I could do that, but I'm impatient and I'm too excited about having nicer gauges to wait that long. lol. :P

Just a question, but aside from the tach, will a diesel gauge cluster work in a gas vehicle? One of the nicer F-Series trucks I looked at was a diesel F250, and I'm guessing it had a 6.9; I'm just not sure if all the gas-engine sensors and senders will work with the diesel gauges.

 

I would *imagine* everything except the tach would be the same.

 

I agree, I would think other than the tach and the fact that they say 'Diesel Fuel Only' they should be the same...

However, Just so you know, the Diesel clusters go for more $$$ and are harder to find especially with tach.

Gasser clusters are a dime a dozen.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Great thread ..... well, except for all the "legal eagles" and their line of BS. I'm sure almost as many individual automotive hobbiests have been prosecuted for this offense as the mattress tag removers. Without an obvious intent to defraud it ain't gonna happen!

A neighbor was scrapping out a loaded Bronco a while back and invited me to take anything I wanted and a box of parts went into the attic of the back garage. When I fired up Clyde a few weeks ago I had no fuel, temp or oil pressure readings. The IVR (instrument voltage regulator) had died. Time to drag out the parts box and make a project of the situation!

I never used the IVR from the Bronco but instead purchased an all electronic updated version from jpinkypink on Ebay for less than the OE model replacement. Quick, easy, painless installation and it puts out a rock solid 4.98V. I highly recommend it!

With care, patience and the encouragement of others on this thread, and a couple others, Clyde now has a new gauge set complete with a vehicle accurate odometer, trip odometer and a tach. I transferred the fuel and temp gauges from the original set and now, for the first time, have a functioning amp meter.

For some reason both the fuel (initially transferred) and the temp gauges (transferred after noting the change) appear to read low in comparison to when they were in the original cluster. No difference in the oil pressure gauge. Checked voltage, cleaned contacts, same senders. I have an additional direct read temp gauge but we'll see what fuel does on our next trip. Suggestions welcome.

I still have to tear it all out again .... it appears the tach may have some bad solder joints. Doesn't work cold, works when the truck is warmed up. Bummer!

 

I don't think resetting the mileage should be that big of a deal. In NJ everytime you get your car inspected they take down the mileage. Obviously in between the 2 years shenanigans could go on BUT it's not like you could get away with rolling back whatever miles were last documented.

 

All you need is a pair of small channel locks or regular pliers. Lay the cluster on its face. Use the pliers to "push" the pin out. Spin the numbered rollers to where you need then then "push" the pin back in. Make sure the numbers are where you need them, then use the pliers to "seat" the pin. I can do em in 5 min from taking it out of the truck to back in the truck. They are simple. Try on your original one first if you are worried about ruining the new one

 

Where were you at when I made this topic? :P

@ClydeSDale Glad this topic helped you out. Before going too far, you might check that your tach is getting 12V key-on power as well as the coil signal. At first, my tach didn't work at all due to power not getting to the B terminal through the circuit film (no idea why)....I ended up having to run a wire from a relay-switched add-on fuse box I put in, and now the tach works perfect. 4 months and no problems to date.

 

Agreed!

Been there, done that Kirby. Had it out twice today.

Checked voltage off the back of the tach while it was still hooked up at and in the dash cluster, also ground and tach signal using a handheld tach/dwell meter. All are good at the back of the tach when fed through the harness and flexible circuit on the cluster.

Hooked the tach up off underhood connections (jumper wires from battery +, battery -, jumper - to "8" and coil) and NOGO.

Checked connections within the tach with a continuity tester ... nothing.

Finally got disgusted, installed the tach in the cluster, installed the cluster in the truck, reinstalled the dash trim (PIA!!!), and the old Sun II tach on the steering column. Off and rollin'.

Moved the fifth wheel from it's off-season parking spot by the back garage, around the block a few times to clean up the brake drums, and onto "the ready line" near the house for the upcoming trip to Lake Superior next week. Gotta get a new brake controller!! Next time I looked the dash tach was working. Gotta be something inside the tach that makes contact or starts working after a "heat soak" where the heat off the 460 coming through the firewall makes something expand inside the tach. This appears to be one of those WTF moments.

The odometer is performing flawlessly!

 

Sorry. I just came across this thread. I was doing these when i was in high school

 

I have a similar scenario. I recently purchased an instrument cluster and it's absoltely clean! I really wanted it for the factory-installed tach, but the trip-OD will be a nice addition as well. Since my old package uses gauges and mine's an '81, it seems it's just plug and play. I do need to swap the blank shift indicator from my old to the new since I have a stick and don't want that auto-tranny module in there. I hope that isn't too difficult to swap.

I'll check out the OD and see how hard that is to adjust. I'm not worried about the legal ramifications, but I don't want to accidentally damage the OD workings. Any thoughts on this and the shift indicator issue are appreciated. Here another question: I want to apply a little lube to the speedo. Where is the best application point and which lube will work best? Again,

 

The technique for adjusting the odometer is on the first page of this thread. as far as lube goes, just a drop where you insert the cable will do. For the shift indicator, there are two small bolts on the back of the cluster, usually 1/4 inch. just remove those bolts oand the whole indicator assembly will slide out. If the cable for the automatics indicator isn't broken, be vary careful with it. Intact ones are rare and somone on here will be able to use it.

 

Thank ri_guy. I saw the OD reset procedure. It almost sounds too risky for me but I'll check it out to see if I can pull it off without messing anything up. Thanks for the tip on the shift indicator. The cable is indeed in working condition (I tested it with a gentle hand pull), so maybe I'll be getting rid of it in the near future. I know I probably sound a little skittish with this instrument cluster, but I know that sometimes those small parts can be delicate, especially when they're 30+ years old! I'd hate to mess something up after I spent this money. Thank again!

 

Just be patient with it. My fingers are finely tuned like a bag of bricks, and I could make it work. You'll be fine.

 

Work on a clean, stable, non-marring surface ( I used my gun cleaning mat), use the proper tools, don't force anything and take your time.
I was pretty nervous about doing it too but mine came out fine.

Good luck with it!!

 

Yo Kirby, you also have the option of hooking up your second cluster to a drill and then running it around the roll cycle on the spool until you get around and match your current mileage?