Removing AE101 instrument cluster

[aesc]

I have ordered a shift light which should be arriving this week and I am going to need to take out the instrument cluster to get a tacho signal and feed wiring through too as im not keen on having wires visible running over my dash

So has anyone taken the cluster out on these? I havent tried doing it as yet but just thought id check to see if there are anything to watch out for. Any tips would be good, maybe even a step by step guide if your real keen

Cheers

[AceSniper]

might be just as easy to drop the wires behinde/in the dash an wire it into the tach wire on the ecu prolly eayer to find.

To remove the dash just pop (2-3clips) the black plastic part above it off (the roof of the lil hood that comes over ur cluster) and under there u have the screws...

[aesc]

might be just as easy to drop the wires behinde/in the dash an wire it into the tach wire on the ecu prolly eayer to find.

Yeah thats what i originally thought but there isnt much room to get at the ECU loom, its pretty tight under there!

Which wire from the ecu would a get the signal from? I have a pinout diagram from club4ag. From that it shows that wires NE, G1, G2 and G- all go to the distributor, so which is the one I need to tap into? ie negative coil feed?

[rollas22]

taking the instrument cluster out in my ae101levin was quite easy.

1st: remove the top cover about the cluster with a flat screw driver its on clips so pops out.

2nd: there will be 3 screws up the top holding the cluster onto the dash, remove these and then the cluster shud be free.

3rd: turn the cluster on a few angles and riggle it out becarefull of the loom that goes into the back of the cluster these are short looms dont travel much distance, so reach around and unclip them out of the cluster.

4th: should be all out and free.

Id sugest to drill a hole through the dash and use a rubber gromet to clean it all up and run the wires through that, will look professional and impresive. also easy to do.

[thaphatty]

i used the air vent on the right hand side of that dash to feed the wires through

[aesc]

Thanks rollas22, that was exactly what I was after.

[Loudtoy]

I have ordered a shift light which should be arriving this week and I am going to need to take out the instrument cluster to get a tacho signal and feed wiring through too as im not keen on having wires visible running over my dash

So has anyone taken the cluster out on these? I havent tried doing it as yet but just thought id check to see if there are anything to watch out for. Any tips would be good, maybe even a step by step guide if your real keen

Cheers

You could go behind the dash or to the ecu as someone else said they both about the same deree od dificulty to do so up to you if you like lying down or siting upright while you do it! For the wire to tap into if it's a gizzmo unit use the one they recomend on the wiring diagram and if it is one of the new ones you will also need a power booster - ask toymad about the problems we had with his one which is now running sweet apart from the launch interface which according to gizzmo isn't toyota compatible yet but they are working on some software to make it compatible at the moment!
If not i'm not sure without looking

[agrath]

is the ecu loom the one under the steering wheel column above where my feet go? easy to remove the cover - 3 or 4 screws... if this is the case, any clue what wire is the tacho?
i think the gizzmo diagram shows a different loom to this...

[minijrocks]

just mount it to the right and tap into the "electric mirror" console bit. and trhen get the coil from the engine bay (this is easy i got pics - fool proof). My wires just hide under the elec mirror bit that clips back in, doesn't look to bad and no drilling. only took me about an hour.

[aesc]

You could go behind the dash or to the ecu as someone else said they both about the same deree od dificulty to do so up to you if you like lying down or siting upright while you do it!For the wire to tap into if it's a gizzmo unit use the one they recomend on the wiring diagram

The light isnt anything fancy, just a cheapie i bought off autospeed, its basically just an LED with a bezel around it. I didnt want anything too obvious like an autometer/autogauge one sticking off my dash as they are quite big. I want to mount it under the dash lid that goes over the cluster so hence the reason why i wanna take the cluster out to hid wires and make connections etc. Ive looked at tapping it into the ECU loom but theres not much room under there to move! Prob prefer to sit up

just mount it to the right and tap into the "electric mirror" console bit. and trhen get the coil from the engine bay (this is easy i got pics - fool proof). My wires just hide under the elec mirror bit that clips back in, doesn't look to bad and no drilling. only took me about an hour.

minijrocks, i cant connect it upto the coil, as mine is a gtz with twin coils, i would only get half the rpm signal. Also, i cant really mount it to the right like you have done cos my boost gauge is in the way as its pillar mounted

Oh well Ill see how I go.

Thanks for your replies all

[AceSniper]

mount it like i mounted my VVT light... the roof of the cluster that u pop off to get at the screws... drill a hole in the center of it an put it there... then when it comes on it lights up around ur instrument cluster... itll work fine aslong as there is enuff room behinde it... fine for a 5mm LED pends how deep ur light goes.

[aesc]

Thats not a bad idea and would work quite well. I havent got the light yet so will see when I get it if it fits under there. Another place Ive thought about mounting it is on my boost gauge A pillar mount.

Ok so in case I decide to hook it up at the ECU, which is the negative wire running from the distributor (CAS)?

- NE
- G1
- G2
- G-