Today I was driving home and thought to myself I must be close to needing an oil change. I look up at the oil change reminder sticker on the windshield to see when it was due (by mileage). I then look down to see my current mileage and there was nothing on the LCD screen. Completely blank. Nothing there at all.

I know it was working at my last fill up on Jan 13 as I entered the mileage into my MPG app on my phone. Now I have nothing. No codes on the OBD II. No idea what the mileage is exactly...

It is dark out, cold and rainy tonight so I don't feel like fumbling out in the snow/ice covered driveway tonight to yank the battery and see if that resets it. Anyone know if it is a fuse? If so, any idea which one?

Nothing else is out on the cluster. Everything else is lit up and works. Speedo, tach, oil and battery all normal and normal backlight when lights are on. Even the temp LCD in the middle is fine. It is just the lower left Odometer/trip meter LCD that is dead. No issues driving. 98 A4 Quattro 2.8.

I do recall a wierd scenario 2 days ago when I ran to the store, parked and locked the car. I came back out to the lights blinking similar to when pressing the Hazard Light button - but the lights were flashing 3x as fast as normal Hazard Flash sequence. I thought at first my dog maybe hit the hazard button but it wasn't that. As soon as I opened the doors it stopped.

Any coincidence? Gremlins?

 

Sounds like you have the same problem as me. The little LCD for the odometer can be intermittent. This is not very common and there is no known solution to my knowledge.

What fixes it for me? Smacking the cluster.

When the light goes out, a smack or two will usually bring it back. It is most likely a bad connection in the cluster, you could attempt to take the cluster apart and look for the problem.

Also, even though the backlight does not work, you can still read the mileage. Park the car with the sun shining on the cluster and you should be able to read it. Might be able to see it with a flashlight or something, but I've never tried that.

Good luck.

 

I will give the cluster beating a try. It was at night when I lost it (or noteced it lost) so I wasnt able to see very much. Thanks for the heads up.

 

A good slap on the dashboard and it came back. I wish everything could get the Fonz and work right... Thanks for the heads up.

 

Glad that works for you too.

I'm just about done with a cluster swap, hopefully the new cluster doesn't have the same issue.

 

Theres a dash bulb behind that LCD, when it blows the LCD goes blank. Happened to my sons car last year, pulled the cluster replaced the bulb and all is well again. Don't exactly know how the bulb works with the LCD but it does.

 

lost my odo reading ..knuckle punch on display sorted...
still got probs with my ignition....us had recall not here in uk...same prob as they have in us

 

Did you turn it off? The button on the underside of the wiper stalk if pressed can turn the screen off as well as cycle thru the different screens.

 

l have a 1997 A4 B5 and the odometer has done the same thing so l will try to get the replacement bulb from Audi Melbourne. l hope that its the bulb and not the cluster for it's a big job to replace the cluster even though all other lights bells and whistles are working as l want to get the right mileage on the cluster. I have noticed that when one shines a torch on to it l can read the kilometers done. Thanks for the heads up.