instrument cluster swap - need help

I just swapped out the standard guage cluster in my 88 cutlass ciera (speedometer, fuel guage, and warning lights) with the optional guage cluster from an 87 cutlass ciera. Speedometer and fuel guage works, but the tach, voltage meter, engine temp and oil pressure guages do not. Do I need to swap out wiring harnesses as well, or do I need to swap out ECMs altogether?

I also need to reset the odometer to the same mileage as the other guage (state law). How do I set the odometer?

Thanks.

Does the 87 doner have the same engine and trans? This one doesnt sound possible right off without some computer swapping... but if the engines and trans arent the same... you then have an ECM with different engine control perameters that wouldnt work on yours.

Yeah, same engine and trans, I made sure of it. Another thing I've noticed is the panel is always illuminated now, and the turn signal flashers on it do not work. Also, the right flasher comes on if I turn the headlights on, and it stays light until the headlights are lit.

your going to need the wiring diagrams for both cars. this isn't a plug and play type of thing, if the car your swapping didn't have the deluxe cluster then you'll need to wire some stuff. its not that bad, but it takes some time and patience. i've been planning to do that to my 92' but i've been up in the air about because of all the wiring and stuff i need to get together to do it.

for the tach, you'll need to wire it to the ign module, the oil pressure needs to go to the sending unit or possibly ecm, volts can be obtained anywhere with from radio power (switched.) Temp can probably be wired to the wire thats there now. but again, im not definitive on this im just giving you an idea. I'll let you know exactly what you need later but i have to get some stuff together.

good luck

Is all of the wiring going to be put onto the harness that is there now? The cluster runs off printed circuits and such, but just adding a few wires and patience will take care of this?

Thanks, and I"ll be looking forward to finding out what needs to be done :)

Actually, you will need the harness that the donor car had. And unless my friend gets back to me, youll need a wiring diagram for both vehicles. Splicing will be neccesary and ideally you'll want to use heat-shrink.

out of curosity hows it plugged in now? did you just connect your cars harness to the new gauge cluster? and it actually fit?

Yes, it fit. Speedometer cable went right in as well and is as accurate as before. The cluster plugged into the harness and has a working fuel guage as well. It's just there are so many anomalies, such as the cluster will only (partially) illuminate without headlights on, and the fuel guage does not function properly with the headlights on. The right turn signal flasher stays on solid with headlights on, and is off with headlights off and never does flash.

FYI-- from year to year cars can use the same plug-ins with in the car(s).

But the wires them selves can be in different locations on the Plug-ins so you will have shorts and anomalies.
What you need is a kickass wiring diagram with colors listed :thumbsup:
Then you just move the wires on the plug in to match the new cluster.

So are you saying splicing and the donor's harness and such might not really be needed, just move a few wires here and there and presto it all works? Even when the cluster that came with the car didn't have ae tach and such?

Move what wires you can.
But if the original cluster didnt have that option,
then you'll need to run the wires your self.

Good Luck !

Unfortunately I can't find any on ebay that are colored, lemme take a quick run through the service manual to see if they have anything in there.

alldata has diagrams i think, and so does the haynes manual but their diagrams usually suck for anything that isnt minor...

let me know how this works out i'd like to do this to mine eventually.

just wondering, your 2.8 isn't carbed is it?

No, it's MPFI.

After reading a couple different views...do I need to get the harnesses/plugs out of the 87 or can I simply rewire the plugs and harnesses myself?

After I get the answer to that, I'll see what I can about getting diagrams and getting this done. It'll definitely be a much improved look over the standard crap.

BTW, before I forget, how do I set the odometer? I need to set it to the mileage the other one had (plus what I've already driven on the car).

If the plug on your car matched the different gauge then that should work.

You'll need to look over the two different wiring diagrams,
and figure out where they need to be(the wires) for the gauge to work.
Then you will know what wires need ran, etc etc.
This is not a fun thing to do.

Your odometer reading comes from the ecm so that wire is probly wong location.

btw , in the end it might not work at all . :yikes:

With my cluster, I get a speedo, fuel gauge, and a temp gauge.

I want the tach, oil pressure, and voltmeter. The easiest way I found was to buy the oil and volt gauge and mount them below the steering column, each about 10 bucks... then the tach for a DIS system mounted where ever you want also. It's cheap, and they light up too. Unless your aiming for the stock look...

If the OD comes from the ECM like X says... this is going to get pretty complicated... haven't you concidered using aftermarket gauges to monitor your engine? Why do you want that info displayed?

The odometer actually works, I just need to adjust it to the mileage it was at before. I just want all the fancy gauges with the stock look that came with the optional guage package.

Xeroinfinity, why do you say it won't be fun? Personally I'll find all of this puzzle-piecing to be quite fun, and it'll be entirely satisfying when it's completed.

Call me crazy, but I completely like the idea of making this car look more modern without hurting the stock look, and giving it great maintenance to make it run like a champ. Many people call me stupid for doing this, but if I can get another 200000 miles off of this, it's my gain, not theirs :)

The odometer actually works, I just need to adjust it to the mileage it was at before. I just want all the fancy gauges with the stock look that came with the optional guage package.

Xeroinfinity, why do you say it won't be fun? Personally I'll find all of this puzzle-piecing to be quite fun, and it'll be entirely satisfying when it's completed.

Call me crazy, but I completely like the idea of making this car look more modern without hurting the stock look, and giving it great maintenance to make it run like a champ. Many people call me stupid for doing this, but if I can get another 200000 miles off of this, it's my gain, not theirs


Sometimes it starts out fun, then ends with hair pulling, :banghead , screaming , etc etc.

Though its a good learning experiance, I wasnt trying to discourage you.
It actually isnt that hard once the wires are located .
Putting in the oil pressure sending unit might be the dirtiest part.

On the milage, thiers a specific wire that runs from the Ecm to the gauges to read the odometer.

Good Hunting

Yes, it will be a great learning experience. This is my first car, before I got it I didn't even know how to replace windshield wipers. I've learned quite a bit from this car, from replacing brakes, spark plugs/wires, changing oil, wiring an audio system...all pretty basic stuff, I know, but it's a hell of a lot more than I knew before. I think that's why I'm putting so much work into it: it's served me quite well and I've grown attached to it after only 6 months, as retarded as that might sound...

First thing I need to do before I go any further is to pull out the cluster again, and compare the printed circuits to make sure the plugs on them match. If I don't do this, I might just be wiring up dead plugs, so hopefully they do match, but if they don't I get to run to the junkyard to cut off two plugs...

As far as splicing and such goes, I'll just hit up walmart and grab a bunch of butt connectors. Oil sending unit...let's hope it's already wired correctly and hope that I'll just need to run a wire off the ECM. Hopefully...

I hope this doesn't take more than several hours, I need this car to drive with :banghead: although I don't need any instruments for short trips. I'll just miss my radio, I love having my grannymobile pound away subs in the trunk :iceslolan

Wish me luck (you already have :wink:), and I know in the end if this works out, I'll be very satisfied at actually having a tach :D along with a few other things.

EDIT: ...Just looked at the diagrams on autozone.

http://autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d800f403d.gif

According to autozone, that is the wiring for 1987-1988 2.8L...correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't this pretty much telling me a simple harness swap is needed, with non-ECM connected units such as engine temperature sensor and oil pressure sensor (according to the service manual) just having a wire ran, and it'll be good to go afterwards? Or am I on crack and still living in my little dream world?