Hi Toyota nation. I recently aquired a base model 1997 corolla (no A/C even) and it did not come with a tachometer. I sought out a buddies 1996 corolla dx and paid him $20 to swap out his cluster and mine. I assumed (and read in multiple places?) that the guage clusters are plug in play however my tachometer is currently not working? Do I need to run a special wire to it from the igniter? Shouldn't it be working as is? There is also currently a bulb out behind the tach but I don't hink that would affect it's ability to function.
Tachometer not working after install.
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From what I've read the 1.6L engine didn't come pre-wired for the tach.
I'm somehow still confused. So one wire is going to be wrapped around a screw in the back of the tack and ran to the (ENG-) in the diagnosis box under the hood.
But how would that connect to the middle plug?
And aren't you only describing one wire?
Yes, I'm talking about adding 1 wire. Your plug is missing 2 wires, one runs to the tach. The other one runs to the gas gauge I think. I still don't know for sure.
You can follow the traces on the back from the missing wires.
Like I said, the one you need is almost directly under the plug.
That screw, is where the wire that you need, actually connects to.
So its kinda bypassing the plug.
A 97 would be OBDII and wouldn't have a diagnostics box/connector in the engine bay would it?
I do have a "diagnostics" box in the bay.
The diagnostics box is on OBD II cars as well.
I have had countless cars in the past; and I am seriously dumbfounded by the fact that there isn't a proper D.I.Y. on this particular matter (I'm talking with pictures etc.). Or atleast in my countless hours of searching I cannot find anything. You would think people would want to have a tach just for the sake of having a tach (Like me). It's similar to the fact that most people with base model corollas want power windows.
Its really not that hard. But I have to take my cluster out today for gas guage adjustments, ill snap a few pics for you. I did this on both of my rollas.
Thanks for requesting these pics, you made me realize how badly I half assed the job. (wire just slung across the engine bay) It was meant as a "for the mean time" thing. Now a while down the road, I had forgotten. I want to completely hide or factor integrate it at some point soon.
Anyways, Ill also apologize, because the wire goes to "IG -" in the Diagnosis box. Though sadly my flash covered that part of the diagram
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I just poked the wire through the top of the main wire cover, its a pinhole, oh well. It comes out right under the driver side dash. Rather convenient I thought.
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And here is where the wire connects to. As you can see the copper in the "little film type wannabe motherboard" goes strait from the plug, to the screw. It also says "IG -" right under that screw (fun fact I forgot). I also forgot to snap a picture of the plug, but yours is missing that wire and the one to the left of it.
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Anyways, Ill also apologize, because the wire goes to "IG -" in the Diagnosis box. Though sadly my flash covered that part of the diagram
I just poked the wire through the top of the main wire cover, its a pinhole, oh well. It comes out right under the driver side dash. Rather convenient I thought.
And here is where the wire connects to. As you can see the copper in the "little film type wannabe motherboard" goes strait from the plug, to the screw. It also says "IG -" right under that screw (fun fact I forgot). I also forgot to snap a picture of the plug, but yours is missing that wire and the one to the left of it.
I would have thought the box wouldn't be there with OBD II. Where's the OBD II diag port?
OBDII plug is under the dash, right under the steering column if I member correctly. All my rollas have been OBDI tho I could be wrong.
I also forgot to mention. Your gas gauge is forever going to be a bit off now. I've been told that you can take off the needle, fill the tank, dive for a while until the gauge would normally read "full", and place the needle back on in the "full" position.
This method to correct the issue is actually what I am attempting that got you these pics.
You could have gotten lucky and both of you had about the same amount of gas at the time of the switch. that's really the only way it wont be off.
This method to correct the issue is actually what I am attempting that got you these pics.
You could have gotten lucky and both of you had about the same amount of gas at the time of the switch. that's really the only way it wont be off.
The OBD II plug is under the dash, slightly to the right of the hood latch but at the bottom of the lower dash cover. Yeah, OBD II cars often have both the OBD II connector and the classic diagnostics port.
I just nudged the needle up when I swapped clusters. My tank was nearly full, and the new gauges had a half empty tank, so I nudged the needle into the same approximate position. When the car is off, the needle is just hung there in place, so it shouldn't hurt anything. Mine still works perfectly.
What DOES need recalibrating by taking off the needle and putting it back on is the speedometer, if you happen to take the needle off in the first place. And if you want your odometer to show the proper number, you'll need to swap the odometer/speedometer assembly. It's fairly easy, and you can get the speedo to show properly with cruise control, a GPS or smartphone showing GPS speed, and a stretch of road.
This is not entirely true. If you take apart the speedometer, the numbers can be pressed to the left and rolled to the desired number. That's what I did with mine, I've had no issues.
MODS!
Am I allowed to give an in depth description/DIY of how to roll the odometer? Posting it strictly for those that wish to upgrade with the proper odometer reading?
I only say that based off my experience, though it isn't conclusive. Let me explain. I rolled my odometer back (the new gauges had more than 100k miles more than my car) by rolling it forward past 000000. I also rolled my trip meter forward, but when I tested the gauges, the trip meter no longer worked. I'm not sure, but rolling the trip meter may damage it? Maybe it was broken beforehand, I'm unsure. But it was then when I decided to swap the entire assembly.
I guess it's easy to say to just adjust your odometer and not touch your trip meter, since it isn't important anyway. The odometer can be safely adjusted, though the legality is arguable.
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