Technical Fiat 500 Twinairplus

[sammy19]

Just bought this car and it has a fault with the speedo, there is no lcd display in the center of the speedo, you can see a very faint glow when it is dark but no info in the center circle the rest of the speedo seems to work as it should. Is it possible to obtain just the center display and swop it overand would it then need programing to the car.

 

[John202020]

The usual fix is a replacement second hand one, just ensure the mileage is less than yours.

 

[varesecrazy]

Low mileage used unit then MES.. or AlfaOBD to correct the displayed mileage

 

[sammy19]

Is it not possible to just replace the center piece which is the part that is malfunctioning and then there is no need to use MES which I do have but not sure how to use it properly, have used mes to read the mileage stored in the ecu or body computer and there is a good 10000 miles more shown than on the last mot. I have very little knowledge of mes.

 

[jrkitching]

Is it not possible to just replace the center piece which is the part that is malfunctioning

It's possible; the difficulty you will have is sourcing the part. Prior to brexit/covid, these were readily available and reasonably cheap; now they're as rare as hen's teeth and usually well north of £100. Most of the parts in the UK are likely in the hands of folks offering a cluster repair service, and I doubt many of these folks would sell them separately, given the current supply chain issues.

Search the 'bay and the web and you'll find a few listings; just make 100% sure it's the right part for your car. You might need to dismantle your cluster and look for some sort of identification markings on the part itself.

Low mileage used units aren't cheap anymore; most I've seen have been listed closer to £200 than £100, often with 70k+ miles recorded. Given that this is an extremely common failure, there's no knowing how long a secondhand unit will last before that also fails in the same way. Damp is the usual reason these fail, and parts salvaged from scrap cars have often been left standing outside with broken windscreens, etc. That's not a route I'd want to take.

If you want simplicity, certainty and a warranty, a new cluster is one option. Shop4parts will do a virgin OEM cluter for 25% off, (and a further 10% if you make a donation to this forum), but that'll still set you back somewhere around £550-£600, and will also need to be programmed using MES. If you want to go this route, give the chaps in Bradford a call, and they'll make sure to supply the correct cluster for your car.

Sending your cluster to one of the reconditioners may be the least worst way forward. If they're able to fix it by replacing the LCD panel, it shouldn't need programming. From what I've found doing a quick search, it might not cost much more than just buying the part, and you'll have some comeback if it doesn't work.

An all-inclusive main dealer repair (new cluster + programming) will likely be £1000+ .

@typecastboy has swapped out more than a few of these; he might know a bit more about what's happening in the marketplace just now.

 

[Ralf S.]

You can find replacement LCDs.. but locating the correct LCD for your car will be a bit of a mission.

Do a search for "Fiat 500 LCD display" on fleaBay and you will get several hits for new LCDs from aboot £110 up to £180. Some of the the £180 ones include the bezel part (although some of the £180 ones are just re-seller marked up, and do not include the bezel). Anyhow, you don't *need* the bezel.

Now go onto Youtube and search for AKSpeedo's post:



AKSpeedo happens to be a seller of LCDs.... and they often don't have any in stock.. but it's not all "chocolate teapot";

The video will show you how to disassemble your unit until you can expose the ribbon, which will have a sticker on it with a line that begins "COG-VLIT..." (around the 4:00' mark in the video). It will say something like "COG-VLIT1228A-01". This is your "magic number" that determines which style of LCD it is... pre-2011 cars seem to have a different one to 2012-2015 cars and 2016+ cars are different again. There is also a difference depending on the features each car had... so basically your car has one ribbon and there are about 1,499,999 permutations of other ribbons out there that won't work..

Anyhow.. back to the Bay of fleas and type in your magic number into the search bar, and include a search of the Description. That should pull up a few "hits" of LCDs that will match your car. Only order an LCD with the exact match to (or compatible with) your "magic number" or the LCD won't work.

Write down the "magic number" on a sticker and stick it inside the back of the speedo.. since the new LCDs don't have a "magic number" on them and we want to help out the next owner, 10 years from now.

Ignore the year of your car vs the advert wording "fits cars to 2011" etc. since your speedo might not be from your car, if it has been previously swapped, e.g. to fix an LCD problem. Anyhow, car manufacturers tend to be a bit random around the change-over years. Your speedo could have been built in 2010 and the car not registered until 2012 for instance... so your car is "2012" but you have a 2010 speedo. Nobody will have any idea about which LCD fits into which year of car, never mind your car... so just base your purchase on matching the magic number.

When you fit it, put a teeeeny mark at the 12 o'clock position on the old LCD and on the bezel body where the LCD touches it... and copy the same mark to the new LCD. It's easy to fit the LCD slightly "off" since there's nothing to line it up with... and you'll only notice that it's 2 minutes out when you've refitted everything.


Ralf S.

 

[sammy19]

You can find replacement LCDs.. but locating the correct LCD for your car will be a bit of a mission.

Do a search for "Fiat 500 LCD display" on fleaBay and you will get several hits for new LCDs from aboot £110 up to £180. Some of the the £180 ones include the bezel part (although some of the £180 ones are just re-seller marked up, and do not include the bezel). Anyhow, you don't *need* the bezel.

