93ToyKid

Hi all...I have an 87 4Runner. It had the ugly base-model gauges in it, so I bought the SR5 ones off of ebay. I've already done this swap on my 93 pickup, so I know its just plug-and-play.

Unfortunately, this one's giving me some problems. First off, the oil pressure, temperature, and fuel gauges all read whatever they were when the cluster was pulled out of the previous truck (a pickup of the same year). All of them seemed to be stuck. I figured I'd install it and see if maybe they all returned to normal.

First off...the temp. gauge. Cranked the truck (cold), and it returned to cool, like it should. Then it jumped back up to where it was, then settled in on what seemed to be the right temp. But its still moving back and forth between halfway and cold.

Now for the fuel gauge. It was stuck on full when i put it in. After cranking the truck, it returned to the right level, but was moving up and down 1/8 an inch. Then it returned to FULL when I cut the truck off.

Oil pressure is still stuck on 3/4 up, as I have it unhooked right now waiting on the correct sending unit.

The tach is the most puzzling. Cranked the truck, and it SLOWLY started moving up to the highest point I revved it, and I have to tap on the cluster to get it to drop back down. What gives?

Do I need to take everything apart and try lubing them? Does the SR5 require new temp. and fuel sending units? How do I get the tach right? I know it works, becuase it moves (albeit like molasses in winter).

Thanks for any help!

DudeBud

all you should have to do is change over the oil pressure sending unit. you may of got a bunk cluster.. do you have the ebay item # it may even be a v6 cluster..?

93ToyKid

Its out of an 87, so it can't be a V6. I have ebay # and everything, but the dude clearly stated he didn't know if it worked or not, so I can't really hold him responsible for that. I'm hoping its not messed up, I'm thinking maybe its been sitting a while and the needles have frozen up. Any other thoughts?

DudeBud

how do you know its actually out of an 87?

93ToyKid

guy said he pulled it from an 87 pickup...

DudeBud

good enough for me . do you have a pic of it i can tell an 88-89 or 84-87 cluster by looking at it

stock87

Well, the only wiring issues I know of stem from trying to put a manual cluster in an auto truck or vice versa.

All manuals are wired nearly the same pretty much through 95.5 dashboard wise, but the autos have the wires in diff locations in the plugs, and the digital cluster has different plugs entirely.

If it's not a wiring issue you may have just gotten a crap cluster unfortunately. I know of no good way to clean one. Alcohol maybe? I know copper polish on all the contacts can make a BIG difference in how well the gauges work.

misterzee

My experience with doing guage upgrading, includes 'fixing' some of the lame components in a cluster by swapping with another unit. I went through two and a half Ebay clusters to get one unit that worked totally. You might have a bad water temp guage, but dont' rule out your sender. There are test procedures in the FSM to isolate these.

93ToyKid

Thanks for all the input, guys!

Strangely enough, went out and cranked it today, the tach came up like its supposed to, and the temp. gauge hasn't been acting crazy. Now the only thing acting funny is the fuel gauge. It reads correctly, but is still jumping around when I hit bumps. Any ideas on that?

93ToyKid

Oh and I don't have a pic of it right now, but I could get one if need be. I'm fairly certain its the right one, because everything hooks up perfectly. The only thing that leads me to believe it may have been out of an auto is you can look through the back and see a trans. temp. idiot light. But I think all gauges come with that anyway...so I dunno.