Understanding differences between Audi A4 clusters and the compatibility issues

[audifirst]

Disclaimer. The information on this post is for informational purposes only. This post and all of the information it contains are provided 'as is' without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied. The wiring information was taken from "Bentley Publishers CD and Hardcover copy", there may be omissions or inaccuracies in information contained in this post. Before making any decision or taking any action based on the information contained in this Post, you should double/triple check information regards to the vehicle you service. If you found that the information is inaccurate and you have found the solution post it up and I will update the post. *updated May 01, 2012* additional information provided by MetalMan Couple people ask me if I can show the difference between instrument clusters from 1996 to 2001.5 The photo below shows all 3 instrument clusters from 1996 to 2001.5 with Full size LCD, some models didn't come with LCD screen because of the package was not selected during order back then. Here is the back of the instrument clusters. You can see the difference between all the clusters the cluster 1 is CDN or European but MPH is identical except speedometer is in MPH the other two are MPH clusters I had, Cluster 1 was installed in 1996 and 1997 Audi A4 early models , no immobilizer the most visible difference is if you look at the analog clock has no digits at 3, 6, 9, at 12 o'clock comparing to cluster 2 Cluster 2 was installed in 1998 to 1999.5 Audi A4 models, , you could swap cluster between these years with no issues, no immobilizer. Cluster 3 was installed in 2000 to 2001.5 Audi A4 models,some 99.5's with VIN > 8DY000001 had cluster with digital clock, the main difference was the analog clock was replaced with digital clock to match the mileage LCD, and in late 2001 immobilizer was added to system NOW COMPATIBILITY Legend Cluster 1 is 1996-1997 (no immobilizer, no Can-Bus) Cluster 2 is 1998-1999.5 (no immobilizer, no Can-Bus) Cluster 3 is 2000 to 2001.5 (00 had no immobilizer but Can-Bus was introduced, 01+ had Immobilizer and Can-Bus) Cluster 2, and cluster 3 can not fit directly into cluster 1, because cluster 1 has different plugs , in order to fit you need to buy new plugs and new pins and rewire some connection., I know two people who proceed with this conversion one did the cluster 2 to cluster 1 and had partially working cluster, all the gauges were working however compatibility was an issue and error code were reported cluster did not understand modules in the car, other did cluster 3 to cluster 1 and had only partial success two gauges were working , all the lights were lit up like Christmas tree . Cluster 3 can be installed into cluster 2 however some rewiring is required to both blue and green plugs and the middle plug from cluster 3 doesn't fit cluster 2 which you need to rewire as well, regards to immobilizer on some early 2001 clusters this feature can not be disabled in the instrument cluster the little car key will flash some people cover it with electrical tape, but it will beep at start up for 3 seconds. Also Can Bus was introduced in some early 2000+ models which meant that vehicle in 1998-1999 didn't have can-bus and some clusters from 2001-2001.5 didn't work the tachometer or speedometer was not functional If you really want to have digital clock in 1998-1999 A4 model try to get 1999.5 to 2000 instrument cluster that don't have immobilizer or Can-Bus requirement. Cluster 3 with immobilizer will work in early cluster 3 however immobilizer light will be present during start and will flash continuously and it will beep for 3 seconds during start up. If your car came originally without center LCD , you can swap the cluster with LCD however in order to change menus you need to buy new wiper arm with switch and wiring and add wires between the cluster and wiper arm you will need the wiper control arm that has a switch at the end wiper arm to change menus on center LCD for 1996 to 1997 Cluster 1 you need wiper arm part# 8D9 953 503 A (sedan) part# 8D9 953 503 C (Avant) for 1998 to 2001.5 Cluster 2, and Cluster 3 Part# 4D0 953 503 B (sedan) part# 8D0 953 503 D (Avant) There are 3/4 sets of wires required for wiper arm