'95, Looking for Tachometer

[Ostornadoe]

Dam that sucks man. That's one of the main reasons I went with an aftermarket tach, couldn't find any around my area at junkyards, and I probably went to around 25 that specialized in toyota parts. Couldn't find one on ebay either. Also, make sure you don't pay too much for it because you can get an aftermarket tach for $50 or maybe even less. Best of luck on your next try!

[cobrajet25]

Bummer. One just sold on Ebay for $69.

[RedAE102]

First of all, not all '93-'97 Corollas had the option of a tach. The tachometer came standard ONLY on the LE, and was a $65 OPTION on DX 5-speed saloons and estates. Not an option for any of the others. Thankfully, my '93 DX 5-speed came with that option (very few came without, but some did slip through without it). I've now switched to a European gauge cluster with 220 km/h speedometer and international symbols for the warning lights, plus a different redline (the km/h only reading deters family members from driving my car ).

Second, the Prizm and Corolla gauge clusters do not interchange ('93-'97) because they are shaped differently. A higher percentage of Prizms were sold with tachometers (an option on all models, as I recall), but there were far fewer Prizms sold than Corollas, so game on... '98-'02s do, and the '98-'02 clusters with tachs come on eBay a lot more often than do '93-'97. Best of luck in finding a Prizm gauge cluster with tachometer Beyond that, '93-'94 clusters are different from '95-'97 in two ways, both cosmetic more than anything. '93-'94 have yellow km/h markings inside the speedometer (the same is true for non-tach clusters of these years), while '95-'97 have white km/h markings. '93-'94 have a 6300 rpm redline, while '95-'97 have a 5900 rpm redline. This does not affect the actual redline of the car's engine, of course. '93-'94 1.8s and '93-'95 1.6s have the 6300 rpm redline (the ECU allows revving to 6800 rpm in mine), while '95-'97 1.8s and '96-'97 have a 5900 rpm redline (unsure of fuel cut).

Now that you are thoroughly confused, I'll leave it at that!

[Ukrainian102]

Ok. I got a cluster (147k miles, my car has 75k) with a tach off prolly a 93-94 because the km/h numbers are yellow and the redline is at 6300. I have a 95 DX 1.8 4-spd automatic. Here are the problems I have encountered so far.

1) Rolling the odometer to match your current mileage is not an option. The odometer doesn't move freely at all.

...so I try to take the speedometer out of my cluster and put it in the one with the tach...

2) The speedometer from the non-tach cluster is too big to fit in the one with the tach. It looks like it fits, but it doesn't. Some parts may need to be cut off to make it fit.

...so maybe the face comes off, because if I could change the faces that would work...

3) No. The needle doesn't lift up at all. I don't want to pull hard, so basically changing the faces doesn't work.

Anyway, tomorrow I will consult my dealer on what to do, and if they have no idea, I'll have to try and cut the speedometer to fit.

Wish me luck!

Edit: By the way, I haven't tried it out, but as far as cables go it should be fine... just plug-and-play.

[cobrajet25]

I had to roll the odometer forward when I changed to a tach in my '90 DX. The old odometer in my car had 147K miles, while the new one had a mere 63k. Here is how it works on the '88-'92 models, and yours is probably similar.

The speedometer has to be removed from the instrument cluster. A few screws hold it in, and it sounds like you have already taken yours out. Next, you have to take the metal odometer axle completely out of the speedometer. Since these are not designed to be removed (to prevent odometer fraud), this is kind of difficult. The odometer axle (complete with the odometer number rollers) is fixed to the plastic speedometer housing. The axle snaps into a slot on each end, and the plastic around the slots is melted to keep it from being removed. You must CAREFULLY remove the axle from the slots, without doing too much damage to the plastic speedo housing. If too much damage is done, then the odometer axle will not fit securely back in the speedo housing and the odometer will not work at all. After you get the axle out, you must remove the plastic clip that keeps all of the number aligned, which is pretty easy. You can then change the numbers around. Do this VERY carefully, though, or you will have to do it over (like I did). If you do not do this operation carefully, then the numbers will not be aligned, or the odometer will not roll over at all.

