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[peterban]

Again my apologies George.
( It was late remember, I was thinking that the guage used earth as its mechanism, but as was pointed out it is actually just a variable resistance depending on temp.)
I did edit my post but you got to it before the edit.

I wonder why the auto didn't give any trouble for the first 400 k's, especially with the guage not working!! It is as though the sender is actually sending the wrong thing to the computer.

Resistor shouldn't cost more than 10 cents. ( Actually you can buy them bulk for less than 1cent, but who wants thousands of resistors )

[GK]

Originally Posted by peterban

Again my apologies George.
( It was late remember, I was thinking that the guage used earth as its mechanism, but as was pointed out it is actually just a variable resistance depending on temp.)
I did edit my post but you got to it before the edit.

I wonder why the auto didn't give any trouble for the first 400 k's, especially with the guage not working!! It is as though the sender is actually sending the wrong thing to the computer.

Resistor shouldn't cost more than 10 cents. ( Actually you can buy them bulk for less than 1cent, but who wants thousands of resistors )

No worries. I didn't get to buy that resistor either today. Flat out.

Got the wagon back, tranmission fluid was pretty cactus. Went for the service with the full flush.

The guy drove it again after clearing the codes and nothing has come up since. The guage is still not working.

Any ideas from the codes I posted above?

At least the transmission feels good and strong and he gave it all the thumbs up. We'll just keep plugging away at the gauge issue.

GK

[peterban]

Glad the transmission is O.K.
What was the charge for the flush?
Not sure about the codes, as if it was caused by the cluster change you would think that it would have triggered LHM straight away.

[GK]

Originally Posted by peterban

Glad the transmission is O.K.
What was the charge for the flush?
Not sure about the codes, as if it was caused by the cluster change you would think that it would have triggered LHM straight away.

$250 for the whole deal.

$150 for normal fluid change, new gasket and filter etc.
$100 for the extra flush.

I'm sure it can be had for cheaper than this.

Rang an auto electrician today re the cluster, he'd never done one so wasn't very much help. He'd have to have a look at it. Look = $$$.

Does anyone here know of an auto elec that's actually seen this kind of thing before?

GK

[JC]

Try contacting VDO GK, they make them and should be able to help you, but as the ECU has logged those fault codes, I doubt it's a cluster issue. Definitely sounds like a wiring/sender issue. Is it possible that you've connected the wiring at the sender a_rse about?

[peterban]

Thats not too bad of a price George.
Ford is a bit dearer, they say starting from $160, but get you when you come back and tell you they have flushed it and it took more oil because it is dirty. ( Only got caught once !!! )
I wonder if the guy that sold you that cluster had problems with the guage and that is why he sold it.
I guess the resistor test will show if it the cluster/wiring or the sender.

[GK]

Originally Posted by JC

Try contacting VDO GK, they make them and should be able to help you, but as the ECU has logged those fault codes, I doubt it's a cluster issue. Definitely sounds like a wiring/sender issue. Is it possible that you've connected the wiring at the sender a_rse about?

I don't think I could have connected it wrong JC as I think the plug only goes one way.

I'm with you though, those codes would be different if it was the cluster I'd reckon.

Originally Posted by peterban

Thats not too bad of a price George.
Ford is a bit dearer, they say starting from $160, but get you when you come back and tell you they have flushed it and it took more oil because it is dirty. ( Only got caught once !!! )
I wonder if the guy that sold you that cluster had problems with the guage and that is why he sold it.
I guess the resistor test will show if it the cluster/wiring or the sender.

I intend doing the 2-3K resistor test in the morning.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

I called my mechanic mate to get me a sender from the wreckers around the corner from where he works on Fridays. He reckons he should get it for nicks.
Ford wanted $60.

I drove home again today, this time all the way in LHM. The auto guy reckons that the computer has conflict because the engine temp is reading cold and the auto is hot = LHM. Does that make sense?

