Tink
10-25-07, 01:07 PM
Digital to Analog Instrument Cluster Conversion
Tired of bright digital gauges that often malfunction? Don't want to send it out for repair?
For this swap you will NEED an Analog Cluster and the plug w/ at least 1” of wire.
Step 1
Remove the lights control plate (two screws on bottom). Then disconnect the connectors from the back of the switches using small flat-head screw driver on the tabs. Keep in mind that light switches ALWAYS have power running to them.
Step 2
Remove Heater/Defrost/AC control plate (two screws on bottom). Disconnect the connectors and pull on the entire assembly until it is about 4 inches out. Remove the clips that hold the temperature selector switch and vacuum hoses. The best way to remove the clips is with needle-nose pliers. For the temperature selector, use a small flat-headed screw driver to depress the tab holding in the red plastic. CAUTION: This is often very brittle and may break.
Step 3
Remove the 4 10mm nuts that hold on the bezel. Pull out bezel and set aside.
Step 4
If you have an automatic transmission, remove the top screws holding on the under steering column trim plate. This can stay half-attached as you will only need to get to the top of the steering column.
Step 5
Remove the 4 10mm nuts that hold the cluster in. If you have an automatic transmission, detach the shifter cable from the steering column. Pull out cluster.
Step 6
Remove the 34-pin plug by pressing in on the 2 tabs and cut the wire approximately 1” from the plug.
Step 7
Pull the wires down through to the where the analog plug should go (lower left hand corner of dash, there is a spot cut out for it). The best way to do this is to get a pick or small flat-headed screw driver to pull one wire at a time where you can reach it and pull it through. You’ll have to take some of the electrical tape off to do this.
Step 8
Attach the 18-pin plug for the analog cluster to the wiring from the 34-pin plug for the digital cluster using the wiring chart below. This can be done using butt connectors (provided all wires are secure) or solder and electrical tape.
http://www1.eboard.com/boards/9/50/68/tink/att-1778108/untitled.jpg
* If the gray wire is not providing instrument lights, you will need to run a wire from the light switches (removed in Step 1 of Part I). To do this, jump the brown wire from the dimmer switch to the brown wire on the parking/headlight switch and run a feed to Pin # 1.
** Splice both wires for the turn signals into the one wire.
***On some vehicles, these 2 are switched. It is advisable to check these before ‘permanently’ wiring.
Step 9
Plug in the instrument cluster and start-up the truck to make sure everything is working.
Step 10
Unplug the instrument cluster, push the wires back in the dash and push the connector into place. At this time, you may want to install just the cluster and take the truck for a quick spin to be sure things are working. Installation is the reverse of the steps 1 through 5.
Tired of bright digital gauges that often malfunction? Don't want to send it out for repair?
For this swap you will NEED an Analog Cluster and the plug w/ at least 1” of wire.
Step 1
Remove the lights control plate (two screws on bottom). Then disconnect the connectors from the back of the switches using small flat-head screw driver on the tabs. Keep in mind that light switches ALWAYS have power running to them.
Step 2
Remove Heater/Defrost/AC control plate (two screws on bottom). Disconnect the connectors and pull on the entire assembly until it is about 4 inches out. Remove the clips that hold the temperature selector switch and vacuum hoses. The best way to remove the clips is with needle-nose pliers. For the temperature selector, use a small flat-headed screw driver to depress the tab holding in the red plastic. CAUTION: This is often very brittle and may break.
Step 3
Remove the 4 10mm nuts that hold on the bezel. Pull out bezel and set aside.
Step 4
If you have an automatic transmission, remove the top screws holding on the under steering column trim plate. This can stay half-attached as you will only need to get to the top of the steering column.
Step 5
Remove the 4 10mm nuts that hold the cluster in. If you have an automatic transmission, detach the shifter cable from the steering column. Pull out cluster.
Step 6
Remove the 34-pin plug by pressing in on the 2 tabs and cut the wire approximately 1” from the plug.
Step 7
Pull the wires down through to the where the analog plug should go (lower left hand corner of dash, there is a spot cut out for it). The best way to do this is to get a pick or small flat-headed screw driver to pull one wire at a time where you can reach it and pull it through. You’ll have to take some of the electrical tape off to do this.
Step 8
Attach the 18-pin plug for the analog cluster to the wiring from the 34-pin plug for the digital cluster using the wiring chart below. This can be done using butt connectors (provided all wires are secure) or solder and electrical tape.
http://www1.eboard.com/boards/9/50/68/tink/att-1778108/untitled.jpg
* If the gray wire is not providing instrument lights, you will need to run a wire from the light switches (removed in Step 1 of Part I). To do this, jump the brown wire from the dimmer switch to the brown wire on the parking/headlight switch and run a feed to Pin # 1.
** Splice both wires for the turn signals into the one wire.
***On some vehicles, these 2 are switched. It is advisable to check these before ‘permanently’ wiring.
Step 9
Plug in the instrument cluster and start-up the truck to make sure everything is working.
Step 10
Unplug the instrument cluster, push the wires back in the dash and push the connector into place. At this time, you may want to install just the cluster and take the truck for a quick spin to be sure things are working. Installation is the reverse of the steps 1 through 5.