If you are lucky, then the entire speedometer assembly can be swapped. The speedo needle will come off, but you must pull hard. Then maybe the speedo faces can be swapped. I think that the speedometers themselves are the same (at least on '88-'92 models). I had to switch the numbers around on my odometer because the trip odometer in my original cluster (the one with the correct mileage) was broken. Otherwise, I would have just swapped the speedometer assemlies. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out! Regards, Aaron

[Ukrainian102]

Ok. As I said before the speedometer assemblies DO NOT swap. I could not figure out how to roll back the mileage without breaking the whole thing so I didn't do that.

So I went to my dealer and explained the situation. After discussing different possibilities for a while, they just recommended that I write down the mileages on both odometers so I always know what the real mileage on my car is. They gave me a little sticker to record the two mileages (it's a sticker that they put on the car when the speedometer needs to be replaced and all new speedometers come with 0 miles) That makes my life so much simpler. No more worrying about roll back or any of that crap. I'm not planning on selling the car anytime soon, and since I always know the mileage, it's all good.

It's just plug and play so...

Now I have a tachometer, w00t!!! Plus the km/h numbers are yellow like on all the 93-94s which looks cool.


Anyway, in the end my car has 147k instead of 75k. And when the car has like 150k miles on it for real the odometer will show like 225k and people will be like holy shit your car still runs well!

Pics will be up on my cardomain page soon.

[Ukrainian102]

[newbi]

In my state, you have to change the tidle to reflect the mileage change displayed. Also, if you have state inspection or emmissions testing done, the proper forms need to be filled out . Hope its not like that where you live cause its a hassle...

[Ukrainian102]

Na. I just had my state inspection today at my dealer. Since they're the ones that told me to leave the odometer like that, they're cool about it.

[pinoyjon]

i was just reading what you have gone thure. just woundering hows the non-tach to tach working out for you, aside from the mileage read out..dose all the symbols and warning light work? is your speedomerter and gauge correct?. is your tach working?. how did you get it to work, did you have to splice into wires or is it simple plug and play?
the reason for all the question is that, i too iam looking to replace my 95 corolla non-tach to tach so it would help... thanks

[Ukrainian102]

Well, all the lights work for me, the tach works, and I think the speedometer works since I haven't been pulled over yet and I don't notice too many cars passing me on the highway.

It is a simple plug and play. The same three wires are there, so if everythin works, go for it.

A simple way to check if most of the bulbs work is by:
-checking turn signals
-turning on high beams
-opening your door
-unbuckling the drivers seat belt with the car on
-checking to see if there's an airbag light when the car comes on
-turning the ignition to on without starting the car and seeing if a bunch of warning lights come on

[Ukrainian102]

Well, all the lights work for me, the tach works, and I think the speedometer works since I haven't been pulled over yet and I don't notice too many cars passing me on the highway.

It is a simple plug and play. The same three wires are there, so if everything works, go for it.

A simple way to check if most of the bulbs work is by:
-checking turn signals
-turning on high beams
-opening your door
-unbuckling the drivers seat belt with the car on
-checking to see if there's an airbag light when the car comes on
-turning the ignition to on without starting the car and seeing if a bunch of warning lights come on

[rfragachan]

I was able to do a speedometer swap from the cluster without tach to the new one with tach. They don't fit right away because the frontplate is different size but they can be swap and it fits perfectly (no adaptions where needed) here is how it worked:

1. First take out the screws that hold the speedometers to the clusters
2. Remove the needles. The needles are in very tight just be carefull but not scare (I recommend using a fork to put bellow the needle and push it out with the fork)
3. After that the plates should be removed (if I am not wrong it is in place by a couple of screws)
4. After the plates are out swap them.
5. Here is the tricky part... Now you neeed to put the needle back in but to do soo you need to have a GPS or another way to meassuere tour actual speed. The thing is it needs to be calibrated. To calibrate it you need to put the needle in and pass it past 0 meaning force it below the 0 limit it took some time to do the calibration but it now works fine and I love having a tach and my car with its original odometer.
Good luck

[emiliorescigno]

Holy thread revival!

[94_Rolla_Guy]

i imagine you could move the numbers i did it on my old 86 corolla just before it went to car heaven , we set it to 000000.0kms i remember using a pin or small wire to push on the little gears beside the numbers. if that didn't work i would just take it apart and move them from the back or something?