fishy Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I just picked up a 99 Foz parts car on the cheap and it has a nice tachometer in the guage cluster. It also has the same dash as my 98 Impreza Brighton. I'm fairly sure the cluster would physically swap into my Impreza but is there an existing plug or wire or something there to hook up the tach to my brighton? Bonus point questions: If I can hook the tach up at all... Can the odometer be swapped to retain correct mileage or would it be smarter to swap the tach only? I haven't compared the two clusters super closely yet but I'm getting tired of that big blank panel that says "Subaru" where my tach should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 I still haven't had a chance to turn any bolts and screws on this job but I put a measuring tape across both clusters. What I learned was that the Foz tach is too big to fit the blank hole in my Impreza cluster. The good news is that the speedo/odo gauge looks identical in size and layout between the two so I hope my Imp unit will swap into the Foz and THEN I can move the cluster in. I'm still wondering (anybody?) if there is something in my Impreza Brighton to plug the tachometer into or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 The tach signal is a generated signal that is produced by the ECU from the crank sensor input - it is present on all ECU's so you should be able to run a wire if it's not in the harness. The speedo head incorporates the odometer so you would have to swap the whole speedo head. It will likely work but I've never tried it personally. I do know the speedo heads on those years were seperate and can be replaced without replacing the entire cluster so it should be possible. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Thanks for the tips! I was thinking the speedo and odometer looked like a nice little package. I'll update my thread here whenever I get around to actually swapping the thing out. I was under the hood of the impreza investigating oil leaks and gnarly sounds today instead. Ain't old subarus great? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 Another evening at home, another lesson learned from Subaru... I pulled the clusters out of both cars and they were (of course) physically the same fit, same harness plugs and everything. Then I pulled both clusters apart and realized that behind the overlay/bezel thing the speedo/odo part of each cluster was a different shape. The Impreza brighton unit is attached to the fuel gauge and was a different shape and wouldn't swap into the Forester cluster at all. So I had the brilliant idea of just trying the whole Foz cluster in the Impreza dash. It all plugged in nicely and with a turn of the key it did SWEET F@#K ALL! I think one of the blinkers sort of lit up a little but that was it. So that's about all I can do with that I guess. Epic Fail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieresurrect Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I am trying to do the same thing at the moment but I have a legacy Brighton. I have heard that you can take a legacy gauge cluster out and put it in a brighton with no probs. Try an look for one from a regular imprezza if you want the tach. Also you can usually get an after market tach and if you find the wire off the ECU that inputs for the tach you can just hard wire it into that and have a tach. I have done this on other cars not a Subaru so dont quote me on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 You can. The wire is there for you to plug a tach up on the legacy cluster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subieresurrect Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Sweet thanks for the info!! 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.