Leon MK1 Cruise Control Guide - Pic Heavy

[Mark One]

I didn't find a comprehensive guide. Hopefully this will help people decide whether or not they want to give it a go.

I purchased a kit from Teeside VW. Your best bet is to eBay message them and pay direct for a very small discount (they save eBay fees).
They will give you a really bad set of instructions made up of ETKA-style line drawings and based on a MK4 Golf. This guide is intended to replace the supplied guide and show enough detail so that you don’t have to spend hours and hours on the job (as I did).

To be honest, I found it a horrible job – particularly inserting pins into the ECU loom which I regard as quite high-risk. If you can have it done by Awesome-GTI or someone for £120 then that sounds a good deal to me. This guide will help a lot though.
Before anyone asks, I’m afraid I didn’t pin-out the stalk.

It’s a 3 phase job. You can put the car back together after any phase and it will work as normal.
1) Fit the stalk and leave the interior cruise loom behind the dash - Fairly quick job
2) Wire it all in (mostly in the scuttle) – can take ages
3) Activate it on VAG-COM – Quick and easy


Here is a rough outline of the wiring:

PHASE 1 - To fit the stalk:
Disconnect one battery terminal. You’re going to remove the airbag which can cause massive amounts of damage and injury if it goes off, so no joke – disconnect the battery.

Remove the airbag. There are two holes – left and right side behind the wheel . You need to unhook the spring clips holding the airbag by levering them inward toward the centre (pull outward on your lever). You need something quite short to do this, I ended up using an old 5 or 6mm drill as some screw drivers can be too flexible. Don’t be shy, the clips are pretty stiff. It may help if push on the horn just a little while levering the clip and then release the horn (another good reason to disconnect the battery).

These are the clips you’ll be unhooking:

The air bag cable looks like this:

There is no catch, just gently pull it free:

Next, undo the steering wheel bolt – This is 60Nm for re-assembly. You’ll need an M12 spline-drive bit (not Torx or hex). MANY SPLINE DRIVE KITS DO NOT SUPPLY M12 BITS so be sure you’ve got one before starting. DON'T USE ANYTHING ELSE!

BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE STEERING WHEEL!!!! – Check for orientation marks between the steering column and the wheel. This is important for re-assembly. ALSO – Note the orientation of the indicator cancelling disc behind the wheel. This disc has cables attached and although the re-assembly orientation is obvious, it can NOT be spun by 360 degrees for re-assembly or you’ll tear out the cables next time you go for full lock. ALSO, this disc does traction control steering angle and you'll get a fault if it goes back incorrectly.

Steering wheel removed, and airbag+horn cable disconnected (easy latch plug).

Remove the top and bottom column covers. 5 cross-head screws hold these on. Two on the front with a very small cross-head:

Two underneath with a slightly larger (long) cross-head

A single medium size cross-head underneath the column:

Now is a good time to remove the steering column adjuster rubber handle, held on by two T25 torx screws:

Remove the two halves of the column cover, TOP FIRST. The VW guide (for a Golf MK4) will tell you that the small bit of trim just below the dials needs to be pulled up – I don’t think it does. Release the steering column adjuster and pull the column down while you carefully extract the top cover.

The lower cover is a lot harder. You’ll notice it has two screw lug holes going into the stalk assembly behind it. You need to withdraw it toward you to avoiding the key barrel and the column adjuster as you go. The key barrel is an arse to get round. Be careful.

This (poorly photographed) item has two catches on the top and one underneath, release them and draw it toward you. You may want to unplug this, or you could leave it dangling if your careful working around it.

Undo the 4mm allen key bolt holding on the stalk assembly:

Push this clip outward and pull the wiper stalk toward you to separate it from the indicator stalk. The stalks won’t come off the column until separated (there wasn’t enough loom length on my car).

This is the indicator/dip beam stalk wiring connector. It has no catches, you’re best off gently prising it out by twisting a small flat-head screwdriver in the seam.

