98 Ranger xlt reg cab stepside. 2wd, 2.5L, 5 speed

Went to the junkyard today to get some parts. I had the wagon full and still had some time, so I decided to finally swap out my old tachless cluster for one with a tach. Out of the 5 or 6 rangers at the yard, none of them had a good cluster. So I went to the explorer row. There was about 10 explorers and mountaineers ranging from 1995 to 2001. I came across a 97 eddie baurer explorer with 166k miles on it This explorer had all the bells and whistles, including a really nice ohc with a digital readout and also a digital readout where the shifter is in my truck. Pretty much every option you could get in the explorer at the time. However the cluster was black faced and looked the same as all the others.

Most of the dash was taken apart so I went for it because of its ease of removal. I paid 21 bucks for it and took it home. I swapped out all the bulbs with new ones and installed it in my truck. Before I put my dash back together, I tested it. It lights up blue instead of green! I never knew there were any stock blue clusters from those years. Whatever, thats cool. There was also a warning light that said "fuel reset" or "reset fuel". One of those. It was top dead center on the cluster. I let the truck run for a little while and it stayed on. So I pulled the cluster back out and removed the bulb from the little bulb holder and put the holder back in its spot. I also did this for the airbag light bc my light stays on bc of the classic 27 code, which is the code for when the airbag switch light burns out.

So I get everything put back together and take it for a ride. All the gauges work great, including the tach. However after about a minute of driving, a beeping sound started going off. It's not the door ajar or headlights left on sound. I put my seat belt on and that didn't stop it. It's a beeping sound, coming from the cluster that goes off for about 5 seconds, then stops for 30 seconds, then repeats. I really like the cluster and would like to keep it, but I can't live with this sound all the time. What can I do to shut it off? What is the sound? I'm guessing it has something to do with some crazy option the explorer had that my truck doesn't. Just tell me where the speaker is and I will stab it with a screw driver.

Sorry for the long writeup, but I wanted to make sure I included all necessary info to figure this one out. Thanks in advance.

Also, if anyone wants my old cluster, its yours. Just pick it up or pay for shipping. It has 232k miles on it and no tach, but works perfect. I also swapped out the blank black plate into the new cluster and put the P R N D 2 1 thing into this one. Just let me know.


EDIT: Just drove it around a little bit and the beeping stopped. But directly after I noticed the speedo wasn't working. Honestly, I don't remember if it ever worked. But on the only other test drive I took, i didn't notice it not working. So now my question is, why is the speedo not working. Did I do somthing wrong or is it just defective. Thanks

 

i believe the beeping is because u pulled the air bag light

 

Dave is correct. the beeping is due to the airbag light being out of the cluster. it will continue to beep for as long as your have the truck on. i think it comes back ever 30 minutes or so. replace the bulb in the dash and in the passenger switch and everything will be good.

as far as the blue color, rangers and explorers had blue illumination from 95-97. 98 is when they went green.

 

is my speedo not working because I removed those bulbs

 

anyone have any info on why my speedo isn't working before I take it out and go back to the junkyard. please help!

 

lol if it worked b4 then probably
try it

use google or the search here

 

speedo doesn't have anything to do with the bulbs out. does the odometer work? could be not plugged in all the way, or the GEM module. check all the fuses first. there is one that controls a lot of the gauge functions.

 

i put the bulbs back in and it still doesn't work. The odometer doesn't work either. I put my old one back in and the speedo and odometer work fine. All the connections are fine. I am guessing it is just a faulty cluster.

 

sounds like it. you may be able to swap your speedo into the new cluster if they are both the same style (ie clusters with tachs)

 

I took the 97 cluster back to the junkyard and pulled one out of a regular 98 explorer. Hooked it up and it works fine. lights up green like the rest of my dash as well. grabbed a mint condition rear bumper for $27 too.