Now go onto Youtube and search for AKSpeedo's post:



AKSpeedo happens to be a seller of LCDs.... and they often don't have any in stock.. but it's not all "chocolate teapot";

The video will show you how to disassemble your unit until you can expose the ribbon, which will have a sticker on it with a line that begins "COG-VLIT..." (around the 4:00' mark in the video). It will say something like "COG-VLIT1228A-01". This is your "magic number" that determines which style of LCD it is... pre-2011 cars seem to have a different one to 2012-2015 cars and 2016+ cars are different again. There is also a difference depending on the features each car had... so basically your car has one ribbon and there are about 1,499,999 permutations of other ribbons out there that won't work..

Anyhow.. back to the Bay of fleas and type in your magic number into the search bar, and include a search of the Description. That should pull up a few "hits" of LCDs that will match your car. Only order an LCD with the exact match to (or compatible with) your "magic number" or the LCD won't work.

Write down the "magic number" on a sticker and stick it inside the back of the speedo.. since the new LCDs don't have a "magic number" on them and we want to help out the next owner, 10 years from now.

Ignore the year of your car vs the advert wording "fits cars to 2011" etc. since your speedo might not be from your car, if it has been previously swapped, e.g. to fix an LCD problem. Anyhow, car manufacturers tend to be a bit random around the change-over years. Your speedo could have been built in 2010 and the car not registered until 2012 for instance... so your car is "2012" but you have a 2010 speedo. Nobody will have any idea about which LCD fits into which year of car, never mind your car... so just base your purchase on matching the magic number.

When you fit it, put a teeeeny mark at the 12 o'clock position on the old LCD and on the bezel body where the LCD touches it... and copy the same mark to the new LCD. It's easy to fit the LCD slightly "off" since there's nothing to line it up with... and you'll only notice that it's 2 minutes out when you've refitted everything.


Ralf S.

Hi Ralp thanks for that this is what i have been looking at I just wanted confirmation from someone else, I have seen them on Ebay at these prices and I was considering them, I have seen a tutorial and I can do this but need the correct lcd, I am going to remove mine soon to get the part number off it and the look again on Ebay, I just did not want to use my MES incase I cocked it up.

 

[sammy19]

Hi Ralp thanks for that this is what i have been looking at I just wanted confirmation from someone else, I have seen them on Ebay at these prices and I was considering them, I have seen a tutorial and I can do this but need the correct lcd, I am going to remove mine soon to get the part number off it and the look again on Ebay, I just did not want to use my MES incase I cocked it up.

 

[sammy19]

Well got the speedo out and the label is missing off the back of it it has a barcode 9CUDCZR4L But maybe it is not the original speedo, has anyone any ideas how to find the original serial number, would mes help?

 

[Ralf S.]

The label is on the LCD ribbon, not on the speedo itself... but I guess you looked everywhere? Just checking.

Ralf S.

 

[jrkitching]

Thinking outside the box, if you bought a secondhand speedo with the correct LCD for your car, you could just swap the LCD. This has the advantage of not needing to worry about reprogramming or the mileage.

If you could stumble across a cluster with a different fault (they've also been known to stick mechanically), it might be cheap enough for this to be worth considering.

 

[Ralf S.]

Just checking various ads (can you tell I've hunted obscure parts for years? ) It looks like these numbers are related to COG-VLIT 1592-02

503015214010 D369 735628285 1 77359

503015214107 D369 735590739 1 77359

503015214806 D369 735590742 1 77359

503015214008 D369 735624417 1 77359

503015214006 D369 735590735 1 77359

503015214111 D369 735635494 1 77359
​

One of these numbers will (usually) be on a paper sticker on the back of the speedo case, if that helps.


Ralf S.

 

[sammy19]

The label is on the LCD ribbon, not on the speedo itself... but I guess you looked everywhere? Just checking.

View attachment 428000


Ralf S.

Thanks again Ralf I have found the label it had somehow detached itself and fallen down behind the cluster, just need to source a replacement now.

 

[sammy19]

Thanks again Ralf I have found the label it had somehow detached itself and fallen down behind the cluster, just need to source a replacement now.

This is my number
503005216901 D369 735522115 77359

 

[Ralf S.]

Cool! If you have the COG-VLIT number.. post it here, so someone else might be able to match/compare your sticker serial number with the "COG-VLIT" magic number they need, if they don't have one on their car..

The replacement LCDs don't have the "COG-VLIT" number sticker.. which will be interesting for the owners down the road, if/when the replacement LCDs start to fail.


Ralf S.

 

[sammy19]

Cool! If you have the COG-VLIT number.. post it here, so someone else might be able to match/compare your sticker serial number with the "COG-VLIT" magic number they need, if they don't have one on their car..

The replacement LCDs don't have the "COG-VLIT" number sticker.. which will be interesting for the owners down the road, if/when the replacement LCDs start to fail.


Ralf S.

Where would I find the COG-VLIT number, the numbers I have posted are all that are on the label.

 

[sammy19]

Thinking outside the box, if you bought a secondhand speedo with the correct LCD for your car, you could just swap the LCD. This has the advantage of not needing to worry about reprogramming or the mileage.

If you could stumble across a cluster with a different fault (they've also been known to stick mechanically), it might be cheap enough for this to be worth considering.

Thanks for the info how would I know what lcd is the correct one.

 

[sammy19]

This is the label

 

[sammy19]

The COG-VLIT 1498-02

 

[jrkitching]

This is the label

I'd say that's the label from the cluster, not the label from the LCD ribbon.

FWIW, that barcode reads

735527215DCZR4L

and 735527215 looks like a valid Fiat part number for the speedo assembly complete.