[Vwdiesel] Dasher diesel insturment cluster problems

[William J Toensing]

Several months ago, while installing an extra water temperature gage, I did something to disturb a connection, which acted like a loss of a ground connection while snaking a wire in back of the instrument cluster. The result was the heat & fuel gages stopped working. Today, I removed the instrument cluster & could find nothing wrong, nothing loose. This time, the Bentley manual provided understandable instructions to R&R the instrument cluster. It also suggests the voltage stabilizer might be at fault, but why would it fail as a result of my fishing around in the back of the cluster? Any good suggestions for troubleshooting while I have the instrument cluster out of the car? I do have a spare instrument cluster I can take from my 1980 Dasher diesel parts car. I do have a VTVM meter to check for continuity, resistance, etc. I will play around with it tomorrow but if I don't find the problem, suggestions will be appreciated.
Also, can the clock be replaced with a tachometer on the diesel. If so, how? I thought I would do this while waiting for my rebuilt left driveshaft to arrive.