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0cean Samba Member
Joined: February 29, 2012 Posts: 1149 Location: California
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:51 pm Post subject: Full Mod and rebuild of Instrument Cluster with GPS Speedo |
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For years now I have been unhappy with the instrument cluster and all its problems due to age. Blinking water lights, fuel gauge never going to full, speedometer always off due to tire size changes. It was one of the most frustrating, costly, and time consuming issues I have had with the vanagon.
Well after countless times replacing sensors and adding speed correction devices (broke after 8 months) I decided to find a permanent fix that was as close to stock looking as possible, yet with lots of modern conveniences and functionality. My Ebay searches ended up here http://www.speedhut.com/gauges/GPS-Speedometers-Dual-4-inch/37:4%7C1:10
Perfect! because GPS eliminates the speedometer cable for a bullet proof system and provides a nifty little trip computer. It also has a fuel gauge build in. Sweet!! The tach is also from them and can be programed to work with the Subaru 2.2 tach sig. It is too good for me to pass up so I pulled the costly trigger.
When I order the gauges I did some modifying. I requested no turn siginals inside the gauge and that saved me some money. I also requested KM on the inside of the gauge because I often travel sown to Mexico for surfing and sometimes wine tasting. Speedhut was every easy going and accommodating to all the requests. Nice people over there.
The first thing to do was carefully pop out the glass because it was not needed and in the way. From here it’s all or nothing!!!
The glass is out and the gauges don’t fit perfectly in the case, so a lot of drummeling was done to cut out about a 1/8 of the side walls for each gauge.
Little painters tape to create a barrier between the foam and the gauge. Note: the foam will spread under the front of the gauge, so leave a gap for the foam to expand. Learned this the hard way.
All foamed up. The gauge can be removed if needed, yet it’s really tight.
Coming along
I took some advice from others here on Samba and bought the card adapter for $50ish. It was a life saver. This is my first attempt at a board to replace the blue ribbon. The only thing that worked was the oil light and turn signal... I have never had electronics training, can u tell?
Attempt #2 I went all out. Even created a board and etched it myself! the only problem was now the battery light worked and nothing else.... Grrrr.. I’m about to through this peace of $!@% out the window!!!
That’s when I found out about San Diego Electronics www.sdelectronicssupply.com [email protected] I went in there to get a couple of resistors and the owner (Manny) told me he could work on it if I needed some help, so I jumped at the chance and handed over everything I had. From there he reverse engineered the foil and created a new board. He also replaced some LED'S and adjusted there voltage so the new LEDs weren’t blinding. It took him some time because the guy is crazy busy, but said he enjoyed working on the project. Everything worked great when I got it back.
Night time without the center light fixed yet.
The last thing was to create a new center symbol peace that I did with Corel draw and internet pictures. The final version was printed on transparency paper and glued to the original plastic symbol sheet that was cleaned with a solvent to strip the old printing. I added a water faucet because I’m hoping to have the low coolant level warning light there. Two more 2 1/16 gauges are on the way for coolant temp and battery voltage. The coolent temp gauge has a programble warning light; along with the low water light on the instrument cluster, it should be enough for me to know if there are issues in the cooling system.
The only issue I have with this mod is the fuel gauge moves like crazy when driving. It reads correctly when still or flat, but the new gauges do not like the original VW fuel sending unit and at some point I’m going to have to replace it for a Speed hut sender. Anyone know what the depth of a 2WD fuel cell is and if the bolt pattern Standard 5 bolt SAE pattern?
New toys from the trip computer. My 0-60 is 14.5 secs for a Subaru 2.2
So Mann at www.sdelectronicssupply.com [email protected] said he was interested in creating a dash foil replacements if people were interested. At the time I asked him about it, Gowesty had not posted their intentions to create one and I thought this was a good chance for him and all the vanagon owners because no one was doing it. Manny said he’s interested in making clean easy to install harnesses with a new board like the one he did for me,so drop him an email to find out more. I’m confident in recommending him because of his crazy electronics skills, good attitude and I like supporting small businesses like his. (There is not a lot around anymore)
That’s about it. Thanks for reading.
Ocean
Sometimes my ideas are bigger then my abilities
Last edited by 0cean on Sat Oct 05, 2013 5:09 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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SL12572 Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011 Posts: 270 Location: Washington
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:10 pm Post subject: Gauges |
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Fantastic! This is something I have been contemplating doing. It will either be this, or I will be configuring an Android tablet to replace all of my gauges and add some.
Really nice work...Looks very clean! |
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greebly Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2009 Posts: 965 Location: Here and now
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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Very nice.
