gauge cluster swap

[longhorn71]

I have an 87 blazer with the idiot lights dash and i want to swap to gagues.Anybody know what wores need to be moved around on the connector?I was told it was a plug and play deal(with sender swap as well)but the temp gauge moves with the left singal light indactaor and the volt gauges is the right indacator so much for plug and play

[Captkaos]

Definitely not a plug and go swap. I use a Haynes manual for swapping.

[crossy]

different wiring behind the cluster. I'm SUPOSSED to be the dash guru here and the last IDIOT light swap i did ,on a truck to sell, i actually installed all cheapie 2" aftermarket gauges into. I didn't feel like buying all the senders and looking up all the differnt wires . some of the colors even changed from Idiot light to gauge wiring. DAVE

[tkeduk8r]

well, its actuallypretty easy, just tedious... I did the swap on my 74, and only a few wires were different... I had both clusters out and compared the circuit board patterns from one to the other... each elect. gauge needs a hot, ground, and the sending wire.. many times the hot and ground circuits connect between more than one gauge... if there is only one dedicated connection between the dash connector and the gauge, its the sender wire... I had the diagram of how i did it, but recently discovered it had coffee spilled on it and is now pretty much unreadable... but if i can do it you can too.. you will need the gauge approprate sensors for the oil pressure and the temp gauges to work properly... if you have any questions while doing htis let me know.. OH i made the changes by using a jewelers screwdriver to change the position of the wires in the male dash connector...
--Mike

[crossy]

Originally Posted by tkeduk8r

well, its actuallypretty easy, just tedious... I did the swap on my 74, ... but if i can do it you can too..
--Mike

Mike Mike Mike, c-mon your a daggone auto TECH teacher.
hey i see by your sig that you dropped a 305/200 in place of the old straight six.
drop me line at the same old all4trux@snip.net and let me know how your making out.
As long as you are still in Minn. go by the Vikings field and ask them what the heck happened to them this year ?????????? Kick Dante in the A$$ and tell him it's from me--then run of course. Dont worry there is no one on the team this year that could catch you :-)
I've been waiting for those losers to win a super bowl for me for more years than most of the guys on this forum have been alive.
DAVE

[wildmanaaron]

Originally Posted by tkeduk8r

well, its actuallypretty easy, just tedious... I did the swap on my 74, and only a few wires were different... I had both clusters out and compared the circuit board patterns from one to the other... each elect. gauge needs a hot, ground, and the sending wire.. many times the hot and ground circuits connect between more than one gauge... if there is only one dedicated connection between the dash connector and the gauge, its the sender wire... I had the diagram of how i did it, but recently discovered it had coffee spilled on it and is now pretty much unreadable... but if i can do it you can too.. you will need the gauge approprate sensors for the oil pressure and the temp gauges to work properly... if you have any questions while doing htis let me know.. OH i made the changes by using a jewelers screwdriver to change the position of the wires in the male dash connector...
--Mike

I have the Haynes manual that alot of people have recommended,but I cannot seem to find all of the answers. I have a 1981 Blazer with the two dummy lights at the bottom. The previous owner had installed two Sunpro gauges for the Temperature and the Oil Pressure.

The guage cluster that I bought to replace the dummy set-up is from a 1987 TBI Truck.The way that the speedometer is held on the back of the gauge is different between the two. The one that came out of my Blazer attaches to the plastic housing, while the other cluster has a clip on the back of the gauge itself to hold the cable in???