Instrument cluster swap
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 99
Likes: 18
From: Kirkland WA
Instrument cluster swap
My '97 is a Canadian vet, and has the Canadian instrument cluster which is in metric. I would like to swap out the instrument cluster with an American instrument cluster. Does anyone know if this is possible, or would I have to reprogram something to make this work? Also, is there anything I should be aware of besides the changes in mileage?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 3,092
Likes: 120
From: orlando florida
St. Jude Donor '15
Direct swap. Im looking for the canadian one myself. Wanna trade? The water and oil pressure will be in american as well.
Last edited by mrr23; Apr 27, 2016 at 06:56 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,835
Likes: 301
From: Columbia SC
What year is yours mrr23? You two may have to swap the ABS light.
"If you use a late 99-04 cluster you will also have to move the airbag warning light located next to the fuel gauge to the location on the Tach or else the light will remain lit all the time."
The opposite would be needed for putting a 97 into a later car.
The bulb is in a 1/4 twist socket. You turn the socket 1/4 turn and remove the socket and bulb from the wrong location on the new cluster. Then you put the socket and bulb into the right location to match your old cluster and you turn it a 1/4 turn to lock it in place.
Also the 97 was not HUD enabled.
Mr. Sam
"If you use a late 99-04 cluster you will also have to move the airbag warning light located next to the fuel gauge to the location on the Tach or else the light will remain lit all the time."
The opposite would be needed for putting a 97 into a later car.
The bulb is in a 1/4 twist socket. You turn the socket 1/4 turn and remove the socket and bulb from the wrong location on the new cluster. Then you put the socket and bulb into the right location to match your old cluster and you turn it a 1/4 turn to lock it in place.
Also the 97 was not HUD enabled.
Mr. Sam
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 353
From: Little Rock Arkansas
The HUD can be enabled on '99 and pre-'99 non-HUD clusters - there's a good thread here on the forum of it being done in detail - however it requires a good bit of soldering and would be a modification to the cluster. It will function like OEM but not be OEM.
The mileage will obviously display incorrectly. This cannot be re-programmed with just a TECH2 alone. It will require the TECH2 plus an TIS2WEB subscription. The rather high exorbitant cost of TIS2 however and the potential for undocumented discrepancies mean it's usually better to send the cluster out for re-programming. I don't know how this works exactly in Canada but the service is available in the US. The mileage is stored on the memory board of the cluster which can be swapped, but again you're going down a sketchy road with that maneuver.
The mileage will obviously display incorrectly. This cannot be re-programmed with just a TECH2 alone. It will require the TECH2 plus an TIS2WEB subscription. The rather high exorbitant cost of TIS2 however and the potential for undocumented discrepancies mean it's usually better to send the cluster out for re-programming. I don't know how this works exactly in Canada but the service is available in the US. The mileage is stored on the memory board of the cluster which can be swapped, but again you're going down a sketchy road with that maneuver.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 739
From: Miami FL
If you feel adventurous enough, the mileage can be transferred from one IPC to the other by swapping an EEPROM chip. Check this thread from post 20 all the way down till the end for detailed info. 
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