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97 Tracker Instrument Cluster Repair

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17K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Rhinoman  
#1 ·
I've got a 97 Tracker here and the previous owner was not very nice to it. The part of the instrument cluster that connects to the speedometer cable is all chewed up according to my mechanic (as is the cable part of the connector as well). Symptoms are that the speed is off by (20mph below reality) and the needle bounces a lot. The odometer and trip counter both register the correct number of miles driven - I tested that before I bought it.

It needs a new speedometer cable and that's not going to be too hard to find... but the cheapest cluster I can find is over $150 on eBay and is much higher milage than mine. No junkyard in a 200 mile radius of me has any 96-98 Trackers, sadly. I really don't want to replace this part with one that has twice the miles on it if I can avoid it. Is there any way to repair the back where the speedometer cable connects or any service that specializes in doing that?
 
#2 ·
I'm new here myself but let me try to help...I just had mine apart two days ago. If you take the speedo cable off the trans and feed yourself plenty of slack as you remove the cluster you can get enough room to unhook all the wires and bring the whole cluster out where you can work on it. Somebody didn't take it easy getting the cable off the head...there's two little plastic prongs that have to be lifted out so the cable comes free. It shouldn't take much to figure a new way to attach it. I personally found on mine that it was the little magnetic wheel that was gummed up with old dried grease...I know the cable was dry too but anyway I'll bet you can save that one of yours.
 
#3 ·
Do you have a tachometer?? And how does your car drive? The ECU normally uses a vehicle speed sensor that is in the speedo cluster to help determine how fast you are going, so it can adjust fuel delivery. Normally, if the speedo is working incorrectly, this causes the car to drive poorly. If your odometer appears to be working correctly, I would wonder about how chewed up the speedo mechanism is in your cluster - you actually can only see the connector for the speedo cable when you look behind the dash - the speedo mechanism itself is hidden behind circuitry. It is usually extremely difficult to match up clusters, from what I've read on this site. Are you sure that there are no kinks in the cable itself? Have you tried disconnecting it at the tranny and placing the cable end in a reversible, variable speed drill, running the drill in reverse, to see if the needle continues to bounce around?
 
#4 ·
What else I found on mine was...there's 4 screws that hold the speedo head in the cluster...two of them make the conection on the pc board for that speed sensor. You can take out just the speedo head from the cluster and really get a look at it...you can take it back to the car by itself and put it on the cable and maybe figure a new way to attach it. Everything has to be really clean when you put it all back together...and lube that wheel with some dry grafite...hope this helps.
 
#5 ·
Feelings mutual;)

How peculiar! Mine too was about 20mph off! I spoke with Fritz at Tracker ranch in Livingston, Tx. He told me the speedometer heads just wear out. So, he sold me one for 100bucks. It was only 1000 miles off(original had 115,000, the used one had 114,000). There are two places near me, each about an hour or more away; I'm in Houston. The installation isn't too bad.

If you call Fritz, please tell him I sent you! I've become very good friends with him.
His number is 932-327-9613

Here are some pictures during my installation~ I'd like to be a contributor to this wonderful site too!:)
dne'

Once the cluster is unfastened from its hookups, I found it easiest to take it out through the steering wheel opening. I did have to drop the steering column by taking out the two bolts that hold it up. Of course the covering does have to come off~ you don't get off that easy!


after wrestling with the speedometer cable, I found that a gentle squeeze and pull on the cable where it is held onto the cluster~ it comes off.




To get more leeway from the speedometer cable, you need to go inside the engine compartment~ it will make sense when you look where the Speedometer cable is.
 
#6 ·
Hi all,

Thanks for the assist :) Hopefully I can provide a good explanation since I did not actually get to see the back of the cluster myself (yet).

This is what the needle looks like when the car is not moving (not the same care but you get the picture): http://www.allfordmustangs.com/foru...hments/5-0l-tech/38296d1200691032-fox-body-speedometer-needle-stop-dsci0168.jpg

The mechanic said that the speedometer cable has a pin thing in it that isn't completely round that turns the piece where it connects inside the instrument cluster. In this case, the cable pin thing is almost completely rounded and so is the slot inside the cluster. There are a lot of metal shavings / dust in that area.

Later this week I will take it out and take a good picture.
 
#7 ·
yep, that's how mine was. I thought I was going crazy~ I'd be going down the road at 50mph(if I got it that fast), but feel like I was going much faster~ and I was. The speedohead was bad. I used to belong to Allfordmustangs~ I have a '67 Mustang coupe that I restored. I'm telling you, call Fritz~ he'll explain and fix you up with good speedometer cluster!;)
 
#10 ·
Its been a while since I had the cluster apart but as I recall its not too difficult to swap over the mileometer swo you could use a new speedo head and retain the original mileage.