cluster questions
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cluster questions
i picked up an instrument cluster today from the junkyard with all the gauges and a tach, my truck on has the idot lights in it, is the a way i can just take my wire out of my plug and repin the other clusters plug. as the new cluster i got has a bigger plug then mune does. id like to be able to get all the gauges to work if poss. if i can just repin it does some one have the wiring diagrams for 80 f100 and an 85 bronco, thats what i got the cluster out of even has trip on it. help will be appreciated.
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From: Niceville, FL.
But, you can install the tach in your cluster and hand wire it. Connections are 12 V hot in run, tach signal from coil and one or two grounds depending if your motor is 6 or 8 cyl. Tach Terminal B is 12 V in Run, Term. C is Tach signal from coil, Terminal G is Ground for all engines, and Term 8 is ground for 8 cyl. only.
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From: Suffolk, VA USA
What year is your truck? Ever consider getting the wiring harness out of the truck that donated the cluster? If your truck is 80-83, swapping the harness isn't too complicated. I usually diconnect the harness under the hood, push the harness through the firewall (it goes through on both the drivers and passengers side), then pull the dash. The dash comes out fairly easily in these trucks. With it out, the underdash swap is really straight-forward (takes about an hour if you're drinking Crown shots). The EEC-IV trucks are a bit more complicated, but still very doable. The whole job can be done in about 5 hours.
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From: Suffolk, VA USA
Of course, I do realize that's a lot of work to just add a tach. But I'm sure I'm not the only one on here to do something irational with my truck just because I wanted too....
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Originally Posted by Piffery1
But, you can install the tach in your cluster and hand wire it. Connections are 12 V hot in run, tach signal from coil and one or two grounds depending if your motor is 6 or 8 cyl. Tach Terminal B is 12 V in Run, Term. C is Tach signal from coil, Terminal G is Ground for all engines, and Term 8 is ground for 8 cyl. only.
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Originally Posted by ri_truck_guy
What year is your truck? Ever consider getting the wiring harness out of the truck that donated the cluster? If your truck is 80-83, swapping the harness isn't too complicated. I usually diconnect the harness under the hood, push the harness through the firewall (it goes through on both the drivers and passengers side), then pull the dash. The dash comes out fairly easily in these trucks. With it out, the underdash swap is really straight-forward (takes about an hour if you're drinking Crown shots). The EEC-IV trucks are a bit more complicated, but still very doable. The whole job can be done in about 5 hours.
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From: Suffolk, VA USA
The donor harness would include the charging system wiring, so that would be ok. You would have to change the oil pressure sensor and the temp sensor.
Just for general reference, I never cut or break other parts when I'm pulling something at a boneyard...I never know when I (or someone just like me) will need that part, no matter how insignificant it might seem at the moment.
Just for general reference, I never cut or break other parts when I'm pulling something at a boneyard...I never know when I (or someone just like me) will need that part, no matter how insignificant it might seem at the moment.
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the only reason i cut the wires is i figured i could just repin the bigger plug with the smaller plugs wires. but i was wrong. would the harness from one with out a tach be the same harness? maybe i could just transfer that resistance wire over to the other harness an just connect the others back together with solder and heat shrink.
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From: Suffolk, VA USA
All the eighteen pin harnesses came pre-wired for a tach whether the cluster had a tach or not. So yes, it will be the same. But it still might be easier to find a truck equiped with gauges and a complete haness and use that as the donor.
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From: Virginia
Originally Posted by Piffery1
I think the alternator voltage regulator is also different for the ammeter equipped vehicles than on the idiot light ones.
If it were me in this situation, I would sell the cluster you got on ebay, and use that money to buy a good set of aftermarket guages and a aftermarket tach. They will work much better and give useful info. All the factory gauges give you is "C normal H", or "L normal H". An aftermarket guage will give you real numbers .
Last edited by Franklin2; Dec 1, 2007 at 06:08 PM.