Yes you can. I did it and got lucky as my car was prewired for the tac. I bought several bad instrument clusters before buying a good one from a member here. I had that tac recently repaired as well. If yours isn't prewired, you can pretty easily run a wire to the tac from what I've seen others post.
Instrument cluster with tac.
Can I put a oem instrument cluster with a tac in my gen7?
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Awesome! Thanks!Yes you can. I did it and got lucky as my car was prewired for the tac. I bought several bad instrument clusters before buying a good one from a member here. I had that tac recently repaired as well. If yours isn't prewired, you can pretty easily run a wire to the tac from what I've seen others post.
That's awesome, thanks!
If it's prewired there is a black wire going into one of the connectors. If I remember it's the middle connector. If you are going to pull a cluster from a junkyard you can trace the tachometer wire on the back of the cluster to which terminal that is, then cut and remove that terminal from the connector (with some effort and a small screwdriver). This would make it easier to splice in the wire from the IG- under the hood if you have to.
I don't know if there's any pattern to which models were pre-wired. My 1997 DX was pre-wired, maybe because tachometers were optional on DXs. Maybe base models were not pre-wired. But I would think any model that could have a 5-speed manual could get a tachometer option.
I don't know if there's any pattern to which models were pre-wired. My 1997 DX was pre-wired, maybe because tachometers were optional on DXs. Maybe base models were not pre-wired. But I would think any model that could have a 5-speed manual could get a tachometer option.
Thank you very much. That's going to make it a lot easier for me. Mine is a DX wagon, hopefully they were all pre wired for a tac🤞. Did you have to change any of the sending units on the motor for temp, oil pressure ect?
If it's prewired there is a black wire going into one of the connectors. If I remember it's the middle connector. If you are going to pull a cluster from a junkyard you can trace the tachometer wire on the back of the cluster to which terminal that is, then cut and remove that terminal from the connector (with some effort and a small screwdriver). This would make it easier to splice in the wire from the IG- under the hood if you have to.
I don't know if there's any pattern to which models were pre-wired. My 1997 DX was pre-wired, maybe because tachometers were optional on DXs. Maybe base models were not pre-wired. But I would think any model that could have a 5-speed manual could get a tachometer option.
I have an automatic transmission, hopefully that doesn't make a difference
What year is your car? Mine is a DX, 7A-FE with 4-speed automatic, but it was still pre-wired. I believe all 97s were built in the US plant. I'm not sure if that makes a difference.
No need to change any sensors. Everything is the same.
EDIT: The 6th gen clusters were different if there was a factory alarm system, but on 7th gens the pinouts were the same if there was a factory alarm system, so any tach cluster should work fine as far as all the lights, etc. So ignore some of what I wrote in the next paragraph.
The repair manual says some cars had a built in security system (not dealer installed) and those had slightly different pinouts on the cluster. There was a security light in the cluster. I've never actually heard of anyone owning one of these cars or seen anyone talk about it, so it's probably exceedingly rare, so you probably won't stumble across one at the junkyard.
The pinout on the common tach clusters and non-tach clusters are identical except for the tach (IG-) wire.
The red line on 93-95 is slightly different than 96-97, so the faceplate under the tach needle would be different, but that doesn't matter really.
To keep your odometer mileage, you can transfer your original speedometer to the new tach cluster. It takes a little effort because you have to pull the needle off then change the faceplate, then put the needle back on while driving to get the speed correct.
Search for other threads. This has all been done before.
No need to change any sensors. Everything is the same.
EDIT: The 6th gen clusters were different if there was a factory alarm system, but on 7th gens the pinouts were the same if there was a factory alarm system, so any tach cluster should work fine as far as all the lights, etc. So ignore some of what I wrote in the next paragraph.
The repair manual says some cars had a built in security system (not dealer installed) and those had slightly different pinouts on the cluster. There was a security light in the cluster. I've never actually heard of anyone owning one of these cars or seen anyone talk about it, so it's probably exceedingly rare, so you probably won't stumble across one at the junkyard.
The pinout on the common tach clusters and non-tach clusters are identical except for the tach (IG-) wire.
The red line on 93-95 is slightly different than 96-97, so the faceplate under the tach needle would be different, but that doesn't matter really.
To keep your odometer mileage, you can transfer your original speedometer to the new tach cluster. It takes a little effort because you have to pull the needle off then change the faceplate, then put the needle back on while driving to get the speed correct.
Search for other threads. This has all been done before.
Ok. Thanks. Mine is a 94 and it was built in Japan. It sounds like they probably made all harnesses the same which makes sense it saves . I will find the threads for more information. Thanks again.
I'm pretty sure there are some that are not pre-wired. There are threads were people had to run a wire. I don't think we've ever figured out the pattern to which cars might be pre-wired or not.
Oh ok. I guess I'll know when I take out the cluster. Thanks again for your help, I very much appreciate it.
For what it's worth here's some additional information. My car is a 1997 CE (1.6L with 3speed auto) and it was prewired. I installed the older 1993-1995 tac and it worked without modification. It was recently rebuild because several capacitors were leaking and it wasn't reading speed correctly.
Thank you, every bit of input is greatly appreciated.
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