I will get the resistor tonight or tomorrow morning, take the car back to the auto joint and recheck the codes. I'm betting PO1117 and PO1118 come up again.

We'll close the circuit and see what the gauge does.

I'll get the sender from my mechanic and change it. Fiddly looking job though, stuck right up against the darn firewall.

INFO JUST REMEMBERED - NOT PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED IN THIS THREAD
When I was soldering up the wires (joining them from the pins on the cluster to the cut wires from the plug) I remember that I hadn't taped them yet and a few touched. I blew a few 15 amp fuses. I'm wondering if that went back down the line and fried the sender? Is that a possibility?

GK

[GK]

My brother in law (Paul = top bloke) is coming over tonight, picking up a new battery charger on the way from SuperCheap as well as a few resistors from Tandy.

I'll trickle charge the battery overnight just to take that out of the equation. My old charger died last year and it served me well for 10 years, didn't have trickle charge though!

I might give that circuit a shot tonight, or do you think I should wait until the morning, after I've seen the codes again?

I'm keen to try though! LOL! I just can't help myself. The Mrs is at work until 2am so I can't burn any credits working on the car when she's not here, and the kids are asleep! LOL! Paul loves tinkering with cars also, but alas, sadly he's been with the dark side for many, many years now. :

GK

[GK]

My Brother in law's at Dick Smith right now.

He's picked up the charger previously and is now getting the resistors.

Question though, the resistors in the 2-3k range come in 2 wattages (.25 and 1 watt). He's picking up both of course, but which ones should we use?

GK

[peterban]

Minimum wattage would be 0.07 w, so anything larger than that will be O.K.
Using
Volts = amps X Resistance so we get
12 = I X 2000,

so I = 0.006 Amps

Wattage = Volts X Amps so
= 12 X 0.006
= 0.072 Watts

Usually double this for safety
so 0.072 X 2 = 0.144 Watts

Hope this makes up for the other info

You never know what surges do to electronic devices.
The short from your wires blowing the fuses may have damaged the sender, the guage interface in the cluster or the ECU that handles the temp side of things.
It is strange that the faults stayed clear until you heated it up, so it might just be the sender with any luck!!!

[GK]

For all tests below, gauge not working.

1. Pulled the plug, car ran with thermos on

2. Tried the resistors, car ran without thermos. Pulled resistor, thermos on.

3. Plug put back on, car ran without thermos.

What do I make of this?

GK

[peterban]

Hmmm.
I would have thought the thermo would come on with the resistor in place as it would send info of around 100 degrees to the ECU, so it would think that this was hot enough for the fans to be needed.
You did get 2k ( 2000 ohm resistors ) and not 2 ohm resistors.
You can tell by the coloured bands
see this link and this will tell you
http://www.the12volt.com/resistors/resistors.asp
but red, black, green and silver/gold should be 2000
and orange black green should be 3000

[GK]

Originally Posted by peterban

Hmmm.
I would have thought the thermo would come on with the resistor in place as it would send info of around 100 degrees to the ECU, so it would think that this was hot enough for the fans to be needed.
You did get 2k ( 2000 ohm resistors ) and not 2 ohm resistors.
You can tell by the coloured bands
see this link and this will tell you
http://www.the12volt.com/resistors/resistors.asp
but red, black, green and silver/gold should be 2000
and orange black green should be 3000

It turns out that the 3k was 3.9k and the 2k was 2.7K

We tried both!

GK

[peterban]

Resistors are not usually exact and have a fair bit of tolerance built in.

If I see a cluster in the for sale section I will know what has happened!!!!!

Probably best to pull the sender out and check it and also check the wiring behind the cluster.

Good luck and keep us posted

[peterban]

I note in the maual that if the sender is at fault it sends a code
C1781.
I notice that that code wasn't sent so probably not going to be the sender.

[GK]

Well I'm rather deflated.

