 

[Roffel]

I'm keen on the answer mate!
I definetely love it!
Maybe you can take the 'open door' and 'open boot' led aswel

 

[aerobaticant]

I'd be very interested to know your results too!

From the photo of the PCB it would appear that a resistor may be needed in the position next to the cruise LED.

I haven't attempted to dismantle the instrument binnacle myself yet - how easy was it?

 

[Trx-33]

Well the power steering warning light has a 000 resistor which is just a link so one might be needed on the CCM light.
The instruments were very simple to dismantle, just taking the needles off is a little tricky. This was a spare/donor/faulty cluster as i'm going to attempt to fit the battery and oil temp gauges to my cupra cluster so i was a little more 'heavy handed' as i would have been with the original one but still careful.
Only thing i would mention is the LCD screens have some sort of strip (carbon i believe) connecting it to the board, i did disrupt this when removing them but as this is an untested cluster i have no way of knowing if it will work when put back together or if the strips are removable/if it is safe to remove them.
Don't really want to take my cluster apart then find my MFD doesn't work anymore..

 

[Badger]

The little LCD screen do come away from the board quite easily, just ensure you put them in the correct slot and haven't damaged the strip running down to the board.

The 000 is just the number of the resistor not the rating as you will notice all the others have an individual number

You could get away with two LED's similar to the headlight light.

 

[aerobaticant]

According to ElsaWin you have to remove the steering wheel and driver's airbag to get access to the instrument cluster - seems like a lot of work. I'm a little concerned about snapping clips. I did snap some once a long time ago on a VW Passat and that left me with a rattly dash.

From the photo photo it appears that the resistors are in fact marked with their values as is standard on surface mount resistors. 000 would be a link. 561 would be 560 Ohms, 562 5k6 etc.. (I design electronic equipment for a living)

If I have a chance at the weekend I'll have a go at gaining access and see if fitting a LED works.

Trx-33, Are the LEDs on your PCB marked with any part numbers? In Particular, the green ones.

PS, my Seat is an Altea.

 

[Badger]

I stand corrected on the resistor

The SMD LED numbers are size 3528

 

[aerobaticant]

The LEDs look remarkably like Farnell part 1761588.

I can't post URLs or links to images yet ...

 

[Hargo]

Re the carbon strips.

When I had mine apart to re solder the connections ( dreaded 6 dial Sport immobiliser issue ) one of the carbon strips remained stuck to the board while the other came away with the LCD.

I was a little concerned at the time but they work fine ..... thankfully

I found getting the needles off was definitely the hardest part.

 

[Roffel]

If you have the cluster de-installed consider this, what a dutch mk4 owner has:

 

[Trx-33]

I was thinking about swapping the red LED's for white ones but thought white on white would be a bit much.
Thats not too bad..

 

[aerobaticant]

I've ordered a scratchless trim removal kit from eBay.

Anyone know if the dash instrument cluster can be removed without removing the steering wheel on an Altea?

 

[Badger]

This is my conversion

 

[Roffel]

I've ordered a scratchless trim removal kit from eBay.

Anyone know if the dash instrument cluster can be removed without removing the steering wheel on an Altea?

Think you have better luck in the subfora of the Altea aswell as the Leon mk2.

 

[Roffel]

discovered anything so far? Would like to know why Seat didn't use that lighting while the Polo and Fabia have it!

 

[aerobaticant]

discovered anything so far?

Domestic duties and other commitments haven't allowed me time to do any investigation this weekend.
The trim removal kit should arrive today with a bit of luck and there's a chance I'll get to have a look over the next couple of days.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[Roffel]

My reaction was actually meant for TRX-33 (TS) because I am excited to hear the results
But keep us up te date with your story aswell!

 

[Trx-33]

Well, i've had the Cupra cluster out (VDO) and unlike the TRW cluster pictured, there was only one solder pad so i've soldered a single green PLCC-2 LED in place and tested with a twin AA battery pack to confirm contact. Unfortunately when refitted and cruise is activated nothing happens. Sad times. Im sure ill have overlooked something but as i'm not some sort of PCB wizard and i need to drive the car daily i've no real way of knowing. I would welcome anyone else to give this a try as i'm almost certain there is a way of getting this to work. I've had no luck getting the voltmeter and the oil temp working either.

 

[Badger]

It could be simple as the LED is the wrong way round. Or actual cluster programming, shame...