MFA and Speedo failed, which bits do I need?

[reserves]

My MFA and Speedo do not work, I know this is a common problem for post 90 golfs.

Does anyone know which bit I need to replace to get this working, I have been quoted ?140, this involves sending the whole unit (Speedo, Computer, Rev Counter etc.) away.

However I hope to find the right part from a breakers but need to know which bit to look for!

Also how do I recognise the post 90 unit as opposed to a pre 90 unit?

Anyone know which bit it is, anyone have it for sale?

Rich

[Rob]

Try with ignition on, pulling {i think} the second fuse in from the right and pushing back in, this resets the mfa andmight be the problem.
i know sometimes on my 1990 8v the mfa and rev counter fail, i do this and it all comes back to life. Worth a try.

[richandhazel]

Sounds like Rob's advice would be well worth a go.
This may help too:-

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richandhazel1/MFAtrouble/ESIS.htm

[reserves]

Thanks for the help. However it still doesn't work so I'm on the hunt to get one from the breakers. The problem I have is how you tell the difference between a pre 90 and a post 90 one?

Someone has told me that pre 90 have two leads and post 90 have one but i have no idea what to look for!

[Biz]

you could also try cleaning the earth on the rocker cover on the engine (it works sometimes).
It's most likely the dash has gone, for post 90 golfs there were two makes of dash VDO and Motometer, the Motometer are not very good and often fail (as mine did!). When sourcing a replacement try and get a VDO as they are more reliable.
Only problem is that post 1990 (Working!) dashes are rare as hens teeth - took me 6 months to find one for sensible cash. 1990 onwards dashes have one 24 pin plug on the right hand side and the earlier dashes had two 12 pin plugs one on each side.
Best place to find one is phoning scrapyards, ebay(come up on german ebay quite a bit and can replace kph dails with an aftermarket mph kit) and keep checking forums.
cheers
Biz

[Ukpitbull]

I managed to pick the whole set of VDO guages up for 10 quid from my local scrappy. The easiest way to tell which plug they have is by looking at where the hazard lights switch is. If its on top of the stearing column it will be a 24pin single plug, If its by the foglights switch it will have 2 12 pin plugs. Just watch out that the printed circituary on the back isnt damaged or you will have to do some steady soldering.

[reserves]

Thanks for your help guys. Somehow I lost this message and hadn't read your replies until now.

I'm gutted that I will lose my original speedo though and would rather avoid this, as I have mentioned elsewhere a company fixes these for ?140. They must know where they go wrong and I would love to find out and fix mine instead!

Any ideas???

[frankerooney]

New here so excuse me being daft, but my speedo stopped working - turned out to be the "cog" in the gearbox self destructed - some bits of the MFA don't work without the speedo working. Just an idea..
 

[reserves]

Did your MFA work at all? Mine just shows 00:00 and doesn't move at all, and doesn't do anything when I flick through the modes.

Out of interest did all the faulty MFA units freeze or did they not display anything?

[Biz]

That's a good call by frankerooney, as the speedo should work even if the electrics in the dash don't, as it's mechanical.
Should have thought of that as the plastic cog in the gearbox went on mine and speedo went. I think there are two different coloured cogs available (blue and white?)just need to get the same colour as was in the box.
cheers
Biz