Here are the cruise control stalk (top) and standard stalks (bottom) for comparison. Note the cruise buttons are linked to the additional small plug you can see by two small ribbon cables. The main indicator/dip plug pin out is identical. Gawd bless VeeDubYa

Connect in the new cruise control stalk. Don’t forget to plug in the cruise control loom to the additional plug on the stalk. I cable tied this loom to the existing stalk loom and ran it into the lower part of the dash ready for the next part of the job.

AT THIS POINT – You can re-assemble everything and use the stalk will be fully functioning (obviously without cruise control at this point).
Re-assembly is reverse of removal (that old Haynes manual gem). Steering wheel torque is 60Nm. Make sure you line up the indicator canceller and steering wheel as said earlier. Re-connect the battery. Don’t be an idiot and leave the keys in the car and the door shut when you do this, you’re asking for trouble. The VW guide states that you should avoid being in the path of the airbag for battery re-connection – I would take that advice for first key-on too (I hate airbags).

 

[Mark One]

PHASE 2: WIRE IT ALL IN
Unless you can be bothered with removing the underside of the dash more than once, this step wants to be done all in one go.
A quick summary of this guide:
1) Remove the battery – You’ll be in regular contact with permanent +12v wires.
2) Remove lower half of the dash
3) Remove fuse box and T-into fuse 5 with the cable from the stalk
4) Remove the relay board to gain access to the back of the scuttle connector housing
5) Working outside, remove wipers, scuttle tray, wiper mech assembly, gain access to scuttle connector housing
6) Use the black T10e connector in this housing to link the interior cruise control loom with the other loom to the ECU
7) Disassemble the ECU plug and pin the new loom into 4 of the free pins (specified later)

Potential difficulties/problems and considerations
1) My wipers were seized on – took about 1:30 to remove including fabrication of a bearing-puller type tool to get them off. Check they release before you start and re-assemble with copper grease.
2) Removal of fuse 5 pin – If you’ve never removed pins from a connector housing before, you’re in for a treat!
3) Removal of any pins you get wrong – You really really don’t want to do this
4) Consider getting yourself a cabin filter – you’ll reveal it completely doing this and they are only cheap.
5) Clear out the scuttle well. I used compressed air and a hoover. Blocked scuttles and drainage are a very common cause of leakage into the cabin in VAG cars.

YOU MUST ALREADY HAVE THE STALK INSTALLED AND THE INTERIOR CRUISE LOOM TUCKED INTO THE DASH.

Remove the battery terminals – You’ll be in regular contact with permanent +12v wires.
Start by removing the fuse box cover:

With a T25 bit, all circled screws need to come out. Short screws are green, long red, and there’s a unique large washer one in blue. Pretty sure the colours are correct, but just check them as they come out.

There’s another long one here:

There are two long ones in this area:

Pull side of the dash outward like this......

........to clear this little lug under next the ‘blue-circle’ bolt (previous photo)

There is one of these clip-lugs holding the trim either side of the steering wheel, they pull free easily.

Disconnect the two plugs to the lighting panel

You’ve already removed the two T25 screws holding the fuse box, now just unclip two of these and pull it back into the footwell.

We need to T-into fuse 5 (the left hand side of it in this view), which is the 7.5AMP circled here

Remove the back cover of the fuse box, 2? Maybe 3 clips like this:

At this stage – As a general rule for Volksvagen/Audi cars – If you see purple plastic on any plugs, it is normally some kit of locking or pin securing device.
This whole purple grid locks in all the pins and prevents them from being removed. You’ll need a flat head and quite a lot of force to ‘CLICK’ the whole thing into release-position

Take the opportunity to have a look at the free pin on the cruise control loom (just for reference). It’s the Black wire/Blue stripe. You’re going to have to find something to simultaneously release both the top and bottom locking barbs and then pull the wire free of the fuse box. Compare the free pin with what you can see in the fuse box and work it out.

There are several options for removing this pin. Sewing pins can be good (cut the sharp-points off), bent out safety pins are normally what I use (again, cut the points). Paper clips are not very good as they are not as stiff. If you’re really struggling, use something too big (like two large safety pins) and use a grinder to square them off on all sides. Gradually remove material, trying it every time until the pin releases. I’ve done a few different types of pin, and this type was relatively straightforward.

Once it’s free, consider your cable routing before continuing. If possible, follow existing wiring OVER the steering column rather than under it.
Release the empty single-pin connector from your interior cruise loom:

And plug it onto the released pin:

Connect the single-pin plug back to your interior cruise loom. Then connect the free pin (Black/Blue wire) on the cruise loom into the free space you created in fuse 5:

Click the purple locking grid back in so that this is flush with the plug:

Replace the fuse box (with its rear cover) and replace the 7.5amp fuse.

For access to the scuttle wiring box, release the relay board (2 x 10mm hex nuts). You could remove it entirely, I found it okay to leave it dangling (on the really thick +12v wires.

Working outside the car, remove the wiper arms. Wipers down, bonnet up, pop the caps off, undo the 13mm nut most of the way and wiggle until the wiper comes free from the splined-taper. Be careful, the wiper mech could bend with really excessive force. Also be careful of your paintwork doing this. My wipers were seized and I had to fabricate a bearing-puller type thing to pull them off – I hope you have more luck.

I was in a really bad mood after spending an hour and a half removing my wipers, so pictures get a bit thin from here.
Remove the scuttle tray – bonnet face seal comes up vertically, then the scuttle pulls up away from the windscreen (fairly tight in there). There are two gutters to remove under this as well (smaller one on the drives side, passenger one comes out over the ECU).
Remove the wiper mech. It’s three 10mm nuts then about 3 mins of swearing to twist and push it past all the loom. Be careful, it comes out eventually.

The scuttle connector box is held on with two of these (plastic 10mm hex)

For access, I had to use a 10mm socket with drill bit in the hole to turn it. Here is the cover free. You can just see the T10e. It’s 10-pin, black and mine had 2 pins used.

Draw back the cover up the existing loom which will fold the rubber sealing sock inside out. The rotate the cover about the loom to give you better access. Release the T10e plug – It’s quite tricky since access is poor, I needed a small flat head.

Release the T10e socket and drop it back into the footwell of the car.

Again – Purple locking device. Release this one by gently prising up the flat purple section on both sides with a small flat head:

Think about cable routing, then insert the free pins from the interior cruise control loom into the T10e socket in the footwell.
Mine was labelled as follows:

WireColour/StripeColour
Blue – T10e Pin 1
Red/Yellow – T10e Pin 2
Black/Yellow (2wires) - T10e Pin 3
White - T10e Pin 9

Lock purple socket lock.
Your socket should look like this:

Plug the socket back into the tray for the scuttle connecting box (look at pictures in this guide for orientation).
Working in the scuttle, take the ECU loom. For 1.8T engines, you’ll need 1J0 971 425C which has the TINY pins on the other end for the ECU plug. If your following this guide for a different engine and using the 1J0 971 425B loom, use the un-insulated terminals in the T10e as pictured below. Make sure your using the correct loom – once pins go into the T10e they are near impossible to remove. You could even connect into the ECU first to make sure?

Insert the pins into the T10e plug as follows:

Your T10e Plug should look like this.

You now need to run the cable. I think it’s best to drill a 10mm hole in the cover and then seal around the new loom with silicone or a grommet. Do not run the cable out under the seal. It’s safe to assume your footwell will fill up with water within a couple of months.

I sealed mine toward the end of the job. We now need to run this to the main ECU connector. The ECU is directly below the windscreen, centre of the car.

The plug on the left is the one to release. As the diagram says, pull the large tab under the wires all the way out – the plug will release from the ECU as you do this. Cut the cable tie (1). Squeeze on the cover at B and lever it off.

Now at this point, it’s worth saying that if you are too rough with this bit of loom, you risk a heck of a lot.
Release these two purple bits:

Carefully lever up the orange wire seals with a flat head to reveal this:

If you look into the back of the plug housing, you can just see the pin numbers for each side, top and bottom row. Not every pin is numbered, just the first, last and middle for each row. You’ll have to count along to the pin you require. ALL the pins for my 1.8T engine were free, but all free pins are blanked with an empty socket. You need to remove these – I used a very small (jewellery) flat head, a safety pin would work. You’ll need a second flat head to drag them back after you release the pins.

The green arrow shows the Black/White wire I’ve installed (previous photo).
Here is the list of pin outs, 1.8T is the last one on the list: (pin 75, 57, 38, 76)

Re-assemble the plug and cable tie the new loom in place. Replace the ECU plug, gently push on it as you push the tab back in and it will re-engage.
Cable tie both your new looms, don’t want them floating about.
Clear all leaves and dirt away from your scuttle connector housing before re-seating it – otherwise it will leak into the cabin.
Use copper slip when re-assembling the wipers onto the tapers.

 

[Mark One]

PHASE 3 - ENABLE CRUISE IN THE ECU

It really was as easy as this. I used latest VCDS and a Ross-Tech hex-usb lead

From "Car Basics":
Procedure
1)Enable the ECU for Cruise Control using VAG-COM or similar. Note that this procedure does not require the registered version of VAG-COM :

[Key on]
[Select] - (control modules or something I think was first step)
[01 - Engine]
[Login - 11]
Enter 11463 to activate cruise control
[Do It!]

[Key off]
remove your lead

Go for a drive.

Cruise control should work in all gears except 1st. Test in 2nd at LOW speed to start and check that:
1) The brake deactivates it
2) The clutch deactivates it
3) The master on/off switch deactivates it

Hope this helps someone.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[LEE69]

Damn good work.
For ease of removing the wipers pour a kettle of boiling water over the splines, and something magical happens and the wipers come of very easy.

 

[Mick288]

Awesome write up! Ill have to give this a bash when i pick up my LCR!

 

[Mark One]

Damn good work.
For ease of removing the wipers pour a kettle of boiling water over the splines, and something magical happens and the wipers come of very easy.

I gave that a go (although water not quite that hot). Also used a bit of plumbers freeze spray on the spline below the wiper and still no joy! Anyway, got an awesome wiper puller now!

 

[Harris.]

Fantastic thread. I fitted mine a few weeks ago and it was a PITA to do.

Quick question tho. Do you have a light for the cruise when its on? I don't but a friend who retro fitted it to a golf does.

 

[Mark One]

No, mines a 54 plate LCR BAM engine, No lights at all.

 

[Mick288]

Roughly how much do all the required parts cost?

 

[phat purple one]

Brilliant guide Mark One. Just installed mine today with no problems. Thanks.

Damn good work.
For ease of removing the wipers pour a kettle of boiling water over the splines, and something magical happens and the wipers come of very easy.

Top tip

 

[d1n93r]

how far do i need to go for a tdi

 

[phat purple one]

how far do i need to go for a tdi

Not sure if depends on the model. Mines a 54 plate pd150. I had to do the stalk and the first part of the loom. 2nd part already installed.

 

[MooRzy]

Would also be interested to know how much and also where to buy from ?

Thanks

 

[Mark One]

For people wanting to know where to buy from:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370099496529?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Thats a Teeside VW ebay link. I was pleased with them. But as I've listed the part numbers (for 1.8T application) maybe someone could see what a dealer would charge?

 

[d1n93r]

i was on about how much of the dash do i need to take apart. i got it all for around £60 from german auto spares. thats the stalk and the partial loom

 

[big rich]

dealer/tps should be cheaper, i got a kit last week to retrofit on a audi a4 - teeside wanted £85, dealer wanted £60

 

[Mark One]

i was on about how much of the dash do i need to take apart. i got it all for around £60 from german auto spares. thats the stalk and the partial loom

It's not the dash you want to worry about. The main ball-ache is the scuttle and ECU work. Teeside have links to their guides in their ebay listings. Find a MK4 platform TDI one and have a look.

 

[c_larkey]

Rich is that £85 from Tps on portrack lane does anybody have the part numbersi need to fit this to a mk1 lcr bam

Cheers Andy

 

[big rich]

I dont know what TPS is near you but i use leeds TPS through work. i dont have part number for a LCR to hand, check ebay maybe.

 

[Mark One]

Rich is that £85 from Tps on portrack lane does anybody have the part numbersi need to fit this to a mk1 lcr bam

Cheers Andy

check the first pic