Instrument Panel Gauges

[fuelforlife]

I have a 1994 Jetta. My instrument panel is analog, except for the odometer and clock.

My problem started out as just the speedometer needle wiggling and falling to zero mph while I was driving. A good whack on the top of the dash would usually fix this, if it didn't come back on itself.

Then my whole dash system (speedometer, tachometer, temperature gauge, gas gauge) would start to go out. That could be solved with a good whack on the top of the dash as well.

Recently it has stopped responding to me hitting it, and it doesn't really like to turn back on by itself.

Turning the car off doesn't affect it, unless I leave don't drive it for a day or two. Also, my odometer and clock (which are both digital) are not affected by this.

My "quick" fix has been to take the instrument cluster out and just unplug and plug back in the two connectors in back, but even that doesn't always work.

My thoughts are that it's a bad connection and I need to put.. I think it's called dielectric grease (?) on the connectors.

I hear this is a common problem with VWs and would like to know if anyone has any other advice to offer.

Thanks in advance!

[fuelforlife]

Just and update to the problem as well as a topic bump.

It seems lately that the gauges working is affected either by temperature or time. If I haven't driven it since the day before, I'll turn it on and they'll work, but once the car warms up, they shut off. This happened today, and after about an hour driving I hit a slight bump and they turn on..

So they're affected by temperature and vibrations..

Does it sound like a connection problem?

I was thinking about getting a new instrument cluster, but I should probably try some dielectric grease on the connections first... Any suggestions?