Speedo needle preload?

[ziggirocco]

So as I continue on my never ending interior project

1-I have a concern about reassembling my speedo needle. There was some discussion on this in the golf I forum and it got me thinking, on a 16 cluster do I eed to preload the speedo needle, and by preload they mean this:



You are "supposed" to put the needle on behind the stop, then drag it over the stop pin to its resting position, which, in theory now has created a permanent "load" on the needle.

Anyone ever had to do this on our clusters? Or just pop the needle on at the rest pin.

I just want to avoid assembling just to end up having my speedo be way off.

2-Plus I am running 195/45/15, so I am already off speedwise, is there's trick around this as well?

[Scirocco16]

On the 16v speedo there's a mark on the edge (below the stop pin) which is hidden behind the main cluster housing. I read somewhere that's the mark you preload the needle to. I did that when I had the cluster apart, then hooked up only the speedo to the cable, without the rest of the cluster, and took it for a test run with a gps. It was a bit off so I popped the needle back off. Took the car to 60 and popped it back on at 60. It was still a bit off, so I stopped at the corner, dragged it back over the stop, pulled it off, and re-positioned it a bit. Next run it was only off +/- 1mph so I decided to leave good enough alone and put everything back together. Haven't checked it since but I assume it's still right. I actually did this process twice cuz I had to take it apart again to fix my mistake i had made while fixing the odo. Keep in mind, when I did this, it seemed to be pretty picky how much preload there was, i.e., how far behind the stop pin i put it before dragging it back over. In other words, the speedo will be off if it is put on at the stop My needle was pretty flexible, never really threatened to break when I lifted it over the pin, but I was real careful anyway.

HTH

[ziggirocco]

It helps somewhat but my wheels are not the right size to help me adjust it that way.

Anyone have a spare to just open and allow the pin to go behind the pin to measure the preload distance?
Had I known I would have done it, oh well!

Live and learn....

[Scirocco16]

Does your speedo have a preload mark on the edge of the face? I think my needle at rest was about 1/8" or so behind the preload mark when I had it adjusted. I'll post up a pic with the mark highlighted in a couple minutes.




...ok, heres the pic. its the mark with the red arrow. stole the pic from timbos site.

[ziggirocco]

Awesome! Thanks!

[R-P]

If you broke something, I have spare parts speedo.

[ziggirocco]

If you broke something, I have spare parts speedo.

Awesome! Thanks!

I had a spare "virgin" corrado/ Passat cluster, so I decided to see how it was from factory to see if I can find some consistency, and it seems that the needle is about 7/32 behind the mark.



So I guess that is where I will try it first.

[Scirocco16]

I think that distance from the mark is about the same as mine ended up, from what I can remember. So it shouldn't be too far off at all. :thumbup: