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Hi all, This is a strange question,, Im in the process of swapping interiors from Lincoln/ford into a 65 Studebaker commander, I have a 98 expy and love the overhead console, I have swapped all the mountings including cross members, and yes the headliner (through the back window) ,, my question is what parts do I need to harvest from a donor to get compass and temp working in the donor console it is the single button display.. I'm retired with years of car experience so removing wiring, mods, sensors is no big deal, even if I have to remove the computer system what am I in need of to make it work. I have the display and lens. The pic is of mock up before trimmed headliner. Thanks
I don't have the wiring diagram infront of me at the moment, but the temp reading should just be the temp sensor which is in front of the radiator. For the compass, not sure how the 1st gen Expy did this, but on the 2nd gen there's a box behind the rear view mirror which houses the compass itself. The display in the 2nd gen is in the instrument cluster, thus it needs an external sensor for it. It could be that the compass sensor is contained internally in that overhead display. You'll need the wiring diagram to figure out which connectors the wiring goes through, but practically it might be easier to just get a pinout for the connectors and make a new wiring harness for this purpose.
Thanks Skauber,, a friend thought I might need the engine computer and the heater/ac control systems to make it work, I am familiar with the temp sensor and the later mirror set up for the compass, but didn't think it would work with the earlier compass. When I picked up the stude it had a early 70s green Buick bench seat in the front and nothing in the back. It now has Black leather Bucket seat interior from a 2000 continental that had 30000 miles on it , 6 disc cd from a 2005 Lincoln LS, as the stude is a 3sp od I relocated the power seat switches to the shifter opening in the console. It all fits like it was made for it. The headliner only needed 1/2 in trimmed from each side and shortened on the back end, the sunvisors needed an inch added to the existing mounts to fit. I also picked up a set of gray seats (for the summer lol no ac) that came from a 98 continental that had only 18000 miles on it. Local pick n pull. Some fool tried to pry the black console out of the donor so I'm still waiting on a black one to show up. It's been a fun one.
The temp/compass doesn't need any computer input at all, it's a pretty simple and "dumb" module, unlike the newer models which uses CANBUS for everything. Should just need 12V power, the temp sensor and an illumination wire for the dash lights. If the compass sensor is external, it would also need connection to this, but I think that compass sensor might be internal in that temp/compass display module, so it might be as simple as that.
If you could by chance let me in on the wiring to the module I'd be over joyed as I haven't been able to find it,,yet. Putting digital gauges in where the fan and temp control switches are. Thanks again very much for the help and your time Sir.
This is the diagrams from the shop manual on a 1998 Ford Expedition. Apparently it does indeed have an external compass sensor just like the 2nd gens have. It also has wiring to the PCM and such, but I believe this is mostly used to set DTC codes and for communication with the Ford IDS and VCM tool. I am pretty sure it can function without this connection present as a standalone unit, but you might want to test this on a bench before installing it in the vehicle.
Scratch that, I forgot that the overhead display on the 1st gens also display the fuel economy as well. I'm used to seeing it in the instrument cluster in my 2nd gen so I didn't think about that. So, the connections to the PCM and such are for fuel level and data from the engine and vehicle speed for displaying MPG and DTE information. This is gonna be next to impossible to duplicate unless you are bringing over the PCM and engine as well. Could probably reverse engineer it with some considerable effort, but that requires a quite specialized skill set.
As for getting it up and running as a simple compass and temp gauge, I think this would be more doable. The compass sensor module is shown in the manual to be located near the overhead display module.
These are the two different units used in 1st gen expy, the single button unit appears to be temp/ compass only. I soldered the 510 resistor back into place and also grabbed a temp sensor this unit has 6 wire config, I have it all working,, wh/blu is power ,,blk/grn is ground, , grn/or and pk/blk ambient temp sensor, small grn/r dimmer when lights are on,, and a gry/blk that I don't know as of yet. I couldn't find a compass sensor above the headliner and I did remove most of it. The unit does seem to change direction on the display if you turn it on the bench. Maybe this unit is self contained and doesn't have an external sensor? I haven't looked up how to calibrate it. Also grabbed the auto dimming mirror. It's on it's way things are coming together. Thanks again.
The factory shop manual does show a plug and a location for an external compass sensor, but if it works as if it has an internal sensor, I guess there may be some differences in model years or revisions or something. The single button display with temp/compass seems to be the one to go for in this case.
One of the inputs to the overhead console from the PCM is a VSS ( Vehicle Speed) signal so the temperature signal won't react to sitting at a traffic light. If the car is not moving the module does not update as quickly.
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