93 Gauge Cluster Swap
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2019
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93 Gauge Cluster Swap Hi guys,
I am new here so forgive me if I posted this in the wrong spot or missed an existing post, I looked up the best I could but could only find a thread about this topic that didn't exactly address the concern at hand. I have a 1993 Z28; a few years ago I converted the 700r4 to a T56 and lost the ability to have a working spedo. The tach worked fine, however. Recently, I got tired of the yellow gauge cluster of the 93's so I swapped it with a 94 cluster. Now suddenly the tachometer doesn't work, and when I accelerate it works negatively (starts moving the needle further down). Also (maybe unrelated) but my low oil light is on, despite having confirmed via dipstick that there is oil to within the acceptable range. Any thoughts?? Also, please note: the T56 i swapped it with was a 1997. Thank you.
I am new here so forgive me if I posted this in the wrong spot or missed an existing post, I looked up the best I could but could only find a thread about this topic that didn't exactly address the concern at hand. I have a 1993 Z28; a few years ago I converted the 700r4 to a T56 and lost the ability to have a working spedo. The tach worked fine, however. Recently, I got tired of the yellow gauge cluster of the 93's so I swapped it with a 94 cluster. Now suddenly the tachometer doesn't work, and when I accelerate it works negatively (starts moving the needle further down). Also (maybe unrelated) but my low oil light is on, despite having confirmed via dipstick that there is oil to within the acceptable range. Any thoughts?? Also, please note: the T56 i swapped it with was a 1997. Thank you.
strange, I did an auto to manual trans swap and a 110mph-150mph gauge swap at the same time and everything worked fine. My understanding about the gauges is that they should never need any sort of calibration. Just plug and play.
all I can think of is that the input signals must be different on a 93 from the VSS and alternator etc. I know the PCM's are different on 93's, maybe that is affecting this also.
all I can think of is that the input signals must be different on a 93 from the VSS and alternator etc. I know the PCM's are different on 93's, maybe that is affecting this also.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2019
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Thank you for the reply. I imagine that is the case, I know the 93 was different electronically than all the other 4th gens because it used something called "speed density" or so I think (the old owner told me that). Do you know of any conversion kits that might be available?
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 79
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From: Houston, Texas
The pin-outs for the gauge clusters changed several times through the 4th gen production run, and for different models years between Camaros and Firebirds, so not all model years are interchangeable. There was a thread on here a while ago that broke down which model years will swap with which, I'd recommend trying to find it. I do know however that 93 and 94 are not directly interchangeable.
No clue on the RPM thing, but the oil light could just be the sensor failed. You can get a staple from a stapler to jump the two pins and see if the light goes off. If so, pretty sure the sensor is done.
The RPM signal provided to the gauge cluster in a '93 car is different that later years. I bought a '93 that had a white cluster from a 1994 Camaro in it. Everything except the tachometer worked. I eventually swapped it out for another 1993 cluster and everything works again. It's too much work trying to replace every scrap of yellow labelling. It's retro - embrace it! I did find a post on here (created in about 2006 ...) that explained a circuit modification you could make to transform the signal to work with a later year cluster.
