Upgrade speedometer cluster question

[montyrobison]

Hi all,

My 84 MGM has a basic fuel/speedo cluster (speedo w/o trip odometer, fuel gauge, 4 warning lights, etc. I'd like to upgrade to a cluster that has a speedo w/ trip odometer. The one's I've seen have 2 additional warning lights and some sort of lever on the bottom for the trip odometer reset. Will the stock connector in my 84 MGM work on a cluster w/ the additional warning lights and is there anything special to know about the reset lever for the trip odometer? If the stock connector does plug in OK are the warning lights still in the same correct order? What would be a fair price to pay for this "deluxe" cluster? As always, thanks for your help and advise on this.

Monty

P.S. - Does anyone out there have a good, working "deluxe" cluster that would fit my 84 MGM they'd sell? PM me if you do. Thanks!

[87gtVIC]

Not to sure about the wiring, though I am certain everything will plug in without a problem. Will the "new" idiot lights work? Don't know....but the old ones will surely.

About the lever for the trip odometer the only concern that comes to mind is the fact that you will have to remove that little indentation on your fuse panel cover so the reset lever will show through.

[86VickyLX]

Won't have any of those extra lights working without the stuff that goes with the lights. One that comes to mind is the low oil level sensor in the oil pan. That works with the check oil light. I don't know what the other light is, but if it's like the crown vic one, that'll probably be the low fuel light, which also won't work with out the antislosh/low fuel light module.

[montyrobison]

Dave,

The basic instrument cluster has: upper left - blank, center left - oil, lower left - temp / upper right - blank, center right - fasten belts, lower right - amp.

The "deluxe" cluster has: upper left - washer fluid, center left - engine, lower left - oil / upper right - fuel, center right - fasten belts, lower right - amp.

The fasten belts and amp lights are in the same positions in both clusters (CR, LR), but the center left and lower left are different/reversed. Do you know if there's a way to relocate the lamp positions inside of the cluster housing? In don't really care about the washer fluid and fuel lights (UL, UR). They'd be nice but aren't essential. I wonder if the wiring harness has these connectors out where the sensors would mount? Let me know what you think or know and thanks again for all of your help and advice.

Monty

Won't have any of those extra lights working without the stuff that goes with the lights. One that comes to mind is the low oil level sensor in the oil pan. That works with the check oil light. I don't know what the other light is, but if it's like the crown vic one, that'll probably be the low fuel light, which also won't work with out the antislosh/low fuel light module.

[85crownHPP]

If one from a '88-'89 works, I have one of those.

[85crownHPP]

a pic

[gadget73]

The foil traces on the back of the cluster will likely take care of moving the lights for you. You can't really move the position of the indicator just because of the way the cluster is contstructed though. Absolute worst case, you may have to flip those 2 wires in the plug-in connector to fix the lights but I really doubt it.

The washer fluid level I think has the wiring there. If there is a 2 pin connector hanging out near the washer fluid bottle that seems to go noplace, thats what it is. The bottle would need to change to one that has the float in it. Not sure about the low fuel stuff.

[montyrobison]

85crownHPP,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the surround in the 80-87 MGM's is black not gray/silver. Thanks for your effort though. I appreciate it!

Monty

If one from a '88-'89 works, I have one of those.

[montyrobison]

Gadget73,

Thanks for your reply. I'll btet you're right and the circuit board in the cluster already is already changed to account for the relocation of the lamps in the "deluxe" cluster. I can't imagine they had a different wiring harness just for this, but then again you never know about those automotive engineers! You're probably are also right about changing the pin locations in the connector if you had to. Thanks again for your reply and input!

Monty

The foil traces on the back of the cluster will likely take care of moving the lights for you. You can't really move the position of the indicator just because of the way the cluster is contstructed though. Absolute worst case, you may have to flip those 2 wires in the plug-in connector to fix the lights but I really doubt it.

The washer fluid level I think has the wiring there. If there is a 2 pin connector hanging out near the washer fluid bottle that seems to go noplace, thats what it is. The bottle would need to change to one that has the float in it. Not sure about the low fuel stuff.

[87gtVIC]

Ahh. I had not even thought about them changing around the idiot lights. I know in the Crown Vics nothing changes between the two.

Easy enough to swap pins. You have to unplug the bulk clip anyway so you will have access to them. Now just a wiring diagram would help you out there.

[montyrobison]

Dave,

Hopefully the lamp position differences were accounted for on the circuit board. If not I've got a complete set of 4 shop manuals for the 84 MGM I purchased on eBay for $40.00 on the way (body chassis electrical, powertrain lube maintenance, emission diagnosis/engine electronics and EVTM. That will help me determine the pinouts for the lamps if I need to swap any. If you ever need any info out of them that would be helpful you let me know.

Monty

Ahh. I had not even thought about them changing around the idiot lights. I know in the Crown Vics nothing changes between the two.

Easy enough to swap pins. You have to unplug the bulk clip anyway so you will have access to them. Now just a wiring diagram would help you out there.

[87gtVIC]

I am extremely confident the printed circuit does take care of most the problems. No sense in Ford making that all wonky.