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Date:         Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:54:54 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Swapping clock for Tach in an 84? a bit long.
Comments: To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

Hi, no, your early vanagon does not have some kind of secondary low oil pressure warning system. The van is wired for just one basic, 'low pressure' oil pressure switch.

I would try this........ well first of all let's say there are 'two kinds' ( at least for our discussion here ) two kinds of instrument clusters with tachs. the more common one would be 86 and later for 2.1 waterboxer engines, and that printed circuit/instrument cluster has the DOPS in it.

the other kind, more rare, but easier for you to install, is an 84 or 85 printed circuit ..... those vans have 1.9 wbxr engines, no DOPS in the instrument cluster , and are much closer to a bolt-in for your van.

Assuming you have an instrument cluster with a DOPS ... I'd just try this for starters. Remove the mutha ! It's hidden inside the speedometer. it's an 'L' shaped electronic circuit on a circuit board, about 3 X 4 inches. ( there's a pic of it in Bentley ) Just take it out.

also ........very important. T14 ........the big plug on the instrument cluster. Which wire is where varies by year, or 'group of year.' I put an instrument cluster with tach from ...... ( .I forget what year it was ) ..........into an 83........ which is 1.9 wbxr with single oil warning light system..

What I saw in the Bentley diagrams is that ....roughly, 80 to 82 has one arrangement of wires at T14, 83 and 84 is the same, 85 might be by itself, and 86 and later is the same.

so .........if the instrument cluster and printed circuit I'm using has the green wire ( tach signal from coil terminal 1 ) on say T14-6 ( or whatever it is ) ......... and the van I'm putting it into has the green wire at position say 4, in the T14 connector plug, it is necessary to juggle the wires a bit by position.

Most happily, the plastic T14 connector 'opens up.' So nice, You flip up the side of it, and the wires are just laying there, and you can take say # 2 and put it in position 4, the one for 4 in say 7, and 7 in 2, or whatever you need. Takes a bit of thinking and studying , but I did it successfully. You can too.

about the DOPS .....if just removing the thing doesn't work, do this. Leave it in. Find the high pressure wire for it coming out of the instrument cluster at T14 .........and just ground that wire. The high pressure side of the DOPS is happy if it sees ground,. The high pressure oil switch is reverse logic from a normal oil pressure switch. Normal ones have the light on when it sees ground ( low oil pressure ) the high pressure switches are opposite ............if it's open to the switch, that turns on the oil warning light, and buzzer, ......it's happy if it sees ground. So just ground that wire ......right there in the dash. that will keep the DOPS happy, and also keep your stock early van oil pressure circuit working just fine. Just mine wire positions at T14.

just be real careful Don't let something like this happen. I was working on an 84 .......for some weird instrument cluster symptom .......no temp gauge, something like that. I checked all I could...........wasn't getting anywhere. And thought I'd just pop in a known good 84 cluster out of another one of my vans. Soon as I turn on the key - poof ! wires fried right there where T14 plugs on.........part of the printed circuit. Some dooffus had taped into the wrong place for radio power ..........and the van, or that improper wiring damaged the original instrument cluster, then it did it to my good one too. Bummer. so be real careful. Check all your wire changes like 5 times before you turn on the key the first time etc.

Scott www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 6:34 PM Subject: Swapping clock for Tach in an 84? a bit long.

>I am about to (tomorrow) attempt to swap instrument clusters in my 84 van, > mainly to replace my oft-unsuccessfully fixed speedo/odo. I also have a > third partial cluster with a tach in it, so I am going to attempt to swap > out my useless (still works on warm days, but ticks and keeps me awake > when > camping) analog clock and put that tach in. > I found this write-up (below) that looks to be pretty comprehensive > and > easy to follow. Upon preliminary recon. I think all the terminals, wire > color codes and connections mentioned in the write-up below do actually > seem to match what I have. Kinda amazing if that actually works out to > be the case...but it certainly looks just right so far... > Anyhow, the only part of this pending proceedure that isn't > fully explained (for an electrical dunce like me) is how to deal with the > "dynamic oil pressure warning system" that comes with the newer cluster's > speedo. He says (paraphrase) that you can't just leave off the foil, > without modifying the dynamic oil pressure warning system, or it will > "Screech at you"...but I don't see anything about how to do that. My 84 > has > none of that system..and in fact, since it has an inline VW motor, it > probably doesn't run at the same oil pressure as a WBX motor anyhow. I am > fine using my eyes and my normal OP gauge, I don't want any more systems, > but I also don't think a 'screeching' cluster will be acceptable. Anybody > have any hints on what I might do to 'dissable' the dynamic oil pressure > warning 'tone', etc? > My current instruments light up upon 'ignition on' with the O2 sensor > light, the alternator light and the oil light illuminating...Then upon > engine start, the oil light goes out, and when I rev the motor, then the > O2sensor and alternator lights go off, too. So maybe I do have some kinda > second oil warning system...But the Bently shows a 5 terminal circuit > (with > the foil connected) for the newer dynamic oil pressure warning system on > the > back of the speedo...The new speedo (the one I am going to swap in with > the > working odo) has that. My old faulty one does not have that circuit, but > the foil has the 'paths' unused... > One thing I AM going to do is take digital pics all through the process > so > if I ---- it up, I can reverse the process..I am learning, huh? > > http://www.oldvolkshome.com/late_van_cluster_install.pdf > > Don Hanson


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