I swapped clusters, now issues

I went from the 1988 cluster to a 1987 cluster with Tach. My original cluster had a temp gauge, not the idiot light.

I started it up and the temp gauge on the new cluster read at 210*. After just a few minutes of driving, the temp gauge was getting close to overheating.

I popped the hood, and unscrewed the cap to the purge tank so the system was up to temp and wasn't fully pressurized.

Possible that I accidentally moved the needle and I just need to reset it to 0*?

The sensors/senders are different for the gauges and lights.You only did half the job.

Wayne

The sensors and senders are different from a 1987 RENIX engine to a 1988 RENIX engine?

I'm pretty sure that I don't need to swap any sensors or senders.

bigalpha said:

The sensors and senders are different from a 1987 RENIX engine to a 1988 RENIX engine?

I'm pretty sure that I don't need to swap any sensors or senders.

Click to expand...

If you are going temp gauge to temp gauge, as I understood your original post, then you do not need to change the temperature gauge sender as both clusters would use a variable resistance sensor.

Only when you have the idiot light and are going to a gauge (or the other way) would you need to change a sender.

That's correct ... I went from temp gauge to temp gauge.

I think some of the connections are wonky since the speedy isn't working either. The gauges should automatically reset and work properly once they are plugged in, though, right?

bigalpha said:

That's correct ... I went from temp gauge to temp gauge.

I think some of the connections are wonky since the speedy isn't working either. The gauges should automatically reset and work properly once they are plugged in, though, right?

Click to expand...

That is what I thought.

I'll pull the cluster again and double check the connections.

Thanks.

I did this swap on my 88 MJ and had no issues. You don't have to change the sender. But the issue with the speedo? The speedometer is cable driven on the renix rigs. Did you possibly break the plastic retainer on the cable getting it apart? I did and had to replace the cable....

I went out and re-plugged everything in. Speedo still doesn't work. I swapped in the old cluster and the speedo doesn't work on it either. The plastic retainer is not broken and will clip onto the cluster and stay. The speedo cable pulls out of it's retainer in the dash, though, but slides back in when I push it in. Is it supposed to slide out of the retainer? I sure hope so. The speedo on the new cluster works when I clip in the speedo cable and manually twist it.

Also, When I turn the key to "ON", some of the needles move backwards. For example, I turned the IGN to "ON" and the temp needle moved backward until it was pointing completely downwards. When I started the engine, it moved clockwise like it should, but it's still pointing off of the markings.

WTF is going on? Now neither cluster works.

Well, the speedo isnt working b/c the damn cable got broken.

Still not sure why the rest of the gauges are wonky.

Funny thing is, the battery voltage gauge is working, but not the others.

I do have a weird electrical problem where the front left blinker doesn't work (but the bulb in the dash lights up); the front right blinker works fine but blinks half-speed when the headlights are on.

I wonder if this can be causing some issues with the gauges?

usually the bulb socket is bad but wont effect the gauges

All the bulbs work. I was thinking maybe something else went wonky with the gauges or something.

I have no idea.