I have a 1989 US golf mk2 that started life as a Gasser and was converted to diesel by PO. The gasser gauge cluster was still in it when I got it and car also came with a diesel gauge cluster.
The issue I found is the plugs are not the same on the gas and diesel gauges to my understanding thats do to one being ce1 and the other ce2.
I picked up a European diesel gauge cluster with the same plugs as Gasser but also has tach. Is the wiring/pin configuration the same for European and USA cars? One issue is the diesel cluster with tach is in Km not miles. Can a gas speedo be swapped into a diesel gauge cluster?
US gas gauge cluster.
US diesel gauge cluster.
Euro Diesel gauge cluster with tach.
Also looking for info to help with wiring diesel gauges into gas car.
I cant tell you much about the connectors and compatibility, but here is yet another version of the gauge cluster, from my 1991 jetta, no tach, no shift light.
I would say find yourself a US cluster from a MK2. There are plenty of used VW parts places, and your likelihood of success would be greater using the correct cluster.
Another factor to consider is what transmission do you have? Is it from the gas or diesel? This may affect the speedo calibration, Im not sure though.
Also you didnt say what year the diesel engine was....it may or may not have a wire for the tach.
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Car was built in 6/88 but sold as an 89 golf. The car started life as gas then previous owner started a diesel swap. Part of what I need is charts,diagrams etc for gas/diesel that tell me what all the wires go to,this would help with wiring in a diesel cluster.
Sorry didn't give engine info because I didn't know that was needed.
I have no idea what year the diesel engine is from because it was installed by a previous owner. What I can tell you is its a 1.6 with Mechanical head. The alternator has a W wire witch to my understanding is whats needed for the tach. signal.
The transmission in the car now is a 4 speed but I have a 5 speed ACH transmission I want to install.
A mechanical head engine would be pre-1985, and the tranny probably is also, given that its a 4-speed.
The Bentley manual has all the wiring diagrams.
Im really not sure if the transmission matters regarding swapping speedo's. I do know they all use the same drive gear in the tranny, so any differences in gear ratios must be accounted for in the speedo itself, or else the drive gear must maintain the same ratio on all trannys. Knowing how VW designs everything for cross-compatibility, it wouldn't surprise me if any speedo would work with all trannys.
I would bet that you could swap out the KM speedo with the gas one you have, but there is really only one way to find out.
Hay ad I think your sort of half right as far as I know. The small speedo gears are color coded I believe their a four. They are a bit tricky to change. These speedo gears only line up with the final drive gears. You can change the 1 to 5 or 4 gears and it won't affect the speedo. How do I know that. Well I did a fifth gear swap and it had no effect on the speedo. The speedo must be connected to the final drive. Maybe fat's or somebody will chime in on changing the little speedo gear.
I'm running a gas cluster in my 86 Golf TD because that all I had at the time. Later on I came across a diesel cluster with a tach that had the speedo broken. I think someone gave it to me. So I swapped the tack into where the clock was and it's still working fine today. For me these cars are very interchangeable. In most cases there's not much to loose in just trying it. One time I did get caught on this one. I changed the front wheel housing on my 91 jetta with the old style housing. I think it's the ball joint pin is smaller on the old style housing. I use a bar to ram it in and didn't notice it was smaller than the housing hole. So I tighten it up but I guess it couldn't tighten because the pin was to smaller. Well me and wifey where backing out of the drive and the wheel just about fell off. Talk about red faced. So do be careful.
So do be careful.