instrument cluster swap

I finally found an instrument cluster with a tach at the pick'n'pull! WAHOO!! Only been looking for 6 years.

So now I need to roll back the odometer to match my current mileage. Or I drive another 50,000 km which will take about two and a half years.

I also would like to know, will hooking up the tach be difficult? What is involved in doing this?

Thanks for any help!

Jai

if its a 89-95 metro the tach wiring is already there. just pull out the old cluster and plug in the new one, tach should work. easiest way i have found to do it is take the 2 nuts out holding the sterring column up. under the hood remove the speedometer cable from the tranny. take the screws out holding instrument cover surround. take it out and pull out the 4 screws holding cluster in. with cable removed from tranny you can then pull it toward you far enough to reach behind it to unhook cable, then uplug wires and swap them

May I suggest wearing a pair of thin cotton gloves too. There's a lot of sharp edges behind there. I've torn my hands up once or twice taking gauge clusters out

Yeah, thanks for the advice! I had a hell of a time at the yard trying to unhook those cables. In the end, I just used the pliers to cut it all loose. Can't do that to mine though! :grinyes:

Jai

Rolling back the odometer on the cluster with a tach is impossible as far as I can tell. If you work from the right side of the cluster and unplug the two connectors then the cable and then the last connector you can get it out (even without taking the cable out of the tranny, but it's much easier if you do.) A screwdriver prying on the end of the connector can sometimes help break it loose. It is also possible to work the cluster out without dropping the steering wheel, but once again it is easier. Here is the pertinent part of the instructions I've worked up for installing my white face guages.

Instrument Cluster Removal and Replacement

1) Take a picture – this is so you will know the position of the instrument cluster needles, especially the fuel gauge. As I’m sure you know, the fuel gauge holds its position with the ignition off. It may automatically reset to the correct position, but I can’t confirm this. Rather than take the chance, use your picture to properly set the gauge.
2) Disconnect the negative battery cable – If you choose to skip this step you run the risk of shorting something.
3) Remove the upper steering column cover –a) There are 4 screws on the under side of the steering column. Remove the two screws closest to you. B) The upper part of the steering column cover should lift off.
4) Optional step: lower the steering column. This step is not absolutely necessary – it is possible to get the gauge surround and instrument cluster out without lowering the steering column, but it is much easier if you do. Remove the lower dash panel (kick panel) – A) There are 3 screws at the very bottom of the dash near the pedals. Remove these 3 screws. B) The panel should pop off.
5) Pop the retainers out of the Styrofoam knee pad and remove.
6) Remove the 4 screws holding the metal plate that was above the Styrofoam knee pad. ( I had to use a hammer – impact driver to get mine to fit the screw / come loose. Didn’t have to use a hammer, just my hand)
7) Lower steering column - You will need a T40 torx bit that attaches to a ratchet. There are two large torx bolts facing down inside the dash to each side of the steering column, holding it up.
8) Remove the two small dash pieces to each side of the steering column. One screw each, at the bottom. Remove the two screws and the pieces lift off.
9) Remove gauge surround. There are 4 screws holding this piece on. Two screws underneath where you took out the two small dash pieces and two underneath the top of the surround. You may need a shorty Phillips screwdriver to remove the two upper screws. The gauge surround will now slide out. If you didn’t lower the steering column, you will probably have to turn the steering wheel and maneuver the piece out.
10) Instrument cluster removal: There are 4 screws holding in the instrument cluster: 2 on bottom and 2 on top (one to each side). You may need a shorty Phillips screwdriver for these screws. Once the screws are out, now the hard part begins. (One way to make it a little easier is to remove the speedo cable from the transmission to allow the inst. cluster to come further out so you get a little more room to work). The instrument cluster should move freely now and you’ll want to pull the right side towards you (closest to the center of the car), so that you can get your hand behind it. There is an electrical connection at the back of the cluster, just behind the right hand side. Push the tab at the top of the connection down, pull and wiggle the hell out of it. You may want to use a screwdriver to push on the edge of the electrical connection, because these tend to be very tight. The next electrical connector is about an inch to the left, at the top. Remove this in the same way. You should now be able to turn the cluster a little bit further out so that you can get your hand all the way behind it. Look in the hole and spot the speedometer cable. It has a simple “press to release” clip and should pop free quite easily. This leaves the last electrical connector, which is on the opposite side from the first one you removed. Squeeze its tab and remove it in the same manner as the other two. The instrument cluster is now free to come out – hard part done
16) I recommend installing the inst. cluster without the clear cover and with the needles somewhat loose. Drive for a few days and verify everything is reading correctly and adjust as necessary. When you are sure everything is correct, press the needles firmly into place and then snap the clear cover on. Finish the reassembly and you are ready to go

Hope this helps!!

resetting odometer! What year & model ,manual or auto do you have the upshift light.

the 89-94 metros have 2 12mm head nuts holding column up. also if you take those off you do not need to remove the plastic cover around steering column. last one i did took me about 15 minutes to swap the cluster and that was by removing speedo cable from tranny

resetting odometer! What year & model ,manual or auto do you have the upshift light.

I have a 95, 3 cyl manual. Same as Jon's (Metro Mouse) I think. No upshift light on mine. At least, not on the original cluster. Jon fools around with these things a lot, so if he says it can't be rolled back, I figure he would know. But if there is someone out there who can prove him wrong, that would make my day! (Sorry Jon).

Jai

no problem. I tried pretty throughly on a couple of clusters to roll them back and it was absolutely no go. Funny thing is you can roll back the non tach odometer. I even looked at taking the odometer apart to change the #'s but the parts are melted together during the final assembly.

I wonder what the reason is that they made the tach clusters differant than the others. Thanks for giving it a try anyway. Guess I'll just leave that tach on the shelf for a couple years...

Jai

The speedometer in the non tach cluster is bigger than the tach version. Is ther any reason in particular you want the mileage to match perfectly. With the motor swap I did the odometer only reads the body mileage, it's around 100000 miles off for my motor.

Is ther any reason in particular you want the mileage to match perfectly.

Oh, just anal-retentive desire to make everything perfect and organized. It would bug me for a while knowing it's out, then I'm sure I'd get used to it. I would never stop thinking about it when I look at it though...

Jai