1998 audi cabriolet problems

[a1alan]

hi all ... got myself a 1998 audi cab on monday ...got a few problems possibly bad earth (adr engine i think ) faults are ....
oil pressure gauge jumps up to max 5 bar when ignition is switched on ..is this norm ? and it stays there
fuel gauge is very slow to move up and is variable !intermitent
temp gauge slow only goes up to about 60 ..is this normal
also get flashing brake warning whilst driving again intermitent ....
oil temp gauge does not rise or light up ..the needle flickers when ignition is turned on but it stays just above zero ..should it move up?
i am thing along the line of a bad earth somewhere ..would that be a good starting point ? if so any suggestions as to where to start ?
any help appreciated

[JimSharp39]

Hi,
I have a 98 cab also ADR 1800 engine. I probably can help with a couple of your questions. The oil pressure gauge reading at the top of its scale is probably the sender goosed. I had the same issue and the sender had to be replaced - its flipping expensive though. The fuel and temp gauge problem is a known one in these cars. It can usually be one of two things - the voltage stabiliser or dry solder on the binnacle's PCB. Fortunately the binnacle is easy to remove. The voltage stabiliser is about a tenner. My oil temp gauge doesnt move much either.
I dont know about the handbrake light flashing-thats one fault my old heap doesnt have. I'd suspect its a badly adjusted switch though

Jim

[a1alan]

thanks jim for your reply
i may sound a newbie but what is a
binnacle ? and where is it (i know wot pcb is)
also where is the voltage stabilser ...
many thanks
Alan

[JimSharp39]

Binnacle is the instrument cluster. There is an instruction on this site as to how to remove it - have a search. Its really easy - four screws and a bit of wriggling. The voltage stabiliser is a wee thing with three legs thats screwed to the back of the instrument cluster on the pcb. Both my fuel and temp gauge read intermittently - I did replace the voltage stabiliser, but made no difference. Having read a few threads on this site, i'd say that your cluster has a few dry solders. Very common on these models apparently. Id take it out and look at the pcb first before buying a voltage stabiliser. You'll have to take the cluster out either way.

[Chris_H]

Hi,
I have a 98 cab also ADR 1800 engine. I probably can help with a couple of your questions. The oil pressure gauge reading at the top of its scale is probably the sender goosed. I had the same issue and the sender had to be replaced - its flipping expensive though.

Jim

I have a 97 1.8 Cab with the same problem with the oil pressure gauge (reading off the scale as soon as the ignition is swtched on), also the oil temp gauge does not register. I checked the sensors on top of the oil filter and found that the wires had been pulled off. There are four wires blue/white, blue/black, green/black and white. Can anyone tell where these wires should be connected to.