control harness plug and for the instrument cluster harness plug for the Grey Connector on Cluster 3, and red connector of Cluster 2 , black connector on cluster 1 I recommend to buy wires from Audi/VW dealer On cluster 1 You need to insert wires into black 20 pin connector on instrument cluster and to 6 pin harness plug on the wiper arm Black connector Pin 11 to wiper arm pin 1 Black connector Pin 14 to wiper arm pin 3 Black connector Pin 18 to wiper arm pin 4 Pin 2 on the wiper arm is ground Pins 5, 6 are not used On cluster 2 -added a wire between the longer ECU connector, pin 17 (yellow wire), to pin 1 on the RED instrument cluster connector -grounded pins 9, 16, 19 on the RED instrument cluster connector since I don't need bulb out warnings or low washer fluid warning (this worked) You need to insert wires into red 20 pin connector on instrument cluster and to 6 pin harness plug on the wiper arm Red connector Pin 18 to wiper arm pin 1 Red connector Pin 14 to wiper arm pin 2 Red connector Pin 11 to wiper arm pin 4 Pin 3 on the wiper arm is ground , I just made a short segment and connected it to the wire coming off Pin 5 Pin 5: ground for the intermittent wiper selector on top of the wiper arm Pin 6: feedback wire for position of the intermittent wiper selector For people who have a no-LCD cluster, pins 5 and 6 on the wiper arm will already exist, and they are supposed to exist while using the LCD cluster too. They should not be removed. Cluster 3 you need to insert wires into Grey connector on the instrument cluster and to 6 pin harness plug on the wiper arm Grey Connector pin 17 to wiper arm pin 4 Grey Connector pin 18 to wiper arm pin 3 Grey Connector pin 19 to wiper arm pin 1 Pin 2 on the wiper arm is ground Pins 5, 6 are not used How do I know if my cluster has immobilizer ? Answer regards Color LCD Here are Pin out for clusters with Full Size LCD cluster 1 26-Pin Connector, Blue 1 - Open 2 - Signal for buzzer 3 - Terminal 15 4 - Terminal 15 5 - Open 6 - Terminal 61 7 - Parking brake/brake system malfunction 8 - ABS (input signal) 9 - Airbag (input signal) 10 - CAT 11 - Open 12 - Open 13 - Parking light, right 14 - Ignition switch, S-contact 15 - Chime signal 16 - Open 17 - Open 18 - Oil pressure 1.8 bar 19 - Terminal 58d 20 - Coolant level 21 - Turn signal, right 22 - Headlight high beams 23 - Speedometer Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) (checking → Chapter) 24 - Brake fluid 25 - Brake pads 26 - Parking light, left 26-Pin Connector, Yellow 1 - Terminal 58 2 - Terminal 58 3 - Engine RPM signal 4 - Air conditioner compressor 5 - Clock (output) 6 - Speed signal 1 7 - Speed signal 2 8 - Door contact (driver's door) 9 - Terminal 30 10 - Terminal 30 11 - Open 12 - Fuel tank warning 13 - Turn signal, left 14 - Open 15 - Open 16 - Seat belt buckle switch 17 - Open 18 - Terminal 31 19 - Terminal 31 20 - Diagnostic wire 21 - Open 22 - Open 23 - Open 24 - Open 25 - Sender for fuel gauge 26 - Engine coolant temperature sensor 20-Pin Connector, Black 1 - Fuel consumption signal 2 - Open 3 - Open 4 - Open 5 - Outside air temperature 6 - Selector lever display 7 - Open 8 - Open 9 - Coolant level 10 - Hydraulic pressure 11 - Trip computer - Reset 12 - Radio/Telephone - Clock 13 - Radio/Telephone - Data 14 - Trip computer (forward sequence) 15 - Radio/Telephone - Enable 16 - Rear lights/headlight low beams 17 - Open 18 - Trip computer (reverse sequence) 19 - Brake lights 20 - Open 4-Pin Connector, Black 1 - Oil temperature sensor 2 - Open 3 - Open 4 - Open cluster 2 32-Pin Connector for Basic Functions, Blue 1 - Terminal 15 2 - Turn signal, right 3 - Speedometer output 1 4 - Open 5 - Sender for fuel gauge 6 - Airbag 7 - Terminal 31 sensor Ground (GND) 8 - Coolant temperature 9 - Terminal 31 load Ground (GND) 10 - Oil pressure switch 11 - Engine speed (RPM) signal 12 - Terminal 61 13 - CAT 14 - Self leveling suspension 15 - Terminal 58d 16 - Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) 17 - High beam 18 - Turn signal, left 19 - ABS 20 - Terminal 58s 21 - Door contact (driver's door) 22 - Engine coolant low 23 - Terminal 30 24 - Terminal 31 load Ground (GND) 25 - K-wire 26 - Parking light, right 27 - Parking light, left 28 - Speedometer (input) 29 - Brake fluid level/pressure 30 - S-contact 31 - Seat belt buckle 32 - Electronic