So I have a dash light that's burnt out and I was looking into what it takes to replace them and found I basically have to take the entire dash apart and remove the instrument cluster (2000 2.5L manual) Since I have a manual transmission and no tach, I was wondering what would be involved in switching over to a new cluster with one. Would the wiring for the tach be in place? From what i see it would be, anyone know for sure? What would have to be done about the odometer? Just swap mine into the new cluster? I can live without the bulbs, so the only reason I would go through all the effort would be if i could gain a tach on a manual shift truck. I don't know why they would ever put in an instrument cluster without one in the first place. And yes I know I can just wire one up and mount it somewhere, but if I can kill 2 problems at once it makes the work more worthwhile.

 

Not a lot of information here but could be the answer

https://www.ranger-forums.com/genera...e-help-142818/

 

Yes, you can swap in another Ranger cluster with a tach, tach was optional so cost more on base models, so some people didn't add it

The wiring for the tach is already in the cluster plugs on ALL Ranger so its almost plug and play

You can use a cluster from 1996-2003 Ranger, 1996-2001 Explorer, 1995's can be rewired to work but..................why bother?

The number of cylinders in the engine matters to the tach, but Ford made that pretty easy
Tach has 3 settings, 4cyl, V6 and V8
This is done by grounding or ungrounding pins on the 3 connectors on the back of the cluster

If you get a cluster from a 4cyl then its plug and play
If from a V6 Ranger or Explorer then you need to remove a ground wire, or cut it

Read here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/genera...ay-off-123349/
Post #2 has the instructions


Yes, you can swap odometers

You can also get a manual cluster or Black out the P R N D L at the bottom of an automatic cluster while its out

 

Thanks Ron, If I'm reading this right the changes would have to be made in the harness, not the instrument cluster "assuming that you have a V6 dash harness transplanted into your 2000 2.5 truck, you'd need to disconnect the black/yellow ground from pin 8 of C216." So as long as I'm using my stock harness it seems I don't have to do anything. So what's all this I'm reading online about having to have them calibrated to your vehicle and and giving them VIN numbers and mileage to get them set correctly, or even paying core fees and having to send back the old ones for refurbished ones?

 

C216 is one of the 3 connectors on the back of the cluster, so yes part of the harness

If you look at the diagram, and C216 pin 8, you will see it is a Ground and labelled (3.0l/4.0l), so this would be removed or cut if its there, on your harness, it should NOT be there because you have a 2.5l 4cyl, but it might be

As far as I know there were only 2 or 3 harnesses for the cab, and they were OPTION specific not engine specific
So were for XL or XLT models, each had standard package wiring and then the options that could be added to that model
All would have the tach wire in place, but not sure if the ground was removed for the 4cyl, I would think so BUT................you do need to look