Fix that N/A -> T Tach problem - finally a "how to"

[mkiiSupraMan18]

This is basically a work in progress, I need someone over here who can read the bands and actually know what they mean, so as of now I am Done. (color defficient... lol) Anyway, here is my how-to disassemble the gauge cluster:

Step 1- Remove the Gauge cluster. I did not get a pictorial on how to do this, but it is very simple. Remove the stereo surround, the little cruise control/defrost/dimmer thing and remove the top cover thing above the gauge cluster and then unscrew the cluster itself. After that unclip all of the wires from behind the cluster and you're set. There isn't a whole lot of room to work with back there, so it can be kind of tough.

Step 2- A little visual examination...
Front

back

Step 3- removing the vents

Very simple, remove the two screws from the vents, pry the little tabs out and you got it.

Step 4- Removing the cover

Simply remove the screws, marked with my ultra-high-tech self sticking paper.
Back-

front-

* Note - Remove the little end off of the odometer reset- it just twists off*
And one little step I almost forgot... the security light thing...

Also, you will need to undo the wire for the clock, it just pulls out, you can see it in the prev pics of the back of the gauge cluster, I hope this doesn't need a pic. :icon_razz

Step 5- Taking it apart.
Remove the cover, and place it somewhere safe, not on the floor. Then remove the screws indicated by the post-its and remove the tach itself.
It is not very impressive looking...
Back View-

You obviously know what the front looks like... the needle just pulls off, I had to twist mine backwards while pulling, the needle will be easy enough to set anyway.


And this is where my journey ends... Why did I post this much now? Because by the time I'm done I'll be too damn lazy to post this much up, let alone the whole thing. It's easy, all of this including removal took maybe an hour, tops. Anyway, I know some people need this and it's practice for further how-to's. :icon_bigg If anyone has any ?'s feel free to ask me.

 

[lagged]

umm there has already been a fix for getting a NA tach to work with GTE electronics. see drjonez's site: 4cefed.com

you can do that or just get a PCB from a GTE cluster....

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

uhh.... OK.
1)The site has been down forever
2) all it showed was a little diagram of what needed to be changed, it didn't show where it was or how to do it.
I'm just trying to help so broke people (like myself) out who would rather go this route. $3 or $50+ Screw that, I'll take my chances with this not working out first. :icon_conf

I did get the diagram way back when from Dr.Jonez, however, so I'm not really making this stuff up. If it doesn't need to exist, someone can delete it, It really wont bother me. I just recall quite a few people posting about wanting to know how this was done back when, so I figured since I was gonna do it, might as well help some others out.

 

[lagged]

oh wow it is down. well youre all inluck! see attatched image.

50 bucks? this costs ~3 dollars. you can also get another PCB board from someone on the forums for however cheaply they want to sell it for.

 

[Stretch]

Good lord that's a very thorough walkthrough on dismantling the cluster! It's good for people who have never done anything like it before I guess tho. Nice pics too, I'm jealous of your camera skills. Mine suck lately.
eric

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

Well lagged, thats all great and dandy, but looking at that doesn't tell some people what to do, or even how to get there. I just went ahead and did it, no pics because apparently it was a waste of my time, your time, and bandwidth from photobucket.

How many people would sell someone just the tach part of their turbo gauge cluster, honestly? I learned a lot by doing this myself, now I know how to read the bands on resistors, and i know what color bands the new resistors have, That is what I was trying to get across. I'm not meaning to sound like an asshole or anything, I guess I'm just on defense now or whatever.

I'll be picking up another NA and doing the swap so I'll finish the how to then, eventually someone will need it and the Search button will actually yield some results, unlike when I needed it. Thanks for that pic BTW, I couldn't get a good picture of it. Does anyone know where to actually find a 130K resistor, Every place I went just looked at me like I was stupid. I ended up soldering a 100k and a 33K together and it works fine (thank Goodness for 5% tolerances). Thats something else people should know about.

Again, a huge thx to Dr.Jonez for the

 

[drostar]

lagged, maybe instead of making yourself look like an unappreciative prick, just keep quiet. Other people will (or already do) find this write-up useful. I know it will help me when I get around to taking my gauge cluster apart.

Thanks mkiiSupraMan18 !!

 

[drostar]

I'll be picking up another NA and doing the swap so I'll finish the how to then, eventually someone will need it and the Search button will actually yield some results, unlike when I needed it. Thanks for that pic BTW, I couldn't get a good picture of it. Does anyone know where to actually find a 130K resistor, Every place I went just looked at me like I was stupid. I ended up soldering a 100k and a 33K together and it works fine (thank Goodness for 5% tolerances). Thats something else people should know about.

130K resistors are not common (as I'm sure you've figured out). It's probably best just to do what you did and stick a 100K + 33K together and hope the 5% error is in your favor. If you're stubborn, you can get them off digikey.com (Carbon Film type) but it's not worth shipping just 1 resistor. ... unless you order a bunch of other stuff at the same time.

If I could make one bit constructive critisism, your pics look great except the last one of the tach is blurry... did you try use the macro/"flower" mode on your camera? The picture is still functional but it's just easier to look at if it's not as blurry.

 

[lagged]

lagged, maybe instead of making yourself look like an unappreciative prick, just keep quiet. Other people will (or already do) find this write-up useful. I know it will help me when I get around to taking my gauge cluster apart.

Thanks mkiiSupraMan18 !!

umm excuse me? where exactly do i make my self look like an "unappreciative prick"?

not only that, but i feel that i added to this thread in a positive manner. now people can use his pictures to take their cluster apart, and the image linked to (created by drjonez) is in this thread as well.

if i had just kept quiet as you suggested people would be able to take apart their cluster and.....thats it. it dosnt say any where how to get the tach to work.

 

[drostar]

umm excuse me? where exactly do i make my self look like an "unappreciative prick"?

We can take this to PM instead if we need to.

not only that, but i feel that i added to this thread in a positive manner. now people can use his pictures to take their cluster apart, and the image linked to (created by drjonez) is in this thread as well.

Yes, the picture you posted was helpful. Thank you for posting it. The resistor difference information pretty much finishes the walk thru if you know a little something-something about electronics already. A more step-by-step approach may be needed for those who don't.

if i had just kept quiet as you suggested people would be able to take apart their cluster and.....thats it. it dosnt say any where how to get the tach to work.

From what I gathered in the first post, that is all that post was meant to do for now. Some people probably still don't know how to get the tach to work just from the extra picture you posted. The way you were saying "someone already did this" makes it sound like mkii has wasted his time, which is not true.

 

[lagged]

go ahead, clutter up this thread some more. :icon_conf

 

[Cya]

Wow, im glad I found this...time to get to work.

 

[Jspec7m88]

Come on now fellas. Make up, smile and be happy.:icon_surp This thread is for the better in that it gets a little more specific for an average person that hasn't dealt with this before. Everyone pat yourself on the back. :icon_razz