'95 vs '98 Gauge Clusters - Thoughts

[98chevy2500SS]

Hello,

For some reason, I have the urge to install a '95 gauge cluster. But my question is, is it worth it?

1995:

You must be registered for see images

1998:

You must be registered for see images

All of a sudden, my RPM needle light has been flickering on and off and my blue led is starting to flicker on and off. Just didn't know what you guy's thoughts were on the clusters. Another thing I have wondered was, why the '95s little gauge needles were white, whereas my old '98s cluster had orange needles? The '95s was definitely the oddest year in the GMT400 pickups, it was all by itself.

 

[BoxerPitMix]

I don't know how accurate this is, but I'm not sure the fuel gauge on the 95 cluster will work on your 98. I had hell trying to figure out why my 97 police cluster wouldn't work in my 99 Yukon until I did some digging.

One thing in particular I read:
"Starting in 1998 gas senders were not directly connected to gauge anymore. The sender goes to the PCM and is processed there before going back to the gauge cluster. That means that the PCM now is a factor in the problem and unfortunately there is no tech data to isolate it as the cause except that you have to check sender and gauge individually. If they and the wiring both check out find then it would be assumed the PCM is at fault.

Here is the thread I started on it if you want to take a look.

http://www.gmt400.com/threads/130mph-cluster-fuel-gauge-problems.29005/


But if you can pick up an older cluster cheap, may be worth it to just plug it in and try it out?

 

[LS6rally]

the entire communication ssystems are most likely differenmt from 95 to 96+. 96 was the start of OBDII and the Vortec engine line. i woul dbe suprosed if any of it besides the speedo worked as it should. but if you can score one for cheap, like said above, why not try it

 

[98chevy2500SS]

Yeah I was thinking about trying it, I actually got the cluster with my '95 3/4 parts truck for free.

 

[retorq]

I swapped the clusters that you're showing. I took out my 5K Tach 95 cluster and stuck in a 6K 96+ cluster when I did my Vortec head swap. EVERYTHING works fine, Tach, speedo, all 4 gauges with the exception of the PRND indicator. It no longer lights up, it's driven off the electronics on the side of the tranny, not off a needle attached to the arm like older trucks had. I also lost cruise control after this swap. I still have the old cluster and circuit board. I was going to pull this one that's not 100% and compare the two. At the very least since everything else was working fine I should be able to swap the circuit board back and have a fully functioning cluster. You may want to try this prior to committing. I also swapped the needles on mine. I have a white face overlay with white needles. looks good at night.

 

[98chevy2500SS]

Yeah I tried the cluster and didn't like it. The one thing that bugged me the most was the Fuel needle was a little jittery. My cluster that I grabbed off my '99 parts Burb doesn't do that and neither did my previous one. My previous one ended up being screwed up, when I went 55, it went 65, even on 265/75r16 tires, the right size for it. Once I swapped clusters, it finally went back to normal. Goes 60 instead of 55 because I have shorter tires.