I calling an auto elec to discuss what I'd been up to and he recommended (as did some here) that to save me a truckload of money (and them time) I should reinstall the original cluster, to rule out the sender being faulty.

I reluctantly agreed, knowing that if I did this, and the temp gauge worked, I was in for a fair bit more dough if I wanted this XR cluster in my car.

So I did it, thinking it would be difficult but it was pretty easy and the result?
Of course the temp gauge was working along happily.

So the outcome for now? I left it in! LOL! I changed the oil pressure sender back to the switch and I'll be happy with it, until I decide what to do next. LOL!

Darn mod bug!

I reset the computer, did the relearning procedure and viola, all fine in the world of AU, no LHM!

Darn mod bug!

GK

[JC]

Originally Posted by GK

Well I'm rather deflated.

I calling an auto elec to discuss what I'd been up to and he recommended (as did some here) that to save me a truckload of money (and them time) I should reinstall the original cluster, to rule out the sender being faulty.

I reluctantly agreed, knowing that if I did this, and the temp gauge worked, I was in for a fair bit more dough if I wanted this XR cluster in my car.

So I did it, thinking it would be difficult but it was pretty easy and the result?
Of course the temp gauge was working along happily.

So the outcome for now? I left it in! LOL! I changed the oil pressure sender back to the switch and I'll be happy with it, until I decide what to do next. LOL!

Darn mod bug!

I reset the computer, did the relearning procedure and viola, all fine in the world of AU, no LHM!

Darn mod bug!

GK

I'll be the first to say - told you so! : Though I didn't really, but I did say that it was hardly worth it. In the end, it's a shame it doesn't work, but you could get it fixed at VDO or somewhere like that. Then again, you might be better off re-selling that cluster on ebay, and going for an aftermarket oil pressure gauge mounted under the ashtray. Cheaper, and you know it will work.

[GK]

Originally Posted by JC

I'll be the first to say - told you so! : Though I didn't really, but I did say that it was hardly worth it. In the end, it's a shame it doesn't work, but you could get it fixed at VDO or somewhere like that. Then again, you might be better off re-selling that cluster on ebay, and going for an aftermarket oil pressure gauge mounted under the ashtray. Cheaper, and you know it will work.

Upon the lovely family trip to Canberra and upon meeting JC face to face for the first time I can see it all unfolding!

Hi George, nice to finally meet you. Whack! What'd hit me in the nose for?

Nah no harm, no foul. You have long been a pragmatist, saying that for the little extra you get, it's not really worth the expense. At this point, I'm happy to concede that you're probably right!

If the gauge had been working as it should've though, I'd be basking in the satisfaction of another successfully completed mod.

Darn mod bug! LOL!

GK

[JC]

LOL. Many people feel like that on first meeting me.

Hope you get it sorted one way or the other - the mod bug, I mean!

[GK]

Originally Posted by JC

LOL. Many people feel like that on first meeting me.

Hope you get it sorted one way or the other - the mod bug, I mean!

I wonder if antibiotics will help.

"Mr Kokonis, how can we help you today?"
"Yeah Doc, I've got a really bad bug!"



GK

[peterban]

I still can't work out why it took more than 400km before it sent the auto into LHM.
I would also check the info on the pin out ( wire colours ) change for the different clusters, obviously temp guage wires must be involved.

You are not the only one that has been thwarted by doing a mod. 3 broken screwdrivers are testiment to my steering wheel swap!!!!

You don't need to go to the Doc, there is no cure.

Glad to see at least no damage was done, other than to your wallet.

We should start a thread entitled JC's WOW ( words of wisdom ) LOL.

Hope to meet you guys one day ( next AU falcon BBQ ) to have a good laugh

[JC]

Originally Posted by peterban

We should start a thread entitled JC's WOW ( words of wisdom ) LOL.

It would be a one word thread! That's as much wisdom as I have! I just have lots of broken screwdrivers and the like.