1987 Chrysler Le Baron digital instrument cluster

Tiny
GEORGE CAMPBELL
  • MEMBER
  • 1987 CHRYSLER LE BARON
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 10,000 MILES
The instrument cluster in my car went out and it is almost impossible to find one. I was wondering if I could convert it over to a analog instrument panel
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 AT 11:19 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,873 POSTS
I just had one apart for an '88. I've repaired a few of these in the past but I had to send this one in for repair. The Chrysler authorized repair centers just stopped working on these clusters due to lack of parts but there are places you can find on the internet. I used Advanced Auto Electronics, Inc. The person I spoke with could not guarantee he could repair mine, but all of a sudden it came back working fine and he charged less than I was expecting.

I'm told you can convert yours to the mechanical cluster but you will have to add a speedometer cable. Also, these cars used a speed sensor that only had the two-wire electrical connector. Check your speed sensor. If there is a threaded connector for the speedometer cable, it will have a plastic tube over it to keep dirt out. If you don't have that, you'll need to replace it with the sensor that has both the threaded part and the electrical connector. Some places charge over twice as much as others for this sensor. I found the least expensive place was O'Reilly's at around 40 bucks. They stocked the wrong part with just the electrical connector, but they got the right one in the next morning by special order.

I can't find my service manual for these cars. If you have one, look at the pin diagrams for the cluster connectors. There are two connectors. See if there is a difference in the wires between the electronic and mechanical clusters. I would expect to see a speed signal wire in the electronic cluster's plug and that pin should be blank, or unused, with the mechanical cluster. There should not be some other application for those pins. If there is no pin that is used in one application and has a different function for the other cluster, it should be a direct swap.

Caradiodoc
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Saturday, November 13th, 2010 AT 3:36 AM

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