Best Mod i've done so far

[chetzar]

Best mod so far = new instrument cluster with the spedometer that goes over 100k! I love it. Old one read 037XX (had just rolled over for the second time, used to drive me NUTS that it only read up to 99k). Had the good ole floatin needle syndrome at 60+. New one reads 230k, but it looks sooo much better. Also while I had the dash appart, since the previous owner scratched up the black paint around the stereo, I painted the whole peice black with the Krylon fusion satin finish. Was afraid it would end up glossy or sticky, but it was an exact match, looks soo much nicer all black instead of half black/grey.

 

[Maniak]

Pics

And what did the new Speedo/Odometer cluster come out of? (what year etc)..

I just solve this issue on our with a label maker.. but I would like to have it be real too.

~Mark

 

[chetzar]

Will grab some pics when I get off work. Came out of a 94 Explorer, only problem with it is the Amp gauge doesn't work, but eh ohwell, its not that big of a deal to me.

 

[BrianDye]

If its a 94...switch the amp gauge section from both clusters...they just pull out its like metal prongs that just stick in the cluster behind the gauge itself

 

[chetzar]

I'll look at that when I get home, I threw the old one away, but it still on top of all the grass n **** I threw it on.

 

[fixxxer]

Ya, there are like 2 screws holding the ammeter module in place but easy to remove from the front. I need one of those for my 93 X. Every time I look at my odometer, I wonder why the hell did they do that. Did they anticipate that the truck would never reach 100,000 miles? Did they have so little faith in this model? Gotta wonder about their engineering processes sometimes...

 

[doonze]

If you've ever worked for a big company it goes something like this. Someone who is trying to justify their paycheck (these are the people who know nothing about your department or how your job works or even what your job is, but they somehow have the authority to make huge changes in your daily work life that mostly just make things much worse.) Anyway, they are sitting around sweating the fact that someone is gonna figure out they don't DO anything soon so they gotta find SOMETHING to change or mess with so they can justify their paycheck for another 6 months. So someone came up with the idea "I wonder how much we would save if we only had 5 digit OD's instead of 6?" So after 6 months of research, focus groups, and mock up testing (and $800,000 later) they figure out they can save $400,000 in cost if they lose the 6th digit. So it gets dropped...

Course no one points out the net LOSS was $400,000..... But someone got to justify their paycheck! Probably got a raise and a VP corner penthouse office also!!

 

[chetzar]

Is there any reason the Voltmeter gauge on my newly installed dash not working could cause my alternator to not charge my battery? I tested the battery this morning to be safe, and because I noticed things were responding more slowly than they should (windows going up slower than normal, wipers not moving as fast ect) . With the car OFF it read 11.3 (too low!) and when I turned the car ON it dropped to 11.2, let it set for a min, droped to 11.19 and held there for a while. Now I know that droping from 11.2to 11.19 could just be normal fluxuation, but the fact that it did not climb and that it is sooo low has me worried.

 

[Maniak]

Here is a snipet from a thread by DannyBoy when he did a custom set of gauges.. His truck wasn't charging afterwards...

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1939545&postcount=4

~Mark

 

[chetzar]

So bascially, if I turn the ignition to the start posistion, but dont turn it over, and the battery light does not turn on, then this is the culprit?

 

[Maniak]

Ummm... that is my "guess".. Dannyboy and 410fortune(sp?) would know better..

~Mark

 

[BrianDye]

Yea id say so...

Didnt think that little light could prevent an alternator from working..thats crazy

 

[MrQ]

Yea id say so...

Didnt think that little light could prevent an alternator from working..thats crazy

It's a "dummy" light

 

[chetzar]

Well, it looks like its Alternator, which sucks, because the one I have in there now is only 2 years old (go go Durablast/Durablow). But its going to the Mechanic tommrow for confirmation, said he would look at it and let me know, if it is, guess i know what i'm doing on Friday. If its the dash, i'll still know what i'm doing, except sooner, because I can do it free. If its wiring, i'm gonna be hella ticked.

Edit: The reason i'm going alternator, is logic. I replaced the dash Saturday, and if the Alternator was putting out 0 volts the car should have died sooner, because i drove the car Sunday and Monday (both days with the stereo/amp on, monday with lights/amp/stereo/wipers on) and that would put a decent drain on the system. However, the battery is hooked up to the charger and i'm gonna read the Volts when i get home (to make sure the new battery dont have a dead cell)

Also, it would appear as if all along the Voltmeter on the dash was working, I was just assuming it was not because it was reading very close to the 8, instead of in the middle where it normally was (due to the battery only reading 11v)

 

[chetzar]

Did Load/Underload test last night, almost got finished before it started raining on me. Wasen't lookin so good for the alternator. Took it today for confirmation, 45 mins later they called and confirmed, The Alternator Aint Alternatin. Gonna look around today, think instead of the 95amp ima get the 130, incase at somepoint in my future I wanna run lights, or a bigger amp for my subs.