Stability Program (ESP) 32-Pin Connector for Additional Functions, Green 1 - Open 2 - Open 3 - Open 4 - Open 5 - W-wire 6 - Tailgate (Lowline model only) 7 - Brake pad (Highline model only) 8 - Input for outside buzzer control (currently not assigned) 9 - Input for outside chime control (currently not assigned) 10 - Low fuel level warning-output signal for Engine Control Module (ECM) 11 - Standing time output 12 - Air conditioning cutout 13 - Parking brake 14 - Electronic throttle 15 - Side marker light 16 - Open 17 - Open 18 - Open 19 - Open 20 - Open 21 - Oil temperature 22 - Open 23 - Open 24 - Open 25 - Open 26 - Open 27 - Open 28 - Open 29 - Open 30 - Speedometer output 2 31 - Open 32 - Open 20-Pin Connector for Multi-Function Display, Red 1 - Fuel consumption signal 2 - Open 3 - Open 4 - Open 5 - Outside air temperature 6 - Selector lever display 7 - Open 8 - Open 9 - Washer fluid 10 - Hydraulic pressure 11 - Trip computer reset 12 - Clock signal for radio frequency display 13 - Data signal for radio frequency display 14 - Trip computer (forward sequence) 15 - Enable signal for radio frequency display 16 - Tail lights/headlight low beam (indicator lights) 17 - Open 18 - Trip computer (reverse sequence) 19 - Brake lights 20 - Open Cluster 3 Blue 32-Pin Multi-Pin Connector for Basic Functions 1 - Terminal 15 2 - Brake pad wear 3 - Tachometer output 1 4 - not occupied 5 - Tank sensor 6 - Tank warning OBD 2 7 - Terminal 31 (sensor Ground (GND)) 8 - Coolant temperature 9 - Terminal 31 (load Ground (GND)) 10 - Oil pressure 2 (high) 11 - RPM signal 12 - A/C shut-off 13 - E-Gas/glow plug control 14 - Level control 15 - Terminal 58d 16 - Trailer turn signal 17 - High beam 18 - Left turn signal 19 - not occupied 20 - Terminal 58s 21 - Driver door contact 22 - Low coolant 23 - Terminal 30 24 - Terminal 31 (load Ground (GND)) 25 - Consumption signal 26 - Right parking light 27 - Left parking light 28 - Tachometer input 29 - Brake 30 - S-contact 31 - Tachometer output 2 32 - ESP/ASR Green 32-Pin Multi-Pin Connector for Auxiliary Functions 1 - Door contact (all doors) 2 - Transponder 1 3 - not occupied 4 - not occupied 5 - W-wire 6 - Tailgate 7 - Right turn signal 8 - External buzzer 9 - External gong 10 - Airbag 11 - Stand-still time output 12 - Terminal 61 13 - Parking brake/BRAKE 14 - CHECK 15 - Oil level/oil temperature 16 - not occupied 17 - Transponder 2 18 - CAN high speed (powertrain) (high +) 19 - CAN high speed (powertrain) (low -) 20 - CAN high speed (powertrain) (screen) 21 - ABS 22 - CAN low speed (comfort) (high +) 23 - CAN low speed (comfort) (low -) 24 - CAN low speed (comfort) (screen) 25 - Engine lid 26 - not occupied 27 - Belt buckle 28 - K-wire 29 - Outside temperature -input 30 - not occupied 31 - Selector range display 32 - not occupied Gray 32-Pin Multi-Pin Connector for Multi-Function Display 1 - Menu selection switch (menu) 2 - Menu selection switch (out A) 3 - Menu selection switch (out B) 4 - Menu selection switch (Enter) 5 - CAN high speed display (high +) 6 - CAN high speed display (low -) 7 - CAN high speed display (screen) 8 - Passenger door contact 9 - Right rear door contact 10 - Left rear door contact 11 - Enable 12 - Clock 13 - Data 14 - Brake light 15 - Windshield washer fluid level 16 - Rear lights/low beams 17 - Left board computer 18 - Right board computer 19 - Board computer, reset 20 - not occupied 21 - not occupied 22 - not occupied 23 - Button branch 1 navigation 24 - Button branch 2 navigation 25 - Button branch Telematic 26 - not occupied 27 - not occupied 28 - not occupied 29 - not occupied 30 - not occupied 31 - not occupied 32 - not occupied Wiper Switch Pin, Terminal Assignments A - 6-pin connector 1 - Board computer, reset 2 - Board computer, Terminal 31 3 - Board computer, right rocker switch 4 - Board computer, left rocker switch 5 - open 6 - open B - 13-pin harness connector 1 - Wiper switch, terminal J 2 - Wiper switch, terminal 53 c 3 - Emergency light (hazard light) switch, terminal R 4 - Wiper switch, terminal 53 b 5 - Wiper switch, terminal 53 a 6 - Emergency light (hazard light) switch, terminal L 7 - Emergency light (hazard light) switch, terminal 49 a 8 - Wiper switch, terminal 53 e 9 - Wiper switch, terminal 53 If you have questions please post them here and I will answer them to best of my ability.

