So I happened to find a (unmolested) turbo 4Runner in a junkyard and I did what anyone would do; I took everything I could. One thing I got was a digital dash (I made sure to cut part of the wiring harness with it. Later that week, I found a SR5 cluster and ran that in my 86 4Runner for about a week. I decided to try and wire in the Digital cluster...



I knew that the DLX and the SR5 cluster were interchangeable (besides the Oil Press. Sending Unit) but how about the Digital Cluster? Yeah... Not even close. After searching online and coming up empty, I went to the dealership where I got diagrams of the DLX, SR5, AND Digital clusters.


I could have cut, splice, solder, heatshrink, etc... the Digital Cluster in, but i wanted it to be reversible. One of my instructors showed me that the wiring harness "pins" for each wire can be released by using a SMALL screwdriver;


Popping one out at a time, I added a wire coming out of each one;


Labeled and added quick disconnects;


And the finished product for the pre-existing harness;


Now that that's done, I had to label the digital harness;


Now it was time to plug it all in.

Now it looks messy, but i taped them together so they weren't SO messy. CAUTION; theres like 30+ wires on the digital cluster and 21 on my old cluster. There are a few connections that go to one plug, and some I didn't even use; turbo connections, A/T fluid, etc...

Finished product;

Everything works great. This took me 3 days to do BUT i could have done it in 1. It seems like a lot to do, and it is. Once you get rolling, goes by real fast. The nice thing is if I don't like the cluster or decide to sell it, i just plug my old one right back in, its that simple. So far, I haven't decided if it like it yet.

Now... on to the HELP! part of this write up; as you can see above, the gas gauge does not work. On the diagram of the SR5 cluster, the gas gauge has 2 wires. On the digital, it has 3. I looked under my tank and found the sending unit plug which had 3 wires coming off it.

I tested continuity with a multimeter and found that the first wire went to FUEL Sender 1 in the wiring harness coming out of the dash, and the second one tested positive for FUEL Sender 2. Well, I still have fuel sender 3 coming out of the digital cluster. I pulled up the sending unit and wiring the 3 plug off of it into the FUEL Sender wire 3 on the digital cluster. STILL didn't work...


Thinking I messed something up, I plugged in my old cluster and (since I unplugged the sending before while I was taking out this cluster the first time) watched the needle rise. FUEL GAUGE STILL WORKS!!! but not on the digital.

So... can anyone tell me how to get this fuel gauge working? I know it works because my buddy back home has a turbo 4runner and we stuck this in his and everything worked. Are the sending units the same? Is the order of the wires different? SOMEBODY help me!! lol Thanks in advance and good luck!!

 

Awesome!!! Digital dashes are always one of my favorite features from the 80s

 

ot: wanna sell ur sr5 cluster?

 

im actually running the same issue w/ my 99 cluster to my 86 T4R. 1 wire is 5v, 1 is for fuel light and the other is for the gauge. but the sending units are different! on the 99 T4R these 3 wires run to the unit. power with 5v activate the sender. on the 86 T4R, both wire are; gauge wire and empty fuel light. they are both NEGATIVE. on my setup it will not work as well.. lmk if u figure something else, as i will do the same...

btw: what did u do with the speedometer cable and are u running an electronic VSS for the digital cluster?

 

Wow, didn't even know they had digital clusters. Looks awesome.

 

Like I said before, my buddy back home has a 87 w/ the digital cluster so I'm going to figure out how his is hooked up. Funny thing is, I asked him to send me what his sending unit wires look like and oddly, they look identical. Hopefully, I won't have to get a different unit, but I'll post it up when I find out. As for selling my other cluster, I've got a whole stash of spare parts I have and it's going to be added to the pile. I'm only in both the cluster for $60...

 

After nearly 4 months, I have finally got everything working. So, here is the story; shortly after posting this thread, I found out some information that was a bit unsettling; I would need a different sending unit (part #8332039735). So, I pulled the cluster out and let it sit in the shed for awhile. Then, about the beginning of December, decided I needed to get it working. I used searchtempest.com (Sweet Site BTW) to search for some people with digital clusters for sale. I finally talked to a guy down in Cali that would ship me the sending unit I needed for free if I paid shipping, however, he told me it was beat up and beyond its prime. Boy was he right...

As you can see, the windings were broken and exposed. This was somewhere to start and was rebuildable, but that was a little too much work for me.


So, using the site again, I found a guy out of Nashville that was parting out a 87 turbo 4Runner. After cutting a deal with him, he sent me the sending unit I needed.

This one wasn't pretty either but after letting it soak in vinegar, the rust and all the gunky **** that built up over the years just fell off. The main thing; all the windings were perfect!


The sending unit on the left is the stock one out of my 86 and the right one is the digital. As you can see, mine has a low fuel sender while the digital does not. However, having prior knowledge that the gauge throws a low fuel light when low it is low enough, this did not deter me.



Let me spare you some time; BLAH BLAH BLAH, dropped the fuel tank, curse words, problems, more curse words, install complete!



After connecting the wires, it was finally nice to see the fuel gauge working.



You can scale the reading down too...



And now, the finished product.



Thank god that's over. After 4 months, 2 sending units and a lot of devotion and surfing the web, I'm glad to say this project is complete.

 

I love the digital dash, I would so put one in my 4runner.

 

thanks for the awesome write up
I just snagged a digital dash to do the same swap, this is super helpful

hopefully i can repurpose the turbo section

 

Has anyone else done this I just picked up a digital cluster . Any idea how to bench test it,?

 

did you have any luck testing it? Just picked one up, going to start this project over the next couple weeks.