For the fuel sender, you might be able to add a capacitor on the signal line to eliminate the transients and smooth out the needle response. Your electronics guy should know how to do it and the appropriate value. |
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Zeitgeist 13 Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009 Posts: 12103 Location: Port Manteau
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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This is really cool. What I'd like to do is tie in a PWM controller so that the oil level/temp sending unit in my TDI oil pan can be read for the idiot light and temp readings. _________________ Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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HoustonPhotog Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2013 Posts: 1514 Location: Houston, TX
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zippyslug31 Samba Member
Joined: July 20, 2007 Posts: 799 Location: Central Oregon
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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Whoa!
DO WANT!!!! _________________ previous:
'80 westy
current:
'90 syncro westy 2.5L subi, triple knob, 16" wheels.
'84 sunroof van, 2.1L motor. |
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Farfrumwork Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2008 Posts: 692 Location: Mile High
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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BAD ASS _________________ sold -> '85 Wolfsburg Syncro / 'Built' DOHC EJ25 (a great machine!)
'07 Legacy spec.B, road tuned stgII
'17 4x4 Sprinter, stone grey, SMB pop-top, on 33"s
"Blood stains, speed kills - Fast cars, cheap thrills - Rich girls, fine wine - I've lost my sense, I've lost control, I've lost my mind" |
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Franklinstower Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2006 Posts: 1892 Location: PNW
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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For the printed circuit board, These guys will make three boards for you at a cost of $51.
http://www.expresspcb.com/
I used them to make my Subie ECU daughterboard. Download their software, design it, submit. 1 week later you have your boards.
Paul _________________ '89 Westy - EJ25/22 Frank 4.44 5mt
'75 Miami Blue Sunroof FI Standard Bug |
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Nimbus'87 Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2013 Posts: 125 Location: Murrieta, Ca.
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:50 pm Post subject: Cluster... |
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Well done! Now to wire in the Subie engine OBD like an Evoscan etc. _________________ '87 Wolfram Grey Westy. '92 2.2 Subie, KEP/Calif. Reg. |
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Gizmoman Samba Member
Joined: September 10, 2011 Posts: 1554 Location: Nevada
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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X2 on the . . .
greebly wrote: |
Very nice.
For the fuel sender, you might be able to add a capacitor on the signal line to eliminate the transients and smooth out the needle response. Your electronics guy should know how to do it and the appropriate value. |
Great job - congrats on tackling everyone's nightmare _________________ 82 Vanagon Westy - AAZ 1.9 TD, HE200 Holset, WAIC, 27.75 dia tires, Electric power steering, 5-speed AAP w/.078 5th
Oversize spare carrier - stock location (no longer for sale). |
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syncroluvr Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2010 Posts: 200 Location: Trois Rivieres,QC
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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Very cool and your van held together at close to 100 MPH! (158Km/h) Congats! _________________ 1990 Syncro Westy with stump pulling 2576cc Subaru
Y2K V6 Passat
Calcandi Leviter |
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kamzcab86 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008 Posts: 7892 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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Whoa! Nicely done. Love the water temp symbol. _________________ ~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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Phishman068 Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1866 Location: Pittsburgh PA (ish)
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big swifty Samba Member
Joined: August 21, 2007 Posts: 246 Location: Formally in Republic of VT; now in Hollywood, FL
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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Nice! Where are you going to put the smaller gauges? _________________ Evan
1987 Vanagon Syncro // Westfalia pop-top graft // Factory new ALH. 11mm IP. AFN 110 RC 2,3,4 // S7 turbo// Titan P502's
2013 Golf 4d TDI. No mods. Yet.
[1991 Jetta coupe TD. Giles Superpump. Custom tall 5 speed. SOLD |
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greenbrier62 Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2012 Posts: 223 Location: Victor, ID
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:41 pm Post subject: Oh My |
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This is exactly what I was thinking about doing...Glad you were able to see it through to completion! Speedhut in UT are nice folks. I called them about a month ago asking about their gauges...I'll be using this write up for sure when I pull the trigger. WELL DONE! _________________ 1987 Vanagon camper
2005 VW Passat TDI
1962 Chevy Greenbrier |
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obieoberstar Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 1126 Location: Tucson
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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awesome upgrade and well documented.
I looked at the website for the gauges quickly. I would assume the gauge has an internal GPS receiver based on the price. Correct? |
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syncromike Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2011 Posts: 660 Location: Boise, ID
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, on my wish list. _________________ _____________________
'91 Syncro w/ Country Homes PopTop |
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syncrodoka Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005 Posts: 11998 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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I have seen that cluster in a vanagon before. It is driving me crazy- anybody?
It looks like a clean solution for those not wanting to deal with regearing the speedo due to tire size changes. |
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16CVs Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004 Posts: 4020 Location: Redwood City, California
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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Think CV Bill .
Stacy _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread. |
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photogdave Samba Member
Joined: April 05, 2004 Posts: 3039 Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
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