Dash overhaul

[mfernandes]

This thread is dedicated to Clinton... thanks to him I recieved a large box directly from the US with several great stuff!!!!

Some people should have their fingers cutted away... like the previous owner of my truck. He replaced the original stereo with an aftermarket one (not the actual) which is fine, if you make a clean installation!!!!

As a result, the din adapter was a shit, the electrical part was a mess and everytime I came threw bumps in the road the radio droped, everything made noises etc.

This is what I did;

1- replaced the old radio frame adaper with a nice one (you should really see the old one... simply pathetic!)

2- replaced the radio wiring harness with a nice one... that was the most scaring part, Magoo would make a better adaption! I really hate this guy from Montevideo (previous owner)

3- replace, better say... REMOVE all the speacker wiring. Yea, this pal made a awfull installation, so I revomed all the crap he did before and left the original speacker wirings (only possible thanks to the wiring harness adapter clinton sended me)

4- replace the radio/heater bezel, as the original had all the tabs broken (guess who???!!!)

5- changed the cluster to a newerer sport-track white faced

6- replaced the main lights swith wiring (this guy again... Id blow his head off!!!)

here are some pics of the procces and the final result:

dash dissasembly;


main lights swith wiring replacement. I mean it... you should have seen this before! Now I have a clean installation of these wires together with the autodim mirror ones


once that was cleared, it was time for the cluster and radio bezel


the kitchen was my workplace this time; old and new cluster


New sport track cluster, now reading 91000 miles (thanks to fx4wannabe01 tutorial)



After a while; Completed!!!!!






one of buggmans bezel crossed the continent, damm it looks good!!!






Good looking, OEM style installation, no noises, no strage things... I simple cant be happyer!!!!!

However... i noticed a couple of problems:

a- the needles work perfectly, but the temp indicator is too high... can I adjust it with my fingers of is there any calibration procedure??

b- with this new cluster, much, muuch, MUUUCH better than the stock one, I dont have the "CHECK ENGINE" light and instead of "DOOR AJAR" light "CHECK FUEL CAP" comes on. Is there any way to fix this?

Anyway, thanks for looking, thanks to clinton once again and if theres anything which I can help you with, please let me know

[Clinton]

That looks great man!!!

[rangerjeff]

Great job man !! looks great!! keep us updated my friend !!

[TomN]

Originally Posted by mfernandes

b- with this new cluster, much, muuch, MUUUCH better than the stock one, I dont have the "CHECK ENGINE" light and instead of "DOOR AJAR" light "CHECK FUEL CAP" comes on. Is there any way to fix this?

X2 I have the gray and black FX4 cluster and its a major improvment from the stock poop gauges.

I had the same problem with the check fuel cap light when the doors where opened. what i did was removed the bulbs from both spots (the Check fuel cap, and door ajar). I took the bulb holder and soldered wires off the contact points. Put the bulb in the spot where Door ajar is and ran the wires threw the hole in the back. Ran the wires over to where Check fuel cap light was and soldered a wire to each contasct there. Hope that makes sense.

You sure the check engine light just isn't burned out? It looks like there is a spot for it.

[mfernandes]

Well, that seems a nice solution pal. Today Ill do it. The check engine is not burn, in my original dash it was located below, on the left of the ammeter, in the new dash its located on the opposite side, abpve the "check fuel cap".

In a while Ill dissasembly all again and fix them the way you told me, but what about the temp gauge? shall I simply fix it with the fingers????

[4evermodding]

take the cluster cover off, set the water temperature needle on the black stint,start her up and this should give you correct temperature when the ranger is warmed up, by the way i'm glad that our friends here were able to help you.

[Mrbreeze]

Looks great! Is that the Metra stereo mounting kit? I just used
one in my '99, and it's the best!

[mfernandes]

Originally Posted by Mrbreeze

Looks great! Is that the Metra stereo mounting kit? I just used
one in my '99, and it's the best!

Yes, i think it is... its really nice. The quality of the plastics ar very good!

Originally Posted by 4evermodding

take the cluster cover off, set the water temperature needle on the black stint,start her up and this should give you correct temperature when the ranger is warmed up, by the way i'm glad that our friends here were able to help you.

Today I tryed to calibrate it, but it didnt work. You say i take off the needle, start the truck and put in near the "C"?
This wouldnt be possible without clintons help... he sended all the stuff you see here!!

[TomN]

id say take the cover and needle off, drive it, or turn it on for like 10 mins and let the engine warm up, and put the needle in the middle where it should be.

[mfernandes]

I will pal, thank you for the help!

By the way... which years are those mirrors from? They look really nice!!!

[mickblock]

Looks very well done and it's good to hear that you got the wiring straightened out.

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Oh shoot I was gonna say something about the darn temp gsuge - Yeah maybe different voltage values between the sending unit the gauge was made for and the one in your truck. So fixing it mechanically by either recommendation should work. If not there will be a solution, like fixing the reading by using a resistor. That's a research project though! Just sayin.

[TomN]

Originally Posted by mfernandes

I will pal, thank you for the help!

By the way... which years are those mirrors from? They look really nice!!!

They are 2006+ mirros with the chrome caps

[DiabloBlanco]

This is sweet! awesome work man.