[Reggie]

Many thanks

[Bronco Joe]

I've actually got an early 98 (30v but also has side airbags) and it has cluster #1. As far as I know it's never been switched and I have complete records (I'm the second owner). So, perhaps a few '98s got the first cluster as well?

[moloveshisaudi1254]

That is the best Instrument cluster compatibility guide I have seen. Nice job.

I have a 1996 A4 with cluster one but without the LCD. Can you provide clearer steps to retrofit cluster-1 into my car and the part number for the cluster and the new wiper lever with the trip computer controls on it?

-Thank you.

[xsrfsno225x]

Thanks man. Its nice to see someone compiling valuable information. People like you make these forums worth it

[audifirst]

Originally Posted by moloveshisaudi1254

That is the best Instrument cluster compatibility guide I have seen. Nice job.

I have a 1996 A4 with cluster one but without the LCD. Can you provide clearer steps to retrofit cluster-1 into my car and the part number for the cluster and the new wiper lever with the trip computer controls on it?

-Thank you.

I will post part# tomorrow for conversion into LCD cluster

[audifirst]

Originally Posted by Bronco Joe

I've actually got an early 98 (30v but also has side airbags) and it has cluster #1. As far as I know it's never been switched and I have complete records (I'm the second owner). So, perhaps a few '98s got the first cluster as well?

that is true that very early 1998 had parts from 1997 year model ex:cluster/fenders with Audi logo, taillights with amber lights, a
those that have 1997 1.8T were actual 1998 models
same for
1999.5 to early 2000 had mixed parts from pre-face lift model
Audi did a lot of mix up in those days, lot of hybrids

[quattromano]

I wish I had your guide when I bought a back up cluster for my early 99.5 Avant. Damn LCD pixel problem has struck! Bought a 97 cluster but lo & behold it would not fit!

[mtroxel]

Nice write up. Great info, and timely. I didn't think Audi did immobilizers till the B6. I just bought an 01 Avant I'm doing a lot of work on. How do I know if it has immobilizer? Will that little key thing show up (after I get the dashboard back together that is)?

[audifirst]

Originally Posted by mtroxel

Nice write up. Great info, and timely. I didn't think Audi did immobilizers till the B6. I just bought an 01 Avant I'm doing a lot of work on. How do I know if it has immobilizer? Will that little key thing show up (after I get the dashboard back together that is)?

If you turn your ignition on no engine look at the tachometer in between 6k to 7k rpm
if the car with little key lights up for second or two you have immobilizer , other way to check is to access instrument cluster menu with VAGCOM, look at the middle section you should see VIN# with 14 digit combination number/letters, then you have immobilizer, if you don't have then you don't have immo, the last check is if you remove instrument cluster and look at the right top edge there is sticker with part# under the part there is 14 digit number usually start with AUZ....... if the rest of the numbers are zeros you don't have immo if it shows combination of numbers and letters then you have immo
i will add this to the post above