MoscowSubaruDude Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Well... the speedometer on my digi-dash is retarded. It reads a range of speeds... for example, at 35 mph, it will read 28, 97, 72, 12, 9, etc, etc. I checked under the car on the tranny, there are two sets of wires coming off of it, both of them seem to be intact... without a manual, I haven't the foggiest notion of where to begin... anyone had this problem before? I want this fixed, had it this way for a month now, it's getting old. Getting pulled over left and right, because this car is faster than it seems... and without the speedo, it takes too much concentration to keep it legal. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 The speedo on the digi-dash is still cable driven. The cable may be starting to go. Pull the cable off the transmission, and pull the inner drive shaft out - you can replace it by just slideing a new drive shaft into the cable. If that doesn't fix it, then the problem is electronic inside the dash unit itself. Would probably be easiest just to locate another cluster and install it if that's the case. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 I live 4 minutes away from a junkyard that has several EA-82 cars with the analog dash... how hard is it, wiring-wise, to swap the two? I'd much prefer the analog, for simple aesthetic reasons, I hate the digital crap. Is it just a direct swap, wires/cables/whatnot? or do i need to do a custom wiring harness? either way, it's probably what will happen, but i'll just do a temporary fix on the speedo. Where's this cable thing? top? bottom? back? front? didn't see anything remotely resembling a cable when i was under there, but I need to get a pressure washer, as the whole thing is literally smothered in dirt. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 You need to custom wire it in. If you can find wiring diagrams for both dashes, you'll need to find what wires go where. Also, the fuel senders are different. Also, the digi dashes don't have a variable oil pressure sender, they just have a dummy light, so you'll need to switch oil pressure senders. If you have a trip computer with the range function, it will be off (cuz of a different fuel sender). I contemplate every day switching dashes in my XT. I hate the digi dash. As cool as my friends think it is. Btw, I can scan in the wiring diagrams for an 86, and hopefully soon to have an 88 manual if you need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Is the wiring any different between the various years? I've an 87 GL-10 Turbo, S/R 5mt... trip computer is busted up, just hanging by the harness, i'll wind up gutting it out too. I'd love to do the dash though... any wiring diagrams would be great. Is the tach signal the same as well? or is that custom as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 I dunno if the wiring is any different. There were two styles of digidashes, 85-86 had the amber colored, and 87+ (?) had the green colored. Those probably have different wiring. Analog dashes though, I dunno. I'd assume they're the same throughout the years. Tach signal should be the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Yeah, I've got the green one... the only real beef I have with the digital is the speedo issue, and the blinding light at night... the dimmer switch doesn't work, it's either full on or full off... if i could fix the light issue i'd keep it:P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 The amber one sucks in the daytime to read. That's the biggest reason I wanna get rid of mine. I have so much trouble reading that dash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill90Loyale Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Well... the speedometer on my digi-dash is retarded. So is my brother. And a bunch of other brothers and sisters out there. How about trying a different approach to getting a laugh out of the ignorant. Thanks. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Pardon the use of that particular term there, Bill. No offense was intended. To make it very clear, you're not the only one with 'retarded' brothers and sisters. Developmentally delayed, if you prefer that. I'm not a very politically correct person, and my apologies if that offended you. I'm not a complete ogre. Moving on to the original purpose of this here thread. I played around with the tranny side of the cable, it was quite tight in the tranny, and lacking the proper tools to take it out (operating with a crescent wrench atm) I left it in there... however, the cable looks peachy all the way around, so the last thing I can think of to check is the gear. Might it be applecored? I read somewhere that if the seal on the tranny end of the cable lets go, you wind up goobering up your speedo due to leakage on the dash side... is there any way to diagnose that without gutting my dash? Thanks a ton. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 There is no gear on the cable - it's a spade drive. The cable is probably starting to fail internally. Disconnect it from the tranny (unscrew it), and pull the cable out of it's housing. Replaceing it with an analog cluster, while possible, is probably one of the worst wireing disasters I've ever experienced. I did that with my 84, and got it mostly working. It's not just a matter of wireing - you need both schematics, and you will spend hours and hours mapping out the wireing, labeling etc. The circuits are different in some cases, and either will not work at all, or need diodes added to the circuit. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 Moscow man.. hey, have you noticed those initials are MSD? anyhow, i also have an 87 GL10 with digidash, and I also hate it with the burning firy of a thousand suns. I, however, have decided to cope with the digi.. but should you replace it and find its not such a chore on our model (since the only difference is trans, 2wd and non turbo) then it might enhearten me in my own endeavours. Please, if you get it done (even if just the speedo, tach, and fuel gauge) let me know. I was thinking the other day and felt that one could probably cut spaces out where the stock analog water oil and voltage are and just replace them with small aftermarket gauges.. thusly improving the accuracy of your reading and avoiding adding a gauge pod.. which i hate. oh, and simplifying the task of the "conversion" as you can ignore the oil, volt, and temp circuits entirely.... btw, i dont know, but i *think* the speedo problem you were thinking of, with the oil seal, is just an EA-81 model issue. am i right people? i know ive read about this before, its an issue involving a speedo that either flips all the way to top speed, or something... anyhow, thats part of our world tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted August 15, 2006 Author Share Posted August 15, 2006 Well, actually, my intention is to totally gut the instrument panel, and replace everything with brushed stainless steel. Tachometer square in the middle, perhaps a 5 inch one with light, speedo as a 3-inch on the right side, put the boost/fuel/temp in a guage pod on the pillar, and put a wideband o2 sensor on the left side... nicely rounded instrument set, and when I get it done i'll toss you the part numbers and how I did it and whatnot. I don't think I'll be doing the analog conversion though, considering what a previous gentleman mentioned on here, about diodes and all that jazz. I can handle electric theory just fine, but I'm a nuts and bolts type of guy. So I think I'll just stick to my custom job, which, in the end, will probably prove easier, considering I just have to route my wires and hook up my sensors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 well GD was talking about a swap he had done which invloved different model years, and i think maybe even different models, and it was an earlier car (82-3??) that he had all the diode soldering issues on... and ive heard its not THAT complicated on the later cars.. but its complicated in similar ways. me, i hate the idea of separate gauge pods. I would be mounting the tach, speedo, and gauges inside an old analog pod if i could. retain stock fuel gauge, replace volts water and oil, and the tach and speedo. then get a little horizontal LED display stoichiometer. (mixture gauge, i always call em that. i love the term "stoich") then youve got all you need for your standard motor in the dash, and a single boost gauge could go on the steering column.. or I still like the idea of the gauges mounted down in the center console, below the ashtray where the trip computer got relocated to on later years... but thats only an option if you dont have the later model, with the trip computer down there, i suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Yeah - the EA81 is the one I did with the diode stuff (which I suspect is partially because I really wanted the '80 cluster instead of the 82-84 cluster) - but the later models have some circuits that are different in other ways that make them similarly complex to convert. Things that expect a ground control, but all you have are 12v lines.... stuff like that. I spent probably a solid 30+ man hours over the course of a month converting mine, and I had FSM's for both years. One real problem you ARE going to have is the fuel guage. There aren't any aftermarket guages that can handle the stock sending unit. You will have the change the sender in the tank to something else - not impossible on the EA82's, but will requre some hand wringing and teeth gnashing. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.