First Gen 85 ranger warning lights to gauges cluster swap?

[Gypsy Freedom]

Ok, so my new first gen 1985 ranger has a intrument cluster with just the warning (idiot) lights. When i was in the junk yard today i snagged an instument cluster from a same year ranger that is gauges. It looks to be a direct bolt in. I am wondering what else needs to be done. Can it be as simple as replacing sending units with one for a gauge instead of warning lights? Or will i need to change or modify the wiring harness?

If i swap the custer before i do any other sender/wiring changes will anything get damaged by plugging it in to the harness?

Thanks

 

[1986RangerXL]

So you're going from a tachometer to a non-tach with the gauges? I dont believe it's plug and play since the pins in the connector are different. Repinning the connector is simple enough

This is an article on a gauge to tachometer swap, you'd just be doing it backwards

1983-1986 Gauge Cluster With Tachometer Swap

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

No, no tach involved on either. I read that linked thread the other day but this is different. That thread was an upgrade to a newer cluster with tach that was not available on the truck. In my case i am sawping to a cluster that was available on the truck same year. My truck is fuel gauge and idiot lights on the left with speedo on right as seen here

The new cluster is identical except that were each idiot light was, there is a gauge as seen here.

Next time i go to town i plan to hit the parts store and see if the sending units have the same plugs. I was just hoping someone had already done this swap and could shorten my learning curve

Thanks

 

[1986RangerXL]

Ah I see what you're saying now. I didn't even know that was an option. Seems like the '83 to '85 trucks had a bunch of weird things that Ford wanted to try. My '86 has two rows of idiot lights and the gauges

I have no idea on this one, maybe someone on here has done it

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

Well i got a little deeper in attempting this upgrade. Unfortunately, not only is the pin out different. It is not even the same plug.

The green one is the original with warning lights, while the yellow is the hoped for upgrade. The plug is longer by 2 pins. Not sure where i am going to go with this now. Might hit up the junkyard and see if i can get the plug/pigtail from the donor truck.

Anyone know where i can get the pinout for each of these?

I guess i could just splice in the plug from the donor to get all the identicle stuff working. Like turnsignals, backlights, fuel gauge and such. Then just run new dedicated wires for each gauge to appropriate sending units.

Or i might just pop the original back in and put in a set of aftermarket gauges. Wouldnt be as clean as i want.

 

[bobbywalter]

stare at it.


it literally is exactly what it looks like. follow the traces and wire accordingly.


your on track doing what you suspect. there are rpo total differences the first 4 years. i did know them but not now.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

So i traced and digitally marked the back of the original so i knew what pin/wire went to each component in the cluster

Then i plotted the pinout of the original 14 pin plug

Then i mapped the wires to the new plug based on what wire/pin went to the same component in the new cluster

Then i grabbed a small pick and the 2 plugs and started swapping wires from the original plug to the new one that came out of the donor truck

As it turned out. All the wires that got moved over had the same color code. But i still have to figure out and run a couple new wires for the temp and amp gauges. I also need to find and swap out oil pressure and temp sensors and how the amp is wired in and what is used as a shunt.

Does anyone know if i can download a wiring diagram for this somewhere, or where i might be able to aquire proper wiring diagrams?

Thanks

 

[RobbieD]

See if these help (1985 EVTM). If you need more, let me know what you need.

 

[Angie]

robbie, what book are those pages from? i love the layout and how nice it looks and ease of following. thanks

 

[franklin2]

I don't know what happened to the original thread starter, but looking at the diagrams, Ford did the same thing they did on the larger trucks. The alternator wiring is different between a cluster with lights and a cluster with gauges. You can see in the diagrams above, up on the top the title says this diagram with the lights, and then on another page a whole different diagram for a vehicle with gauges.

Those diagrams are pulled from a Ford EVTM book like this one on ebay. That is the best place to get them.

 

[RobbieD]

@Angie - Those are from the Ford wiring manual, Electrical and Vacuum Trouble-Shooting Manual, or EVTM. You can get one from eBay, usually for a reasonable price.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

Yes, thank you for the input. I am still plugging away at this. I live way out in the stix with horrible connectivity and with everyone bored at home with the virus the network is overloaded even worse... lol

I found out the hardway on the charging being different. Ended up having to rewire/repin the plug at the voltage regulator. But got a functioning charging syatem again.

I have the new sensors for temp and oil pressure. Still need to swap them out and run a couple wires.

My main problem it trying to source the shunt for the ammeter. I see it in the diagram but i have no idea what it looks like or where it might be located under the hood (other than in line with the alt) so i might find it in a junk yard. Sofar all the counter/parts guys at parts stores and junk yards have no idea what i am looking for.

If i could just get the specs, like how many ohm, then i could cobble my own shunt. I may just have to wing it and start with a real low resistance diy shunt and work up

 

[franklin2]

The shunt is made into the alternator wiring. You can tell it right away if you are in the yard, you will have the heavier wire from the alternator, and then there is this mysterious piece in the wire with two smaller wires on either side of it. The smaller wires go to the ammeter.

Most of these factory ammeters don't do much. The one on my 84 BII surprises me, I can actually see it move a little bit, unlike most of the others on other Fords I have had.

The resistance of the shunt is very very low. You would not want it very high, it would create too much voltage drop in the elec system. The ammeter is really just a very very sensitive voltmeter, reading the voltage drop across the very slight resistance of the shunt. You could try inserting the small ammeter wires directly into the harness, spread them out as far as possible, and see if you got a reading.

There is also a guy on another board I am a member of, he converts the original ammeters to read voltage instead. If you wanted to go that route.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

Yes, very familiar with ammeters and shunts. Ive hacked the shunts in cheap digital meters to increase capacity and work with lots of shunts via the solar work i dabble in. I had thought about just putting the meter wires on the alt wire like you suggested. Was just hoping to find a baseline spec to know if i was even close. Maybe i will go poke under some hoods in the yard. Would be nice to make this as close to a factory set up as possible.

Starting to think i would have been better off with some aftermarket gauges bolted in somewhere...

 

[czgarrett]

Hello, I just stumbled upon your post. I have the exact same setup in my '85 and successfully converted it to gauges like you were wanting to do, except I got the ammeter converted to a volt meter. Did you ever get it working? If not, I should be able to help you out.