jesse's b2200 mexican cadillac beater..

preliminary investigation

good and bad news

bad:
- that plastic mount i want isn't just a mount, it holds a few more things.
- the whole assembly is different enough that i can't just do a quick swap and be done

good:
- not as hard to get at as i thought
- documented on paper where things go and such
- the plastic piece i want looks to be obtainable from the automatic cluster, and just swap that over, will require a bit of work though.

as usual, pics:

use small screwdriver to remove this clock adjuster


this knob just pulls off


here's the small screwdriver :p


tabs hold the front plastic on, at worst i get to clean this front and back


front piece removed


cluster w/ tach rear


cluster w/ tach rear, bulbs removed.


cluster w/ tach bulbs


cluster w/ tach bulbs documented


cluster w/ tach bulbs documented


a few screws later, speedo removed out the front


front of it


rear of automatic cluster with no tach


the plastic around the spline that i want, so the speedo cable can clip on


speedo removed, same couple of screws basically


comparison of the 2, mine on left, new one on right


my current speedo reading, if i can set the new one to this i'd be overly happy


interesting info on the new speedo, 637rev = 1km



so i've found there's extra plastic on the bottom of the new speedo to hold the extra wires and such, but it looks like there's 2 pieces of plastic, and the top piece that i want is exactly the same on both.

this means i have to dissassemble it a bit more to swap it over, but if i do it carefully i don't think i'll have a problem.

i have to be able to remove the speedo face to do it though, and i don't know offhand how to remove the needle (don't want to just yank and possibly break it)

updates later as i progress.......

Damn boo you just jump right in there. Friggin awsome man. Good luck and keep us posted.

thats some good work. way more than i would have done. i would have given up when i seen the plastic missing. youre an effin trooper....lol

well crazymikey used it with the plastic missing, but i feared since we were having so much trouble getting the speedo to work in my truck that it would loosen and fall out on me under regular driving, so i wanted it clipped

my current automatic cluster is back together, and all i have left to do on the one with tach is fix the km's.... since i have to spin it one at a time (i'm definitely not delving deeper and possibly ruining that) then i'm going to only roll it to it's 2xx,xxx equivalent, so i'll know it's 100,000 off it's real km.. that'll work for me. (276,546)

the only way i can think of doing it faster is pulling the spline out of the tach i won't use anymore and attaching it to something much like a drill attachment, and using that to spin it... i also don't wan tot risk the splines on this one though since it's plastic they could wear with faster operation too.... so i'll keep going as i am :/
it's at 281,xxx right now so this will take me awhile but i'll be much happier with it when i'm done.

i didn't take too many more pics since those kind of show how to roll back your km's, take note which i DO NOT condone doing illegitimately. i am posting publicly that i only want it to be what my previous tach was, so i am not trying to cheat or lie doing this.

so apparently i'm a smart idiot

i put it all together.... odometer worked, but speedo didn't... SO confused.
then i remember, i turned the needle 1 turn to create tension so it would come back down to zero - dumb idea. the magnet inside used to turn the needle is a weak one, and didn't have the strength to do it.

tag this one to idiot.

i brought it back in, disassembled it, figured it out, and reassembled it in a matter of 10-15min and it's working now!!!

tag this one to smart (cause it friggin works)


2 issues still kind of remain, neither of which is a concern for me anymore (at least, for now):

1. speedo may not display the correct speed - this will NOT affect the odometer since that clicks purely on number of rotations in behind, and if anything the speeo will show a faster speed than i'm actually going (which will keep me from speeding as much). hence not much of a concern.

2. odometer never sat straight when i got it, and still doesn't. i dunno if it skipped a tooth on the spline or what... i have to look crooked at it to read it. not much of a concern because i usually only look periodically when filling up gas, for oil changes, and mto reporting... and it CAN still be read for those, just not straight on


in any case i'm super happy it works otherwise, and now i know how to get at it, in it, and fix it if need be

i have a few pics on camera right now, might take one of it lit up cause it's quite a bit brighter than the last cluster

interesting note:
the faces from the cluster without tach are metal, the ones form cluster with tach are plastic. same company, the metal ones are actually from an older vehicle... cheaper production costs maybe?


last pics for now at least...

speedo assembly


speedo face


odometer removed


everything disassembled


the automatic without tach disassembled


the automatic without tach disassembled more


without tach reassembled rear


without tach reassembled front


lit up in truck (yes clock is wrong)

Well ,did everything work on the gauges and speedo when reassembled? Looks good. I love the big numbers...180 if only these trucks were capable of 180 and I mean MPH not KPH. -ED

yes everything works

i have to fine tune a couple things tomorrow.
1. speedo needle should be a bit lower
2. odometer can be fixed, i now know how, and how to get it to proper number of km's too!

hopefully the odometer will change correctly after i make the adjustment.. and hope the gears within aren't screwed up :/

i just set my automatic to 000,000km as a test, and it works great and rolls over exactly at 1.0 on the trip meter

i will be setting the real tach at the real km's though, as i said above i don't want to fake it

Nice, I was just reading page 1 over and realized I am a dumb ass and asked a question you had already answered. Congrats on a successful journey. -ED

good job man. and youre right, dem bitches are brighter.