I bought a digital cluster from ebay. I'm 99% sure that's what it is.
All of you have really helped me out. I just want to ask if there's anything I can do in return. I've been a lurker here for a few years now, and have never been able to contribute much.
I'm an aircraft electrician in the Air National Guard, I have a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering technology, and a job fixing aircraft electronics. So with that said, if there's any way for me to contribute to the electrical section here, let me know.
softtouch, thank you for posting those scans. The first one (pg 127) shows about half the instrument cluster, do you have the page showing the rest of it?
I think I'm going to buy the 85 EVTM from ebay, but if you have that page it would save me a few days' time. Thanks in advance!
Hello, it's starting to look like I have a faulty speedometer module in my full digital cluster, 85 Tbird. I'd love to get my hands on a replacement cluster, but realize these are a little harder to find.
I repair aircraft electronics for a living, so I'm pretty confident that I could pull the speedometer from a standard (digital speedo/buttstuffog instrument) cluster and solder it into mine. It's probably the same module inside both clusters. If I can't find a full digital cluster in a few days, I'll probably just go with a standard one to yank it.
If I can find a cluster with the digital speedo and buttstuffog gauges, I'm sure I could pull the speedometer module out of it and solder it into my full digital cluster. I do that kind of stuff for a living, and would love to take pictures of the repair for the benefit of this forum.
I would still like to check for power/ground/signals at the connector plug in the dash. What happened to the EVTM link? It says "forwarded to public link" now, I'm not sure what that means.
The flex print all checked good. However, one of the traces looked different, like it overheated while pulling a lot of current. It still had continuity though.
I can tell that the cluster has been pulled before. The right connector wasn't properly seated. The right hand display works now (display with fuel economy, miles-to-empty, etc.)
Unfortunately the speedo/odo are still blank, but properly illuminated.
I apologize for not being clear in my original post. The steering column cover has obvious signs of being removed & roughly handled. It wasn't reinstalled properly. I'll pull out the cluster and check the flex print
I think the bulbs are OK, but this is the best opportunity I'll ever have to check them.
Thanks so much for the writeup! I do have the instrument cluster loose.
The entire cluster illuminates, but 2 out of the 3 displays were blank (speedo and right-side panel. gas/oil/temp panel on the left worked) I think the radio harness is OK now. Don't know why the dome light isn't working with the door open, but I still have a few fuses/breakers to check.
I'll start checking the wires you mentioned tomorrow. I've been searching through the posts on this board, and others have had this problem, it might be broken contacts on the cluster's flex board.
I have an 85 Tbird, someone decided to install a stereo without an adapter harness. The Speedometer and odometer won't turn on with the key, and the dome light doesn't illuminate when the doors open either. I've seen this problem before, when I did the exact same thing in my young & ignorant days!
There's no radio installed now, and I can see 2 intact plugs, one with 4 wires and 1 with 7 wires, I believe. I do have the factory stereo, but the plugs on it were cut.
I guess I need to find an intact factory stereo or buy an adapter harness with an aftermarket head unit.
Does anyone know if I can simply ground or apply voltage to one of the wires in the car's harness to get the speedo & odo working? I can take pictures of everything if needed.
Just need it gone. Spins freely, but I have no idea about it's condition otherwise. Assume it needs a total rebuild. I don't remember if it's from an 87 or 88.
I don't have the time to ship it, so local pickups only. Call me at 330-475-6144.
Daniel
EDIT: Just looked in the box. I also have a starter & new FRAM oil filter for the 2.3L, as well as a VAM from an 83 TC, and an unknown Ford EFI computer. I think it's a speed density computer for the 5.0L
I'm looking for an 83 or 84, preferably with the 5.0L. I want something to build up, but I live in an emissions testing county & anything newer than 25 years has to be tested.
OK, the problem came back today. I'm having trouble following the link on jcassity's sig to get the codes... it just kinda confuses me. And I've never seen my car's check engine light come on. Maybe the bulb is burned out?
But the problem is definitely heat-related, since it acted up last monday when it was 60 degrees, then was fine when it was in the 30's for the past week,and now it's acting up again today (high 40/low 50s).
Also, if it's moving, it's fine. It only seems to act up at a stoplight when it sits for a couple minutes. If I get off the highway, come to a complete stop, and immediately go, it's fine.
