How To: 3rd gen Gauge Cluster Swap/Dash Removal

Yeah, there's gotta be. Especially for those of us who don't have cruise control, a long strip of road, and/or a buddy crazy enough to do it from the passenger seat while driving.

Update: I got the speedo exactly 5 MPH off, I think. Which is a little progress. I didn't mention this earlier (probably because I didn't find out 'till a day or two ago) but my fuel gauge was massively off. I popped about half a tank in and it went from empty to full. I'm about 70% sure I fixed that. We'll see as I'll drain the tank, watching the gauge and mileage.

Thanks for the directions. The Tracer I just bought has several burned-out bulbs in the instrument cluster and I'd like to replace them. By the way... any idea what the bulb sizes are?

In the 2nd gen all cluster bulbs are 194s in the 3rd gen the gauges are all lit by 194s but the warning lights (as well as the directional arrows) are smaller bulbs.

Thanks. Right now, it's just illuminations, no indicators. So 194s...

I've got a 98 wagon without a tach and I went to the junkyard and pulled a cluster out of a 98 wagon that has a tach. To clarify what was said above, how exactly do I swap out speedometers so the mileage is correct?

check out my green car, there are pics on how to swap the speedo out of the cluster. If you have any questions, just PM me:

http://www.cardomain.com/id/dave94lx

Looks like the whole unit can come out. What is it held in by? I think I may pop my tach cluster open and experiment with that one first. The actual complete cluster is plug-and-play right? I don't need to modify any wiring?

no mods, just plug and play. And yes, it just pulls right out and swaps over. The face of the cluster is held in place by 4 or 5 small hex(or star) bolts. It is super simple to do.

Millage

3rd gen.


Ok, im thinking about resetting the millage to 000000.

why? because i want to know how much I myself drove it.



I don't plan to sell the car. (i understand the legal mess if i did).

is that somehow illegal? do insurance companies care, etc...
can you reset it to zero? loop over 999,999 or just rip it apart?

I'm adding a TACH and figured I could do this at the same time, since i have 2 of the parts now. the new at 180k and original at about 160k.

[I have the gas gauge, tach, and odometer out of the cluster.]


Also for curiosity, when you do the cluster swap, are both clusters the same ( the back circuits)?, except that a guy at ford just picked a tach out of one box and set it in place?

gauges

Thx! Now I can set a car to 666666 for my next horror film.
I enjoy having a Tach now, thanks so much for the tutorial.

My new temp gauge is really off. does anyone have photos showing what it should be set at?, ie. 1 of the car off, key on, and after driving for awhile?

The gas gauge is off. but I will just pour exact amounts in and set that the way I want it. Does anyone know how many litters/gallons you have left when the gas light come on?

12.67 gallons or 48 liters on the 3rd gen I understand. Great writeup, thanks.

Thats why you turn the car on before you remove it completely and let it warm up then put a mark on the gauge face where the bezel is to hide it, then pull off the needles, change the face plates, then put the needles back on. At least thats whats on my instructions for the face plates i bought. still waiting for a new instrument cluster from a member on feoa.

Just got finished putting mine in. That was easy as pie. Got the tach-dash out of a 97 Sport Sedan at the salvage yard. Only thing extra I had to do was swap the light bulb out for the lift gate. You just have to look at the back of your old cluster and see what bulbs it has and fill the empty spots on your new cluster.

Soooo what happened to my Temp Gauge?

I swapped out the Speedometer to the cluster with the tach using this thread.. switched a few bulbs over and tested it out.. was able to test everything including the initial system check lights but couldn't test the temp gauge till after i completely put everything together.. Just curious to know if its a bad contact or a bad cluster :?

I've wanted a tach in my escort for years... I'm sensing a trip to the junkyard in my immediate future. Thx a bunch for the info; I was considering an aftermarket tach but I would prefer the stock look.

I went to the junkyard today and picked up a cluster w/tach; the speedo pods are interchangeable, just gently pry the pod with your mileage on it and replace it with the new cluster unit, so no need for completely disassembling the speedo for the odometer/trip unit. Everything went back together just fine; I drove around the block to make sure the odometer and trip meter work, and they both work fine. I swapped some dead bulbs in the junkyard unit and everything lights up the way it should. I love having a tach, and never realized how much I had gotten used to it with previous cars.
I would load comparison pics of the speedo/cluster unit from both vehicles but it won't let me.
I'll figure it out and post pics soon.

Yeah, having a tach is a must with me.. even in an auto tran, it helps me save gas or try to xD