How to be sure a 1995-1997 Ranger has a tach?

[Rick W]

Mount the tach on the hood. A drill and some dry wall screws should do the trick.

haha, I actually did that on an 84 Chevy Silverado Dually I had years ago. Basically, the problem is I’m in the big city, and it’s a target for vandalism or theft.

I’d also have to think hard about altering the appearance of one of my trucks…

edit, I also looked at a couple of digital tachs which could fit in a little corner a little better. I talked to a couple of friends who have them. Consensus is that they look cool, butI think from a sense and psychological standpoint, they don’t support the driver as well as an analog gauge where you have the angle of the needle in the back of your mind, and you’ll notice when it’s in the wrong place. I’ve heard that, and I think that’s actually happened to me driving around in the Lincolns with the digital dashs. I prefer the analog.

 

[rarampone]

First, let me say that if you’re getting your expertise from me, you may be in deep trouble.

I have a 97 ranger XLT, stick, 2 Wheel Dr., and it did not come with a tach. I read somewhere, I would have thought it was on TRS because that’s my go to, that the instrument clusters that fit in your year model truck are all “plug-in play.“ If you take your old cluster out, and the cluster from the scrapyard fits in and plugs in, it should work properly independent of the engine size or type of transmission. Again, I would really research that and not necessarily believe me, but having played with cars for more than 50 years, that actually makes a lot of sense.

With every respect @scotts90ranger, I believe he was speaking about putting in a universal aftermarket tach. I bought a couple of them on eBay a few years ago, one for my 87 four-wheel-drive 2.9 stick, and one for The Road Ranger (97 4,0 XLT stick 2WD), without thinking about where I would place them. These are pretty small trucks with pretty compact and cluttered instruments and gizmos around the steering column, and I just never put them in, I never figured out a place where they were visually accessible without being visibly objectionable. I don’t wanna get one of those replacement a column covers that will hold one, and there really is not any other good place that’s right in front of you, in my humble opinion.

So my plan too, is to find an instrument cluster that fits that has the tach. I have scanned eBay off and on, but the folks selling them on eBay are way too proud of them. I know if one shows up at my local Pull-a-part, I can get it for a few bucks.

BTW, there are three Pull-a-part locations in Atlanta. If you walk in off the street, it’s two dollars to get in. It’s not deducted off your purchases. I am a VIP, but I don’t remember what I had to do or pay to get that, but I’m pretty cheap so it couldn’t have been much. The VIP gives you other benefits, so if you scrounge a lot, it’s worth it. You also build points that gets you something or other, but you have to remember to show your card when you’re checking out.

You can also rent golf carts at our locations, $5.00 first hour, and I’ll tell you that’s the best five dollars I’ve ever spent in my life. A couple times I’ve used them for a couple hours, and with the VIP card, you get your deposit back except the five dollars. I don’t know if that’s actual policy, but that’s what they do when I go.

I think if you google “change 97 Ranger tach instrument cluster” for about 10 minutes, you could find what I was looking at a little while ago.

keep us posted how it works out.

So all the gauges on my '97 Explorer wrecking yard instrument cluster seems to work in my '95 Ranger, but I swapped my speedometer/tach unit into the wrecking yard one (mine has significantly lower miles on it) and it seems that the speedometer now reads too fast. At 25 mph or so it was reading near 35. Does that seem right? I think I need to swap them out one more time to be sure.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I don't have any insight into why a wiring difference in the body of the new cluster would cause that, but if it's always off by 10 (not a percentage of actual speed) you can just recalibrate the needle. Search the procedure; it involves clamping leads from a AA battery to the back of the speedo, which will hold it steady at a known value around 70mph.

