adjusting tach

[shadowpilot25]

I've got a instruament cluster from a 92' ranger with a 2.9L. How do I adjust the tach to read a 2.3L PLEASE HELP?

 

[Dave R]

If it's going into another '92(ish) Ranger then there is nothing that needs adjusting. It sounds odd but they work.

 

[scotts90ranger]

what's it going in?

ford made a change to the cluster wiring in mid '92, I never looked into when, but '89-early '92 clusters are completely interchangable, doesn't matter what engine, I think the late '92 to '94 clusters should interchange as well...

 

[Bill G]

Scott, great to see you back here again. The clusters stopped being plug and play in 93. If you have a 93-94 truck you must use a cluster from those years only (93-94). All 89-92 clusters are plug and play. At one time i had made a harness to swap a 93-94 to a 89-92 truck. It really is not that much work, but not really worth the hassle.

 

[scotts90ranger]

back in the day (back around the fordranger.com die off...) I remember someone having troubles with clusters in a '92, and I think I've seen it since, just something to look into if the cluster isn't working right, and if that does come up, just check the build date by decoding the vin or checking the door sticker and determine if it's an early '92 or a late '92, it can also be figured out by the color of the printed circuit on the back, but I don't remember what color mine is...

I've been around lurking most of the time, mid september I moved out on my own with the girlfriend (5 minute commute to work now), for over a month I didn't have internet on my computer (not the same without all your own bookmarks and cookies and stuff), getting settled in pretty good now, I just don't see many threads I have something to add to...

 

[jarz21]

My Ranger was built 6/92 and I had no problem just swapping a random '92 cluster from (I believe) a 2.9L. I just made sure to swap my speedometer into the cluster and tested all of the bulbs to make sure they worked. I didn't want to have to tear that all apart again anytime soon!

 

[Bill G]

I'm not for sure about the color of the circuit boards. I have a few in box here somewhere. I know my 92 is a later year, but I can't remember off the top of my head which cluster I put in. I'm pretty sure it's out of a 89 Bronco II. Might be a 92 explorer. I have seen a cluster from a F150 and it looks identical to the Ranger one. I didn't get a chance to try it out though.

 

[shadowpilot25]

The tach reads too slow, by the way its going in a 92' ranger with a 2.3L.

 

[Bill G]

The tach reads too slow, by the way its going in a 92' ranger with a 2.3L.

What do you mean by too slow? Please give us an example of what you mean.

Are you sure that the cluster came from a 92 or was that what you were told?

 

[jarz21]

The tach reads too slow, by the way its going in a 92' ranger with a 2.3L.

I'm not entirely certain what you mean by "too slow," but my tach can be a little jerky at times. When I first start the truck, it will go up to about where it ought to be but jerkily come down to actual idle speed. Sometimes when I rev the engine, it will hesitate for a split second. I should've seen if the tach needle could have been lubricated before I put the dash back together, but it's not a major problem and has certainly gotten smoother with use.

 

[shadowpilot25]

When the engine hits the rev limiter 6,000rpm the tach is reading at 4,000rpm.

 

[bottledgt]

i know some clusters have a screw on the back of the tach part in some ive been through(not ranger,mustang). you can turn it to calibrate it, just hook up an aftermarket tach temporarily to match it