Cluster Swapping

[Kr240sx]

So i have searched and have really got no straight answer from anyone. I have a SOHC KA and my speedo is off the radar and makes the car cut out sometimes on the highway when the needle is laying on 0. I now have access to a free digital cluster from a dohc that works flawlessly. Can I switch these and make this work? Thanks

[Jonnie Fraz]

Yes it will work. You will need both harnes and the sub harnes from the DOHC cluster. If you want your tach to work you have to swap the DOCH and SOHC tach in the cluster.
The SOHC and DOHC pick up the tach signals differently, that is why the switch.

[Kr240sx]

Alright thanks a lot for your help it is greatly appreciated. So I am assuming the Tach has it's own sub harness that plugs into the overall harness of the cluster?

[Kr240sx]

BTW, everything works on my cluster except for the speedometer. My Cruise control has not worked as this problem has progressed to get worse and worse, would this lead me to beleive that this is a speedo sensor problem rather then the actual cluster itself?

[RedSiBaron]

Have you even checked the sensor yet? Or the wiring or plug?

[Kr240sx]

not yet, i have the car on jackstands im gonna get under it tonight and take a look. Gonna pull the sensor off and see how it looks, thing is i dont have any gear to see if the sensor is working or not. The sensor is just $250 i would hate to put it on and it still not work leading the cluster to be the issue the entire time.

[RedSiBaron]

not yet, i have the car on jackstands im gonna get under it tonight and take a look. Gonna pull the sensor off and see how it looks, thing is i dont have any gear to see if the sensor is working or not. The sensor is just $250 i would hate to put it on and it still not work leading the cluster to be the issue the entire time.

alright let me help you then, the gear is cheap, go pick up a multimeter from a harbor freight if you have one for like $10, or any hardware store, or autoparts store, its cheap, and you will definitely use it time and time again, it will pay for itself in a few uses guaranteed, no more blindly replacing electrical components to solve problems when you can test them...the factory service manual will tell you how to ring it out and test the resistance, its pretty simple...

before you pull the sensor, go ahead and trace the wire...i recently installed engine mounts on my single cam, and when i jacked the motor it disconnected my speed sensor plug up near the motor (its a little 2 wire grey plastic plug) i also discovered the previous owner destroyed all the trans wiring when he did the clutch, so i have no sensors connected off the trans (wiring is all broken) except for the speed sensor now...i had to reconnect the plug and use dielectric grease on it then wrap it in electrical tape to keep it connected until i have time to wiring in a new plug...i was already having issues with the speedo because of it...

if you ring out the sensor and it is good, and the wiring to the plug is intact, id suggest just running your own wiring from the sensor up to the cluster, i know a lot of people do it when they cant trace where the break is in the cluster wiring...you can find a write up on it somewhere i think

[Kr240sx]

Okay thanks, ill report my findings but that all sounds very legitimate and useful information. Unfortunately the car is not running right now because i am doing some other maintenance so i cannot check the sensor with the multimeter. I will simply see how it looks when i get to it and take it from there.

[RedSiBaron]

Okay thanks, ill report my findings but that all sounds very legitimate and useful information. Unfortunately the car is not running right now because i am doing some other maintenance so i cannot check the sensor with the multimeter. I will simply see how it looks when i get to it and take it from there.

you dont need the car to run, you can check it actually by removing the sensor and spinning the "wheel" that goes in the trans...iirc the FSM actually tells you to do this

[Kr240sx]

Ok, i did not know that until now. Thanks for your advice!

[RedSiBaron]

no problem!!

i suggest finding the 89 full FSM if you dont already have it, its been very helpful to me and its a direct scan of hte paper one...