MOONIE Gauge question

[DuallyDave]

I have an 89 c1500 with just two gauges and it S*cks!
Can I buy any 88-90 gauge cluster and is it a plug and play? Or do I need to move some wires? I know that I will need to buy the sensors as well. My other question is that my tranny is only a 3 speed. So can I swap my gear indicator into a swapped gauge cluster?

Thanks in advance!

 

[someotherguy]

88-90 are definitely the cutoff years. 91 will work with moving 3 wires in the connector.

You'll need the appropriate senders for all the gauges that you are gaining with the new cluster; the warning light senders will not work.

Not 100% sure if the necessary wires are in place for it to be a drop-in swap otherwise, but it probably is. I can't recall the last time I saw one of those with just the warning lights so my experience in the associated wiring is pretty limited.

Yes, the gear indicator will simply swap over, just a few screws to take that area of the cluster apart.

Unless the donor cluster comes from a truck with the same gear ratio and original tire size as yours, you'll need to recalibrate the speedometer. I did a write-up on this for the 88-91 clusters a while back, pretty sure it's posted here. If not it's over on Chevytalk in the 88-98 truck section and is linked in the FAQ.

Richard

 

[DuallyDave]

88-90 are definitely the cutoff years. 91 will work with moving 3 wires in the connector.

You'll need the appropriate senders for all the gauges that you are gaining with the new cluster; the warning light senders will not work.

Not 100% sure if the necessary wires are in place for it to be a drop-in swap otherwise, but it probably is. I can't recall the last time I saw one of those with just the warning lights so my experience in the associated wiring is pretty limited.

Yes, the gear indicator will simply swap over, just a few screws to take that area of the cluster apart.

Unless the donor cluster comes from a truck with the same gear ratio and original tire size as yours, you'll need to recalibrate the speedometer. I did a write-up on this for the 88-91 clusters a while back, pretty sure it's posted here. If not it's over on Chevytalk in the 88-98 truck section and is linked in the FAQ.

Richard

Great!
Thanks for the info

 

[DuallyDave]

88-90 are definitely the cutoff years. 91 will work with moving 3 wires in the connector.

You'll need the appropriate senders for all the gauges that you are gaining with the new cluster; the warning light senders will not work.

Not 100% sure if the necessary wires are in place for it to be a drop-in swap otherwise, but it probably is. I can't recall the last time I saw one of those with just the warning lights so my experience in the associated wiring is pretty limited.

Yes, the gear indicator will simply swap over, just a few screws to take that area of the cluster apart.

Unless the donor cluster comes from a truck with the same gear ratio and original tire size as yours, you'll need to recalibrate the speedometer. I did a write-up on this for the 88-91 clusters a while back, pretty sure it's posted here. If not it's over on Chevytalk in the 88-98 truck section and is linked in the FAQ.

Richard

I found the write up! Great article.
http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/258562

Great!
Thanks for the info

 

[DuallyDave]

I did the swap. I got a cluster from an 88 to put in my 89. Speedometer works but is about 8 MPHs off. I understand that I need to modify the board to match my old board. I haven't put any sensors in for the gauges yet my oil gauge pegs out when I start the motor. I unplugged the sensor and it still does it. And the Volts gauge seems to work but bounces around when the flashers are on. Does this seem right?

Im doing a coolant flush tomorrow (weather permitting) and will be replacing the temp gauge then.

 

[Justin S]

By 2 gauges do you mean the Speedo and fuel level? I have one if those, along with one that has the volts, coolant temp and oil pressure. Those are plug and play. If you want a tach then you need to do wiring

 

[Justin S]

I did the swap. I got a cluster from an 88 to put in my 89. Speedometer works but is about 8 MPHs off. I understand that I need to modify the board to match my old board. I haven't put any sensors in for the gauges yet my oil gauge pegs out when I start the motor. I unplugged the sensor and it still does it. And the Volts gauge seems to work but bounces around when the flashers are on. Does this seem right?

Im doing a coolant flush tomorrow (weather permitting) and will be replacing the temp gauge then.

Volt gauges on the older ones always move a little, usually a poor ground somewhere. The oil pressure switch will read maxed out when unplugged or open. You might have a bad sensor or broken wire.

 

[DuallyDave]

The old temp switch has one wire. When it's grounded, the gauge goes to hot. The new switch has two wires. I'm guessing that one gets mated to the original and the other goes to ground. Is this correct?

 

[Justin S]

The old temp switch has one wire. When it's grounded, the gauge goes to hot. The new switch has two wires. I'm guessing that one gets mated to the original and the other goes to ground. Is this correct?

no, you have the wrong sensor, that one is for the ecm, not the gauge.

 

[DuallyDave]

no, you have the wrong sensor, that one is for the ecm, not the gauge.

It does look like the ecm temp switch.
Autozone, Advance doesn't know what the difference is. Except the single terminal does say switch instead of aensor.