So in this case, if you're always 10 high, and the battery holds it at 70, you could pop the needle off and put it back at 60 with the battery hooked up.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yes, that, put a battery across the two posts on the back of the gauge, pull the needle off with a fork and put it back on at around 70-72mph and you should be closer.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So all the gauges on my '97 Explorer wrecking yard instrument cluster seems to work in my '95 Ranger, but I swapped my speedometer/tach unit into the wrecking yard one (mine has significantly lower miles on it) and it seems that the speedometer now reads too fast. At 25 mph or so it was reading near 35. Does that seem right? I think I need to swap them out one more time to be sure.

We’re both vehicles the same motor? I know there were pinning differences between motors…

 

[rarampone]

I don't have any insight into why a wiring difference in the body of the new cluster would cause that, but if it's always off by 10 (not a percentage of actual speed) you can just recalibrate the needle. Search the procedure; it involves clamping leads from a AA battery to the back of the speedo, which will hold it steady at a known value around 70mph.

So in this case, if you're always 10 high, and the battery holds it at 70, you could pop the needle off and put it back at 60 with the battery hooked up.

This was a not just matter of the speedo being off by 10 mph, but being "geared" differently. I think there is a constant value that needs to be entered into the digital circuitry to compensate for gear ratios and tire sizes. I really want to be able to use my original speedo (I just need the temperature gauge) since the odometer is tamper-proof and I want to keep the same mileage reading. Thanks for the reply.

 

[I support common sense]

This was a not just matter of the speedo being off by 10 mph, but being "geared" differently. I think there is a constant value that needs to be entered into the digital circuitry to compensate for gear ratios and tire sizes. I really want to be able to use my original speedo (I just need the temperature gauge) since the odometer is tamper-proof and I want to keep the same mileage reading. Thanks for the reply.

I couldn’t tell you for sure, but I do know this. A motor will only move if it has power. The Ecm controls the power. The ecm is programmable… there are shops that can calibrate your speedometer, probably via the ecm.

When I swapped instrument clusters, the new one came form a 4.0 same year and mine was a 3.0, but it was accurate.

 

[Curious Hound]

Somewhere around late 95 or in 96, the ecu was changed from EEC IV to OBD II electrical architecture. If your truck is the older technology, then your speedometer is driven by a mechanical cable fed from the output shaft of the transmission (or transfer case, if 4x4). In that case, which I believe applies here, there is no "calibration" of the speedometer except by; A; changing the driven gear on the end of the cable at the transmission or B; physically remove the needle and replace it at a different position. so, if tire size and differential ratio has not changed, speedometer should not be "off".

I'm also pretty sure that the first few years of OBD II architecture still got the speedometer signal from the Transmission or transfer case, using the same replaceable drivien gear. but the gear spins an electronic sensor instead of a mechanical cable. Later on, they did away with that and started sharing the signal coming from the ABS sensor on the rear differential.

I thought this thread started out talking about the tach, which is a different story altogether. I guess I need to read back through it and regain my bearings here.

 

[scotts90ranger]

This was a not just matter of the speedo being off by 10 mph, but being "geared" differently. I think there is a constant value that needs to be entered into the digital circuitry to compensate for gear ratios and tire sizes. I really want to be able to use my original speedo (I just need the temperature gauge) since the odometer is tamper-proof and I want to keep the same mileage reading. Thanks for the reply.

Through '97 there is a speed sensor in the transmission (where the cable was in earlier models) with a gear on it that spins and sends a signal to the speedometer I believe, might be ABS module or some other module in the dash I don't remember... but when I went to correct my speedo for my taller tires I just changed that gear, mine worked the same with both clusters I've had in it...

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

Yeah, holdup, even though the speedo went electric in '95, calibration is based off the gear on the old-style speed sensor thru '97. Even if there's a mid-year switch or the Explorer went full electronic first, calibration should move to the ECM, no?

As far as I'm aware, in neither case is calibration dependent on the cluster itself.

I'm too tired to open a spare cluster up right now, does the odometer not come off the speedometer? I thought it did.

How is the old speedo in the new cluster off? You said it's not +10mph, so is it always +40%? Or is it completely unpredictable?